Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Knew Where the Ledger Was
Evelyn Cross was missing for fourteen hours.
For fourteen hours, Vincent became someone else.
He stopped sleeping.
Stopped eating.
Stopped speaking except when necessary.
He interrogated every person who had access to the mansion.
One by one.
Even employees who had worked for the family for twenty years were questioned.
Fay watched from the hallway.
She saw what leadership did to a person.
Not strength.
Not power.
Isolation.
When she found Vincent alone in the library at dawn, he was staring at his mother's empty chair.
“She'll be okay,” Fay said.
He didn't answer.
“You don't know that.”
“No.”
“You're afraid.”
“Yes.”
She stepped closer.
“Good.”
He finally looked at her.
“You shouldn't be.”
“Why?”
“Because fear makes mistakes.”
“So does pretending you don't feel anything.”
Vincent stared at her.
“You're becoming difficult.”
“You're becoming human.”
He almost smiled.
Then his phone rang.
A video.
Evelyn Cross was tied to a chair.
Behind her stood Anthony Cross.
Vincent's uncle.
He looked old.
But alive.
His voice was smooth.
“Vincent.”
Vincent said nothing.
Anthony smiled.
“You have grown into your father's son.”
“You killed him.”
Anthony's smile faded.
“I created the circumstances that killed him.”
“Why?”
“He had something that belonged to me.”
“The company?”
“No.”
“The ledger?”
“More than that.”
“What?”
Anthony leaned closer to the camera.
“Your father knew who betrayed him.”
Vincent's face changed.
“Who?”
Anthony laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Your father wasn't betrayed by an enemy.”
He paused.
“He was betrayed by his wife.”
The video ended.
Vincent stared at the screen.
Evelyn.
His own mother.
Fay looked at him.
“I don't believe it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
He looked down.
His hand was trembling.
The next day they found Evelyn.
She was abandoned near an industrial road.
Alive.
Barely.
Vincent rushed her to the hospital.
When she regained consciousness, Fay sat beside her.
“Please.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“He knows.”
“Who?”
“Anthony.”
“About the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Inside the chapel.”
Vincent entered.
“What chapel?”
“The family chapel.”
The old Cross chapel stood behind the estate.
It was rarely used.
Fay and Vincent went there after midnight.
Evelyn's brass key opened a hidden compartment beneath the altar.
Inside was a leather ledger.
Vincent lifted it carefully.
Fay stared.
“That is it?”
“Yes.”
They opened it.
Names filled every page.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police commanders.
Bankers.
Businessmen.
It was an entire network.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
Evelyn Cross.
Fay looked at Vincent.
“Your mother.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
There were transfers.
Payments.
Instructions.
Then they found another section.
A list of disappearances.
Michael Miller.
Fay's father.
Status: protected.
She stopped breathing.
“He wasn't killed.”
Vincent looked at her.
“No.”
“Protected by whom?”
The ledger gave no answer.
The next entry was stranger.
Fay Miller.
Status: protected.
“Who wrote this?”
Vincent examined the handwriting.
“My father.”
Fay began crying.
Her father had known she would be hunted.
He had tried to protect her.
Then the door behind them slammed.
They turned.
Donovan stood there.
Gun raised.
“You should have left the dead alone.”
Vincent moved in front of Fay.
“Who sent you?”
Donovan laughed.
“Your father.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“My father is dead.”
Donovan's expression changed.
“You really believe that?”
The gun went off.
Vincent shoved Fay aside.
The bullet struck the wall.
Security stormed in.
Donovan was tackled.
Before they could restrain him, he swallowed something.
His body convulsed.
He died within seconds.
Fay stared in horror.
Vincent's expression hardened.
“He was silenced.”
“By whom?”
“Someone who was afraid he'd talk.”
The ledger lay open on the floor.
One page had fallen loose.
On it was an address.
Fay recognized it immediately.
The hospital where her mother was receiving treatment.
Vincent understood.
“It's a trap.”
Fay whispered:
“No.”
“What?”
“My mother is there.”
They rushed to the hospital.
The room was empty.
Her mother was gone.
On the bed lay another black bird.
Beneath it was a note.
Bring the ledger.
Come alone.
May you like
And this time, Vincent Cross, the hostage is not your mother.
It was Fay's mother.
