Chapter 5 - My Mother’s Necklace Hid the Ledger Key, and Raphael Realized Thomas Had Manipulated His Entire Life to Find ItThe necklace opened.
Inside was a tiny metal key.
I had never seen it.
Raphael took it carefully.
Thomas smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“No.”
Raphael stared at him.
“I understand that you used her.”
“Yes.”
“To find the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you simply take it?”
“Because the key responds to blood.”
My stomach tightened.
“Whose blood?”
Thomas smiled.
“Yours.”
The key required my fingerprint.
My mother's DNA.
I was the only person who could open the archive.
That made me valuable.
It also made me a target.
Thomas admitted he'd been monitoring me for months.
He knew Micah was sick.
He knew I worked for Raphael.
He knew I was the person Raphael cared about.
He believed using me would force Raphael out.
But Thomas had made one mistake.
He underestimated Raphael's attachment.
Raphael wasn't simply protecting me.
He was willing to destroy everything to keep me safe.
Thomas tried to escape.
He failed.
But before police arrived, he said:
“The ledger isn't the real danger.”
“What is?”
“Your father's last order.”
Then he smiled.
“Ask Raphael what happened in Chicago eleven years ago.”
Thomas was taken.
I turned toward Raphael.
“What happened?”
He hesitated.
“My father ordered a massacre.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the ledger.”
“Did he succeed?”
“No.”
“Who survived?”
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“My mother survived?”
“For several days.”
“She disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He looked at my necklace.
“She left the ledger somewhere only you could find.”
I cried.
I had spent my entire life believing my mother died instantly.
She hadn't.
She had survived.
Long enough to protect me.
Long enough to hide the evidence.
Long enough to save my future.
Then she died.
I sat down.
Raphael crouched beside me.
“I'm sorry.”
I looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew part of it.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“You've been investigating my family.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I noticed someone was watching you.”
“And the ledger?”
“I didn't know about it until tonight.”
I studied his face.
“Why me?”
He smiled sadly.
“Because you were the only innocent person in a world full of people trying to use me.”
I laughed through tears.
“That sounds romantic.”
“It wasn't supposed to.”
I smiled.
Then alarms sounded.
Someone had breached the perimeter.
Thomas's allies had arrived.
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And they weren't coming for Raphael.
They were coming for me.
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