Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Came Back From the Dead
They escaped through a side tunnel.
Dominic was almost silent during the drive.
Mara had never seen him this shaken.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
She almost smiled.
“You always tell me honesty is important.”
“That wasn't what I meant.”
“I know.”
He stared at the road.
“Julian is alive.”
“Yes.”
“You saw him.”
“Yes.”
“He was there.”
“Yes.”
“I buried him.”
“I know.”
His hands tightened on the wheel.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
They returned to Dominic's estate.
Mara realized something as they entered.
For the first time, the house didn't feel like his.
It felt like a place holding too many ghosts.
He poured himself whiskey.
Mara took the glass away.
“No.”
He stared.
“What?”
“You don't get to drink your way through this.”
He almost smiled.
“You sound like Ellen.”
“She probably taught me.”
Dominic sat.
Mara sat across from him.
“Tell me everything.”
He did.
Julian had hated their father.
He had discovered the criminal network.
He tried to expose it.
Then he disappeared.
Dominic had assumed he was dead.
But after the funeral, strange things happened.
Anonymous warnings.
Hidden accounts.
Missing shipping records.
Dominic believed Julian might have survived.
He searched for years.
Never found him.
Until now.
“And my father?”
Dominic said:
“Your father may have helped Julian disappear.”
Mara stared.
“Why?”
“To protect him.”
“From my mother?”
“No.”
“From your father?”
“My father.”
She frowned.
“You think Walter was helping Julian escape your family.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Walter gamble away the yard?”
“I don't know.”
Maybe the gambling had been deliberate.
Maybe Walter had been manipulated.
Maybe someone had been using his debts as leverage.
Mara's head hurt.
Then she noticed something on Dominic's desk.
A photograph.
Her mother and Julian.
Standing beside a young Dominic.
Mara stared.
“When was this taken?”
Dominic turned.
“My father's old office.”
“Why did my mother meet Julian?”
“I don't know.”
She reached for the photograph.
On the back, Ellen had written:
Protect my daughter.
Mara's eyes filled.
Dominic read it.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew you.”
“Yes.”
“And she trusted you.”
He nodded.
Mara looked at him.
“Then I think I should too.”
His expression changed.
“You shouldn't say that lightly.”
“I don't.”
The silence between them became intimate.
Dominic moved closer.
Mara did not retreat.
He touched her cheek.
Then stopped.
“You're grieving.”
“So are you.”
He lowered his hand.
“We shouldn't make decisions tonight.”
She nodded.
“You're right.”
Then Julian called.
He gave them a location.
A church outside Boston.
They went together.
Julian stood inside.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
Mara watched the brothers face each other.
Dominic was furious.
“You let me bury you.”
Julian looked down.
“I had no choice.”
“You could have come back.”
“If I had, people would have died.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Why did my mother trust you?”
Julian looked at her.
“Because she knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That your father didn't lose the yard.”
Mara stared.
“He transferred it.”
“What?”
“Your father signed over the gambling debt deliberately.”
“To whom?”
“Graham Pike.”
“Why?”
“To create a paper trail.”
Mara frowned.
“For what?”
Julian answered:
“Pike was working with my father.”
Dominic went still.
“Your father is dead.”
Julian nodded.
“Then why?”
“Because the people using Pike aren't.”
He handed Mara a folder.
Inside was a list of names.
Politicians.
Judges.
Shipping executives.
Lawyers.
And one final name.
Thomas Mercer.
Dominic's uncle.
Mara looked up.
“Who is he?”
“My father's brother.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“He died twenty years ago.”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
Silence.
May you like
“He's alive.”
And apparently, he was the man behind Bluebird.
