Chapter 2 - The Man Who Knew Her Secret
Derek spent the entire night in Jasmine’s apartment.
Not in her bed.
Not even on the futon.
He sat in the rickety chair near the door with his gun hidden beneath his coat and his eyes fixed on the window.
Jasmine tried to sleep.
She failed.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the photograph of herself on the subway platform.
At 3:12 a.m., Derek’s phone vibrated.
He answered immediately.
“What?”
Marcus’s voice came through.
“We found the vehicle.”
Derek stood.
“Where?”
“Eight blocks from her building.”
“Driver?”
“Gone.”
Derek’s jaw tightened.
“What about the plates?”
“Fake.”
“Cameras?”
“Someone wiped them.”
Derek glanced toward Jasmine.
She was awake.
Listening.
He walked into the hallway.
“Any connection to Victor?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.”
Derek closed his eyes.
“Tell me.”
“The vehicle was leased through a shell company connected to the Vale Group.”
Derek’s expression became murderous.
Victor Vale.
His oldest enemy.
The man who had tried to destroy Drake Industries for three years.
The man who had lost a brother during a war between their families.
The man who had sworn to make Derek watch everything he loved disappear.
Derek returned to the apartment.
Jasmine sat upright.
“Who is Victor?”
Derek stared at her.
“How much do you know about your father?”
She frowned.
“My father?”
“Did he ever tell you why he left?”
Jasmine’s expression hardened.
“He didn’t leave.”
Derek went still.
“He died.”
“When?”
“I was nine.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Derek studied her carefully.
“Are you certain?”
“My mother told me.”
Something about her answer disturbed him.
He sat across from her.
“Jasmine, your father’s name wasn’t Cole.”
She stared.
“What?”
“Cole was your mother’s maiden name.”
“No.”
“His real name was Samuel Carter.”
Jasmine shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
Derek opened a file.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Old newspaper articles.
A marriage certificate.
A photograph of a younger Samuel.
Jasmine stared.
The face was unfamiliar.
Yet there was something in the eyes.
Something she recognized immediately.
Her own eyes.
“He worked for my father.”
Derek corrected himself.
“He worked for my family.”
She looked up.
“Your father?”
“My grandfather.”
Derek leaned back.
“Samuel Carter was an accountant for the Drake organization. He discovered someone was stealing millions through shell companies.”
“Who?”
“Victor’s father.”
Jasmine’s hands began trembling.
“That’s why he was killed?”
“I believe so.”
“My mother said it was an accident.”
“She lied.”
Jasmine stood abruptly.
“You don’t know that.”
“I checked the police report.”
“What did it say?”
“Brake failure.”
She froze.
Then Derek placed another photograph on the table.
A mechanic.
A man standing beside an old black sedan.
“What am I looking at?”
“The mechanic who inspected your father’s car.”
“He died twenty years ago.”
“Before he died, he left a statement.”
Derek slid it toward her.
Jasmine read.
Her vision blurred.
The mechanic had claimed the brakes were deliberately cut.
Her father had not died in an accident.
He had been murdered.
Jasmine’s knees weakened.
Derek caught her before she fell.
“I’m sorry.”
She clutched his shirt.
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I haven’t figured out.”
Jasmine looked at him.
“Maybe she was afraid.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe someone threatened her.”
“Maybe.”
“Then don’t blame her.”
Derek’s eyes softened.
“You’re defending the woman who has spent years convincing you that you’re worthless.”
“She’s still my mother.”
“And you’re still too kind.”
Jasmine looked away.
The following morning, Derek drove her to Drake Industries.
He wanted her nowhere near the apartment.
When they entered the underground garage, Marcus approached.
“We have another problem.”
Derek stopped.
“What?”
“The office server was breached last night.”
“Which files?”
“Employee records.”
Derek’s gaze shifted toward Jasmine.
“Mine?”
Marcus nodded.
Jasmine’s stomach dropped.
“What could they want?”
Derek’s voice became quiet.
“You.”
She looked at him.
“Why me?”
He didn't answer.
Because he knew the truth.
Because he had spent the entire night connecting pieces that should never have belonged together.
Jasmine wasn’t random.
She wasn’t merely the daughter of a murdered accountant.
She was the daughter of a man who had once held evidence capable of destroying half the criminal network operating along the East Coast.
And somewhere, someone believed Jasmine had access to that evidence.
At noon, a package arrived at the office.
No return address.
No fingerprints.
Derek opened it himself.
Inside was an old photograph.
Samuel Carter.
A woman standing beside him.
Jasmine’s mother.
And a third person.
Derek recognized him immediately.
Victor Vale.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
She doesn't know what her father left behind.
But you do.
Derek’s expression changed.
Marcus asked, “What is it?”
“Seal the building.”
Jasmine looked up.
“Why?”
Derek turned the photograph over.
Her mother’s face stared back.
“We have a traitor.”
Jasmine’s voice trembled.
“Inside your company?”
“Inside my organization.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded somewhere on the thirty-second floor.
People screamed.
Derek grabbed Jasmine and pushed her behind the concrete pillar.
“Stay down.”
Another gunshot.
Then another.
Security alarms began screaming through the building.
Derek drew his weapon.
The man who entered the garage wasn't an ordinary assassin.
He was one of Derek’s own security officers.
He looked directly at Jasmine.
Then smiled.
“Finally.”
Derek fired.
The man dropped behind a vehicle.
Jasmine stared in horror.
Derek pulled her into his arms.
“From this moment on, you do not leave my side.”
She looked up.
May you like
“Why?”
“Because whoever is hunting you has stopped hiding.”
