Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO KNEW EVERY SECRETThe blast threw me across the cabin.
Glass exploded through the room.
Victor hit the floor beside me.
My father disappeared behind a wall of smoke.
For several seconds, I could hear nothing except a high-pitched ringing.
Then Victor was dragging me toward the kitchen.
“Claire!”
“I’m okay.”
“That means nothing when you say it.”
Another explosion shook the foundation.
Thomas appeared through the smoke.
“Back door!”
We ran.
Or tried.
My injuries turned every step into fire.
Victor hooked one arm around my waist and practically carried me through the kitchen.
Bullets tore through the cabin walls.
Adrian’s men were firing from the woods.
Thomas kicked open the rear door.
“Dock!”
A narrow path led downhill toward the frozen lake.
We stumbled through the snow.
The night air sliced into my lungs.
Gunfire followed.
Victor returned shots blindly over his shoulder.
“Boat?” he shouted.
Thomas laughed.
“The lake is frozen!”
“Then why a dock?”
“Habit!”
Even now, Romanos apparently argued during firefights.
We reached the shoreline.
Thomas pointed toward a small utility shed.
Inside was a snowmobile.
“One vehicle?” Victor asked.
“I live alone.”
“Unhelpful.”
“You weren’t invited.”
Bullets struck the shed.
Victor shoved me behind the engine.
Thomas started the snowmobile.
“Claire gets on.”
Victor shook his head.
“All three.”
“It won’t carry three.”
“Then you take her.”
“No.”
I looked at both of them.
“Stop.”
They ignored me.
Victor grabbed Thomas’s coat.
“You get her across the lake.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Victor’s voice hardened.
“This is not a negotiation.”
I shoved his arm.
“Then stop treating it like one.”
He looked at me.
“I’m staying.”
“No.”
“Do you know another word?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Run.”
He lifted me onto the snowmobile.
I tried to get off.
Then Thomas suddenly fired past Victor.
A man fell from the tree line.
“Move!”
Victor slapped the rear of the snowmobile.
Thomas accelerated.
“VICTOR!”
He disappeared behind us as snow sprayed through the darkness.
I twisted around.
Gunfire flashed near the burning cabin.
Then something exploded.
The night turned orange.
“No!”
Thomas drove harder.
I hit his shoulder.
“Turn around!”
“We can’t!”
“He’s there!”
“He chose to stay!”
“I didn’t!”
The words tore out of me.
Thomas did not slow.
We crossed the frozen lake toward a line of trees on the opposite shore.
My phone had no signal.
My radio was dead.
Victor was somewhere behind us surrounded by men who knew his every strategy.
Because Adrian had helped build those strategies.
By sunrise, Thomas and I reached an abandoned ranger station.
There was no electricity.
No heat.
Only an emergency radio that worked intermittently.
I paced despite the pain.
Thomas watched from across the room.
“You’re reopening your wounds.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’ll survive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know Romanos.”
“That sentence doesn’t make me feel better.”
Thomas was silent.
I turned on him.
“You had nineteen years.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t get to keep saying that.”
His face tightened.
“You had nineteen years to find us.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every year.”
“Then where were you?”
“Hiding.”
“From Samuel?”
“From everyone.”
“Convenient.”
His expression sharpened.
“You think I wanted to lose you?”
“I think you chose something else.”
“I chose keeping you alive.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That’s everybody’s favorite excuse.”
He stepped closer.
“Claire.”
“No.”
“You deserve the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And the truth is uglier than abandonment.”
I stared at him.
“Try me.”
He sat slowly.
“When your mother and I disappeared, we planned to collect you and Daniel from your aunt before leaving the country.”
“I know.”
“Your mother reached the house first.”
My chest tightened.
“She found a car parked outside. Samuel’s man.”
“So she left us.”
“She believed if she approached, you would all be killed.”
I looked away.
“She called me. We agreed to wait two days.”
“And?”
“Then your aunt called.”
“What did she say?”
“That both children had been moved into protective custody.”
“We weren’t.”
“No.”
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was paid.”
I closed my eyes.
My aunt Linda.
The woman who raised us badly but technically raised us.
The woman who complained about every dollar we cost.
“You’re saying Samuel paid her?”
“Yes.”
“To keep us from you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at the floor.
“Because he wanted leverage if he ever found me.”
My stomach turned.
“So we were hostages and didn’t know it.”
“In a way.”
“Then why didn’t Samuel grab us years ago?”
“Because once your mother and I vanished, he had no idea where the ledger was.”
“You could have come back.”
“I did.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Five years later.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I watched you leave school.”
I could barely breathe.
“You saw me?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t speak to me?”
“No.”
I slapped him again.
He accepted it.
“You watched me?”
“I saw Daniel.”
My eyes burned.
“He needed you.”
“I know.”
“He was fifteen and working at a grocery store because I couldn’t pay everything!”
“I sent money.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Anonymous checks.”
My mind raced.
There had been checks.
Three or four times a year.
No return address.
My aunt always claimed they were charity funds.
“She took them.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I suspected.”
“You let her?”
“I couldn’t expose myself.”
“Daniel lost his college place because we couldn’t afford tuition.”
“I know.”
“You know everything from a distance, don’t you?”
He flinched.
Good.
I wanted him to hurt.
“I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t restore nineteen years.”
“No.”
The radio crackled.
We both turned.
Static.
Then a voice.
“Claire.”
Victor.
I lunged toward it.
“Victor!”
Static swallowed the signal.
Then again.
“Claire, answer.”
“I’m here!”
Thomas adjusted the frequency.
Victor’s voice cleared.
“I’m alive.”
My knees nearly gave out.
I grabbed the desk.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“You hate that word.”
“I’ve learned.”
A laugh escaped me.
Half relief.
Half anger.
“What happened?”
“Adrian lost twelve men.”
“And you?”
“Two guards injured.”
“How?”
“Giovanni.”
I blinked.
“Your father came back?”
“He never left the area.”
Of course he didn’t.
“Where is Adrian?”
“Gone.”
“Samuel?”
“Unknown.”
“What about the ledger?”
Thomas held it up.
“With us.”
Victor exhaled.
“Good.”
Something shifted in his voice.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Only everywhere.”
Thomas gave me a look.
Victor was silent for a second.
“I’m coming for you.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Not until you check Leo.”
“He’s safe.”
“With who?”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
“Victor?”
“My mother.”
“And Adrian had access to the estate.”
“He’s been locked out.”
“He designed half the security!”
Victor swore.
I could almost hear the realization hit him.
“I’m calling now.”
Static broke the signal.
Then the radio died.
I stared at Thomas.
“We need to go back.”
“The snowmobile is low on fuel.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will if we freeze halfway.”
Before I could argue, a vehicle engine approached outside.
Thomas grabbed his shotgun.
I reached for the gun Victor had given me.
The door opened.
Daniel stepped inside.
I nearly collapsed.
“What are you doing here?”
He grinned weakly.
“Apparently being kidnapped twice in one week makes security people nervous.”
Behind him stood Elena Romano and three guards.
I hugged Daniel carefully.
“Never do that again.”
“Do what?”
“Exist dangerously.”
“That sounds rich coming from you.”
Elena entered.
Her face was pale.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Victor called.”
I stepped back.
“Is Leo okay?”
She hesitated.
That hesitation stopped my heart.
“Where is Leo?”
Elena’s voice broke.
“He’s gone.”
The room tilted.
“What?”
“Someone triggered the fire alarms at the estate. We followed evacuation protocol.”
“Who had him?”
“His nanny.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
Victor’s private nanny.
The woman who had cared for Leo since infancy.
Dead.
Elena’s eyes filled.
“They found her beside the service road.”
Daniel whispered, “Jesus.”
I grabbed the edge of the table.
“Who took him?”
Elena handed me a phone.
A message filled the screen.
ONE BOY.
ONE LEDGER.
ONE BRIDE.
MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.
SAMUEL.
My blood turned cold.
“He wants me too.”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at the ledger.
“This is not Samuel.”
We all turned.
“What?”
“He wants the ledger. He doesn’t need Claire.”
Elena stared.
“Then who?”
Thomas looked toward the phone.
“Adrian.”
I frowned.
“Why would Adrian want me?”
Thomas opened the ledger.
Flipped to the final pages.
Then pointed toward a handwritten note.
BENNETT CHILDREN — BLOODLINE CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas’s face tightened.
“I never understood.”
Elena stepped closer.
Thomas turned another page.
A family tree had been drawn beside several coded account numbers.
At the bottom were two names.
CLAIRE BENNETT.
DANIEL BENNETT.
And above our father’s name was another.
ELIAS COLE.
Adrian’s last name.
Cole.
My skin prickled.
Thomas looked at me.
“Claire.”
His voice became strangely careful.
“The man you called your grandfather was not my father.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“My biological father was Elias Cole.”
Daniel sank into a chair.
Elena’s eyes widened.
“That would make Adrian…”
Thomas nodded.
“Family.”
I looked at the ledger.
Then at him.
“How close?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Elias had two sons.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“One was me.”
Silence.
“The other was Adrian’s father.”
My heart stopped.
“Adrian is my cousin.”
“Yes.”
And suddenly his obsession with me made horrifying sense.
This was not only about Victor.
Not only about the ledger.
Not only about the Romano Syndicate.
Adrian believed something in our shared bloodline belonged to him.
And now he had Leo.
My six-year-old reason for stepping in front of bullets.
I picked up Victor’s gun.
“Where are you going?” Daniel asked.
“To get him back.”
Thomas stood.
“Claire.”
I looked at the man who had spent nineteen years hiding.
“You can stay here.”
His face changed.
I continued.
“But I’m done letting men decide which people I’m allowed to lose.”
Then I turned toward Elena.
“Call Victor.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel wants the ledger.”
I checked the magazine.
“And Adrian wants me.”
“What are you planning?”
I looked at the message again.
One boy.
One ledger.
One bride.
May you like
Then I smiled without humor.
“I’m giving both men exactly what they think they want.”
Related Stories
