Chapter 11 - The First CarrowMarcus hit water.
He surfaced choking.
“Eli!”
“I'm here!”
A flashlight flickered nearby.
They were in a flooded tunnel.
Stone walls.
Ancient brick.
At the far end stood an iron gate.
Marcus pulled Eli toward it.
Something moved beneath the water.
A hand brushed Marcus's ankle.
He kicked violently.
They reached the gate.
Locked.
Eli shone the flashlight around.
“There.”
A symbol was carved into the stone.
The same pattern from the key.
Seventeen.
Marcus pressed it.
The gate opened.
Beyond it was a chamber.
A skeleton sat in a chair.
Its hands rested on a sealed box.
Marcus stared.
“First Carrow.”
Eli whispered:
“Who was he?”
Arthur's voice came through a speaker.
“Edmund Carrow.”
Marcus spun.
A camera was mounted in the corner.
Arthur appeared on a screen.
He was still imprisoned.
Marcus shouted:
“Dad!”
Arthur smiled weakly.
“I knew you'd find it.”
“What is this?”
“The beginning.”
Arthur explained.
Edmund Carrow hadn't founded Calder House.
He had built it to hide evidence.
Daniel Hale's family had controlled the original trust.
Edmund discovered it.
He stole the archive.
Then he created the hidden rooms.
The trust was divided.
Half to the Hales.
Half to the Carrows.
But there was a condition.
Only a direct descendant of both bloodlines could unlock the master archive.
Marcus understood.
“Noah.”
Arthur nodded.
“His mother was a Hale.”
Marcus stared.
“That means…”
“Yes.”
“Noah is the legal key.”
“Eli isn't enough.”
“Then why can Eli open the archive?”
“Because Margaret altered the system.”
Marcus stared at his father.
“She knew Noah was alive.”
Arthur looked away.
“Yes.”
Marcus felt betrayed again.
“She knew?”
“She found him.”
“And didn't tell me?”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Noah was working for them.”
Marcus froze.
“What?”
Arthur continued.
“He was raised inside the organization.”
The screen showed an old photograph.
Noah as a child.
Standing beside Daniel Hale.
Marcus whispered:
“He was one of them.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“He was pretending.”
Marcus stared.
Arthur continued.
“Noah has spent years sabotaging them from inside.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
“Because someone discovered him.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked at the screen.
“Your aunt.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Susan is dead.”
Arthur nodded.
“Exactly.”
The implication hit him.
“The woman pretending to be Susan?”
Arthur said:
“She's the one who exposed Noah.”
Marcus looked around.
Then he saw the sealed box.
A faint light blinked.
Eli approached.
“What's inside?”
“Proof,” Arthur said.
Marcus opened it.
Inside was a video drive.
He activated it.
A recording appeared.
Noah stood in a dark room.
He looked directly at the camera.
“If you're watching this, I'm probably dead.”
Marcus's chest tightened.
Noah continued:
“Daniel doesn't control the trust.”
Marcus frowned.
“Then who does?”
Noah looked terrified.
“The person controlling Daniel.”
A pause.
“She has been inside your family for decades.”
Marcus stared.
“No.”
Noah continued.
“She isn't Susan.”
He turned the camera.
A woman sat behind him.
Her face was obscured.
Noah said:
“She is Margaret's closest friend.”
Marcus's mind raced.
There had been one person.
A woman who attended every family funeral.
Every wedding.
Every birthday.
A woman who had remained close to the family for decades.
But before Marcus could remember her name, the screen went black.
A gunshot echoed through the tunnel.
Arthur disappeared from the screen.
Eli screamed.
Marcus turned.
At the far end of the chamber stood Noah.
Alive.
Holding a gun.
He looked at Marcus.
Then at Eli.
Then at the skeleton.
And whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
He raised the gun.
May you like
Not at Marcus.
At himself.
