Chapter 9 - Room 902 contained no list.It contained a man.
Dominic found me before I could reach the door.
“You said you'd stay away.”
“I lied.”
I stared.
He looked exhausted.
Blood stained his collar.
“Where were you?”
“Looking for Vanessa.”
“Did you find her?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
He held up the brass key.
“I got the same one.”
We entered together.
The room was empty.
Except for a wall covered in photographs.
Hundreds.
My father.
Dominic.
Vanessa.
Elias.
Michael.
And me.
Photographs of me delivering food.
Walking into my apartment.
Buying groceries.
Leaving the dialysis center.
Sleeping in my car.
Someone had watched me for years.
Not seven weeks.
Years.
I walked closer.
One photograph had been taken eleven years earlier.
Me at sixteen.
Standing beside my father outside the gym.
I turned to Dominic.
“Who did this?”
He stared.
“I don't know.”
A hidden speaker clicked on.
My father's voice came through.
“Avery.”
I froze.
“If you made it here, you finally understand.”
Dominic looked around.
The recording continued.
“Do not trust the person who tells you I am dead.”
A pause.
“Because I am not.”
My heart nearly stopped.
“I couldn't return because The Crown was watching everyone around me.”
Then:
“Dominic knows more than he has told you.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
My father continued.
“He was forced to choose.”
I looked at Dominic.
“Between what?”
“Your family and his organization.”
The recording crackled.
“He chose your family.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
The recording continued.
“Dominic paid for your mother's treatment for eight years.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He never told you.”
I looked at Dominic.
“You paid?”
He said nothing.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“You paid my mother's medical bills?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Your father asked me to.”
I stepped back.
All those months.
All those years.
The man I thought was part of the reason my life had collapsed had quietly kept my mother alive.
But then my father's voice said something that changed everything.
“Dominic also owes me a debt he has never repaid.”
The recording stopped.
A different voice came through.
Michael.
“Impressive.”
The lights went out.
Dominic pulled me down.
Gunfire ripped through the room.
We crawled behind the bed.
I heard footsteps.
Four.
No.
Six.
Dominic whispered:
“When I move, run left.”
I nodded.
He fired.
The attackers returned fire.
I sprinted left.
One man blocked me.
I struck his throat.
He dropped.
Another grabbed my waist.
I slammed him into the wall.
Dominic shot the light above us.
The room fell dark.
I moved by sound.
Breathing.
Footsteps.
Impact.
Silence.
When the emergency lights came back, four men were down.
Two had escaped.
Dominic was bleeding from his shoulder.
“You're hurt.”
“It's nothing.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I've had worse.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Sit.”
He looked at me.
“You're giving me orders?”
“Yes.”
For some reason, he almost smiled.
Then we heard clapping.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Michael Cross stood in the doorway.
Silver ring.
Black suit.
No weapon in his hands.
“You two make quite a pair.”
Dominic raised his gun.
Michael smiled.
“You could shoot me.”
“Tempting.”
“But then you'll never find Daniel.”
My finger tightened around the weapon.
“Where is he?”
Michael looked at me.
“Closer than you think.”
I stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
He smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
My stomach dropped.
“You've been using my mother.”
“No.”
He tilted his head.
“She has been using you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your mother knows where Daniel is.”
Dominic's face changed.
Michael continued.
“She has known since the beginning.”
I shook my head.
“That's impossible.”
“Then ask her.”
He dropped a phone.
The screen showed a live video.
My mother sat in a room.
Vanessa sat beside her.
Both were alive.
Both were staring at the camera.
Vanessa leaned toward my mother.
“Tell her.”
My mother started crying.
“Avery…”
“Tell me what?”
She looked directly into the camera.
Then whispered:
“Your father isn't the person you think he is.”
The video cut.
Michael smiled.
And disappeared.
Dominic stared at me.
I stared at the blank screen.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From my mother.
May you like
Three words.
Don't trust Daniel.
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