Chapter 4 - Nathan stopped breathing.“My mother?”
The speaker remained silent.
Maggie grabbed his arm.
“Don't respond.”
Nathan pulled away.
“My mother died when I was fourteen.”
“Yes.”
“Cancer.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he say someone killed her?”
Maggie's eyes remained fixed on the darkness.
“Because she knew.”
“Knew what?”
“The book.”
Nathan looked at the photographs again.
His mother appeared in several of them.
He had never seen those photographs.
She was standing beside Marcus.
Beside Thomas.
Beside Arthur Cain.
And in one photograph she was holding a young Nathan's hand.
The date was four months before she died.
Nathan stared.
“My father told me she was too sick to leave the house.”
“She wasn't.”
“What happened?”
Maggie didn't answer.
A metal door opened at the end of the corridor.
Inside was a narrow room.
A single table.
A chair.
A tape recorder.
Nathan approached.
The recorder contained one cassette.
His father's handwriting was written across it.
NATHAN.
Nathan pressed PLAY.
Static.
Then Marcus's voice.
“Nathan, if you're hearing this, they've probably already found you.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
His father's voice sounded older.
Tired.
Afraid.
“Don't trust Arthur.”
Nathan looked at Maggie.
The tape continued.
“Don't trust Owen.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“And whatever happens, don't believe the story about Pier Nine.”
The recording stopped.
Nathan stared at the machine.
“That was it?”
Maggie turned the cassette.
“There may be another side.”
There was.
Nathan pressed PLAY.
His father's voice returned.
“The book isn't a record of crimes.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“It's a list of people who paid for protection.”
Maggie looked at him.
“Protection from what?”
A long silence.
Then Marcus said:
“From me.”
Nathan felt cold.
The tape continued.
“When I discovered what Arthur was doing, I tried to expose him. But he had already bought the police, the harbor authority, judges, politicians, even members of my own company.”
Nathan swallowed.
“So my father wasn't running a criminal empire.”
“He was trying to escape one.”
Marcus's voice weakened.
“I made one mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I trusted Thomas.”
Maggie's face changed.
The tape continued.
“Thomas found the original ledger. He planned to take it outside the organization.”
A loud noise interrupted the recording.
Then Marcus said quietly:
“If Thomas is dead, Arthur did it.”
Nathan looked at Maggie.
She had tears in her eyes.
But she did not cry.
The recording ended.
Nathan stood perfectly still.
“Maggie.”
“Yes?”
“Why didn't you show me this years ago?”
“Because I was waiting for you to find it yourself.”
“Why?”
“Because if I gave it to you, they'd kill you immediately.”
Nathan looked around the secret room.
“Who are they?”
Maggie answered,
“The people who inherited your father's enemies.”
A sudden crash came from above.
Then another.
Nathan checked his phone.
Dozens of security alerts flashed.
Someone was inside the penthouse.
Maggie grabbed the tape.
“We have to go.”
They ran toward the elevator.
Halfway there, a gunman stepped from the shadows.
Nathan fired.
The man ducked.
Maggie tackled him from the side.
The gun went spinning.
Nathan kicked it away.
The man slammed Maggie against the wall.
She fought back.
Nathan grabbed him.
Together they forced him to the floor.
Nathan tore away the man's mask.
It was a young man he recognized.
His company's legal department.
Nathan stared.
“You.”
The man laughed.
“You really thought this was about your company?”
Nathan tightened his grip.
“Who sent you?”
The man looked at Maggie.
“You should have killed her twelve years ago.”
Then he bit down.
Nathan heard a crack.
The man stopped moving.
Maggie froze.
“He had a cyanide capsule.”
Nathan looked horrified.
“Why would someone do that?”
“Because people who work for Arthur don't expect to survive if they fail.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Arthur.”
Maggie nodded.
“But not the Arthur you know.”
“What does that mean?”
Maggie reached into the dead man's jacket.
She found a keycard.
The name printed on it was:
ARTHUR CAIN
Nathan's eyes widened.
“The same name.”
Maggie looked toward the elevator.
“Yes.”
Nathan understood.
“There are two Arthurs.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She held up the card.
“There are three.”
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