Chapter 6 - Nathan couldn't move.He had imagined his father's return a thousand times.
In dreams.
In nightmares.
In drunken memories.
But never like this.
Marcus stood under the flickering warehouse light, older than the man Nathan remembered.
His face was thinner.
A scar cut through his eyebrow.
His beard was streaked with gray.
But the eyes were the same.
Nathan whispered,
“Dad?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.”
Nathan's gun remained pointed at the floor.
“You're alive.”
“For twelve years.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
Marcus glanced at Maggie.
“Because coming home would have killed you.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“My mother too?”
Marcus's face changed.
“She wasn't killed.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
“She helped me disappear.”
“She died of cancer.”
“No.”
Marcus shook his head.
“They poisoned her.”
Nathan's breath caught.
“Who?”
“Arthur.”
Maggie looked down.
Marcus continued.
“Your mother discovered what Arthur had built inside Vale Harbor. She found the protection network. The payments. The names.”
“What was the book?”
“The original ledger.”
“And Thomas?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“He found the final pages.”
Nathan remembered the accident report.
“Did Arthur kill him?”
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
“Yes.”
Maggie looked away.
Nathan saw the grief on her face.
“You knew.”
“I did.”
Nathan turned toward her.
“You knew my father was alive.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Twelve years.”
His voice hardened.
“And you worked in my house?”
“Yes.”
“To protect me?”
“Yes.”
“Or spy on me?”
Maggie met his eyes.
“Both.”
Nathan lowered his weapon.
He was angry.
Confused.
Betrayed.
Before he could speak, Marcus stepped toward him.
“There isn't much time.”
“Then start talking.”
Marcus looked at the documents.
“The people behind Arthur aren't interested in revenge.”
“What do they want?”
“Control.”
“Control of what?”
“The Vale Foundation.”
Nathan frowned.
“My father's charitable foundation?”
Marcus shook his head.
“You think it's a charity.”
“What is it?”
“A financial pipeline.”
“To where?”
Marcus looked toward the ceiling.
“The world.”
Nathan waited.
Marcus continued.
“For twelve years, Arthur has moved billions through companies owned by shell corporations. The money funds judges, politicians, police departments, private security firms, shipping companies.”
Nathan stared.
“You're saying my family built a global criminal network.”
“I built the first part.”
Silence.
Nathan looked at him.
“You.”
Marcus nodded.
“I thought I could control it.”
Maggie interrupted.
“You couldn't.”
Marcus looked at her.
“No.”
“What changed?”
“Thomas.”
Nathan picked up the birth certificate again.
“And this?”
Marcus's face went pale.
“That isn't your brother.”
Nathan frowned.
“Then who is it?”
Marcus looked at Maggie.
She whispered,
“It's the child your mother had before she married Marcus.”
Nathan stared.
“Why hide that?”
Marcus answered.
“Because that child is still alive.”
The warehouse went silent.
Nathan looked toward the entrance.
“Where?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he said one word.
“Arthur.”
Nathan felt a chill.
“You're saying Arthur has my mother's other child?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Your mother's other child became Arthur.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
“What?”
Marcus pointed at the birth certificate.
The child's name was Elias Cain.
Arthur Cain's real name.
Nathan looked at the documents.
Then at his father.
“My godfather…”
“Was your brother.”
Nathan's mind raced.
“That makes no sense.”
“He changed his identity after your mother gave him up.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother believed he was dangerous.”
Maggie stepped closer.
“And she was right.”
A gunshot cracked.
Marcus fell.
Nathan screamed.
Blood spread across his father's shirt.
Maggie pulled Nathan behind a crate.
A red laser moved across the wall.
Marcus tried to breathe.
Nathan crawled toward him.
“Dad!”
Marcus grabbed Nathan's wrist.
“One thing.”
“What?”
Marcus pressed something into his hand.
A small silver pendant.
“Your mother kept this.”
Nathan stared.
His father's eyes began to close.
“Find the room beneath the church.”
“What church?”
Marcus whispered,
“Where Arthur was baptized.”
Then he went still.
Nathan stared at him.
Maggie touched Marcus's neck.
“No pulse.”
Nathan looked at her.
“He just came back.”
“And now he's gone again.”
The warehouse doors suddenly exploded inward.
Maggie grabbed Nathan.
“Run.”
Nathan clutched the pendant.
Behind them, dozens of footsteps flooded the warehouse.
May you like
And from somewhere in the darkness, Arthur Cain laughed.
“Welcome home, brother.”
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