Chapter 8 - Everything happened at once.Mark grabbed Emily.
David dropped behind the kitchen counter.
Bullets tore through the windows.
Glass exploded across the floor.
"Stay down!"
Mark returned fire.
The attackers were organized.
Three positions outside.
Maybe four.
David crawled toward the hallway.
He had no weapon.
Then he remembered something.
The garage.
His old hunting rifle.
He ran.
A bullet punched through the wall beside his head.
He reached the garage and opened the cabinet.
Empty.
David stared.
Someone had already taken it.
He heard footsteps behind him.
Turned.
A masked man stood in the doorway.
David lunged.
They crashed into the workbench.
The man was stronger.
He slammed David into the wall.
"You should've stayed dead."
David grabbed a wrench.
The attacker dodged.
Then suddenly froze.
David had his mask pulled halfway off.
He recognized the face.
Thomas.
His brother.
David couldn't move.
"Tom?"
Thomas stared at him.
"I'm sorry."
He raised the gun.
David whispered:
"Why?"
Thomas hesitated.
That hesitation saved David.
Mark appeared and fired.
Thomas escaped through the garage window.
David chased him into the yard.
"THOMAS!"
No answer.
The attackers disappeared.
Police sirens approached.
David stood in the rain.
Mark came beside him.
"Your brother tried to kill you."
David looked at him.
"Or stop them from killing me."
Mark nodded.
"Maybe."
David held up the red box.
"We need to know what's inside."
Back at the house, they examined the documents.
The flash drive was encrypted.
The photographs showed dozens of people.
Some were politicians.
Some judges.
Some CEOs.
One photograph made David freeze.
Mark.
David's best friend.
Taken fifteen years earlier.
Standing beside Thomas.
And Rebecca.
David stared.
"Mark."
Mark went still.
"What?"
"Why are you in this?"
Mark looked at the photograph.
His face changed.
"I don't know."
David slowly turned.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Mark stepped backward.
"I swear."
David remembered the warning.
Do not trust Rebecca.
Now Mark was in the photograph too.
Another file revealed a list.
Names.
Codename.
Status.
Rebecca Whitmore: ACTIVE.
Thomas Whitmore: ACTIVE.
Mark Carter: ACTIVE.
David stared.
His hands became cold.
"All of you were part of this."
Mark said nothing.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A voice spoke.
"Bring Elias to the river."
Mark looked at David.
The voice continued.
"He deserves to know what happened to James."
The call ended.
David stared.
"Where?"
Mark hesitated.
"The old river warehouse."
They went anyway.
The warehouse was empty.
A single lamp hung from the ceiling.
A chair stood in the center.
And on the chair was a laptop.
The screen turned on.
A video began.
James Holloway appeared.
Older.
Exhausted.
Alive.
David stopped breathing.
"James?"
James looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, Elias survived."
David stepped closer.
James continued.
"I couldn't protect you."
"Why did you leave me?"
"I didn't."
James looked off camera.
"They killed me."
David shook his head.
"But you're alive."
A bitter smile appeared.
"No."
The video glitched.
Then David realized.
The footage wasn't current.
It had been recorded years ago.
James leaned closer to the camera.
"They'll tell you the Black Ledger disappeared."
"It didn't."
"They'll tell you Rebecca betrayed you."
"She didn't."
David looked confused.
James whispered:
"The person who betrayed you was the only one you never suspected."
The screen went black.
Mark spoke softly.
"Who?"
A voice behind them answered.
"I was."
They turned.
Thomas stood in the doorway.
He removed his mask.
David raised his gun.
Thomas lifted both hands.
"I didn't kill you."
"You tried."
"I was trying to stop them from finding you."
"You were holding a gun."
"I was trying to scare you."
David laughed bitterly.
"You shot at my house."
Thomas looked at Mark.
"I didn't."
Mark's face went pale.
Thomas continued.
"There were two teams."
David frowned.
"Two?"
Thomas nodded.
"One trying to kill you."
"The other?"
"Trying to make sure you survived."
David lowered his weapon.
"Who sent the second team?"
Thomas stared at him.
"You did."
David's expression hardened.
"What?"
Thomas said:
"Before they erased your memory, you gave us one order."
"What order?"
Thomas whispered:
"If I ever see Elias alive again..."
A pause.
"...I must make sure he never remembers the truth."
Then the warehouse doors slammed shut.
Gas began filling the room.
Thomas shouted:
"GET DOWN!"
David collapsed.
The last thing he saw was Mark pulling a mask over his face.
And the last thought that crossed his mind was terrifying.
May you like
Maybe the person he trusted most...
was the one who had been lying to him for twelve years.
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