Chapter 6 - My Brother's Final WarningChen insisted Eleanor leave the mansion immediately.
She refused.
“Julian is somewhere in this city, and I'm not going to sit in a safe house while other people decide whether he lives.”
“Your determination is admirable,” Chen replied, “but it won't stop a bullet.”
“Then tell me how to stop the person holding it.”
For several seconds, Chen studied her.
At last, he placed the metal case on the library table.
“Your father designed a contingency plan. The phone contains fragments of a ledger, but the complete evidence was divided among three locations. He believed someone would eventually obtain the phone. Whoever possessed it would then be forced to reveal themselves.”
“Why divide the evidence?”
“Because Richard knew that the person who destroyed your family was powerful enough to access the courts, the police, and the press.”
“And Julian knows where the remaining evidence is?”
“Possibly.”
“What does he know about Theron?”
Chen glanced toward the doorway.
Theron had disappeared.
“That,” Chen said, “is a question you should ask your husband.”
Eleanor almost laughed.
“My husband has spent seven years lying to me.”
“Then ask the question he is most afraid to answer.”
Before she could respond, Desmond entered carrying a telephone.
“Mrs. Ashworth, someone left this at the front gate.”
The screen displayed a video message.
A man sat in a metal chair beneath a flickering bulb.
He was older than the boy in the photograph, with dark hair that had begun to gray at the temples. A deep scar crossed his left cheek.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
“Julian,” Eleanor whispered.
He raised his head.
“Ellie. If you're watching this, don't come looking for me.”
Her knees weakened.
Julian continued.
“I'm sorry I let you believe I was dead. I thought Father had gotten you out. I thought you were safe.”
Someone moved behind him.
Julian glanced off-camera, then lowered his voice.
“Listen carefully. Theron didn't arrange the crash. His father did. Theron was a child. But when he learned what happened, he made a choice.”
Eleanor leaned toward the screen.
“What choice?”
Julian's face tightened.
“He traded my location for your life.”
A shadow crossed his expression.
“He gave me to them, Ellie.”
The video glitched.
When the picture returned, Julian was looking directly into the camera.
“I need you to remember something Father told us when we were little. If anyone ever offers you the truth in exchange for the safety of someone you love, it's not the truth they're selling.”
A loud bang came from somewhere behind him.
Julian flinched.
“They're coming. Don't trust the first person who claims they rescued me.”
The screen went black.
Eleanor's heart pounded against her ribs.
“He gave Julian away?”
Chen said nothing.
She turned toward him.
“Did he?”
“Your brother was arrested after the crash. Charles Ashworth arranged it, using evidence that made Julian appear responsible for the financial crimes your father had uncovered.”
“Theron said his father threatened him.”
“He did. But the threat does not erase the choice.”
Eleanor stared at the phone.
She remembered Theron at their wedding, his hand warm around hers.
He had promised to protect her.
Perhaps, in his own twisted way, he had tried.
But he had protected her by sacrificing everyone who mattered to her, then demanded that she thank him for it.
A new message appeared.
MIDNIGHT. ABANDONED STATION, PIER 17. COME ALONE.
Beneath it was a second line.
BRING THE JADE PENDANT.
Desmond shook his head.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“It's Julian.”
“Or someone pretending to be Julian.”
Chen examined the message.
“Desmond is right.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You told me my brother might be alive. Now he is asking me to meet him.”
“Which is why we should assume the message was designed to bring you into a trap.”
“Then we'll prepare for a trap.”
Chen almost smiled.
“Your father had the same habit of disagreeing with sensible people.”
“Did it work?”
“Occasionally.”
At 11:30 p.m., Eleanor left the estate in a plain black coat, accompanied by Chen and two discreet security specialists.
They did not approach Pier 17 directly. Chen parked three streets away and instructed Eleanor to remain inside the vehicle.
She lasted eleven seconds.
Then she opened the door.
“Miss Kingsley.”
“I spent twenty-six years being told to wait. I'm done waiting.”
She walked toward the abandoned railway station.
Rain soaked the pavement. The station had been closed for decades, its entrance covered in rust and ivy.
A figure stood beneath the broken clock.
“Julian?”
The man raised his face.
For one suspended moment, she saw the boy who used to carry her on his shoulders through the Kingsley garden.
Then he stepped into the light.
It wasn't Julian.
It was Theron.
He held a small silver pistol pointed toward the ground.
“I'm sorry,” he said.
Eleanor stopped.
“You lied to me again.”
“I needed you to come here.”
“Why?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the jade pendant.
Her breath caught.
“Where did you get that?”
“Vivienne took it from Desmond.”
“Then give it back.”
“Not until you listen.”
Behind him, a train signal flickered red.
Theron glanced toward the empty tracks.
“Your brother is alive, Eleanor. But if Chen gets that ledger, he will die.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian is the only person who can identify the man who ordered the crash.”
Eleanor felt the air leave her lungs.
“Who?”
Theron raised his eyes.
“My father.”
A shot rang out.
Theron jerked backward, blood blooming across his shoulder.
Eleanor screamed.
A figure emerged from the darkness behind the station.
Vivienne.
May you like
She lowered her gun and smiled at Eleanor.
“Now,” she said, “perhaps we can finally have an honest conversation.”
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