Chapter 4 - THE RED LEDGEREverything happened at once.
Julian heard Elena scream.
Daniel Sterling staggered backward.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Julian tackled his father to the ground as another shot shattered the windshield of the SUV.
“MOVE!”
Security instinct took over.
He grabbed Elena and pushed her behind the concrete wall near the rooftop access door.
Margaret pulled Daniel into cover.
“Dad!”
Julian looked at the wound.
“Where's the bullet?”
Daniel coughed.
“Shoulder.”
“That's not a shoulder wound.”
“It missed my heart.”
“How do you know?”
Daniel smiled weakly.
“Because it has missed it before.”
Julian stared.
His father had been shot before.
How many times?
By whom?
The answers suddenly seemed too large to fit inside one night.
A third shot struck the rooftop.
Concrete exploded.
“Down!”
Julian shielded Daniel with his body.
Elena clutched the baby.
“Julian!”
“I've got you.”
A black SUV screeched onto the rooftop from the opposite ramp.
Julian expected attackers.
Instead, the doors opened.
Four Sterling security agents stepped out.
The first shouted, “Mr. Sterling, get in!”
Julian hesitated.
Daniel grabbed his wrist.
“Not them.”
Julian looked at his father.
“How do you know?”
“Because they work for Chloe.”
Julian turned.
The four men were approaching.
Weapons drawn.
Elena's face changed.
“Chloe?”
Julian remembered her question in the cathedral.
Did she find something?
He had thought Chloe was afraid because of the wedding.
Maybe she had been afraid because of something else.
Julian picked up a loose metal pipe.
“Everybody move.”
The first guard raised his gun.
A shot rang out.
But before it reached them, one of the guards collapsed.
A woman stood behind him.
She had dark hair.
Black clothes.
A pistol in each hand.
She fired twice more.
The remaining guards dropped.
Then she looked at Julian.
“You still trust your security team?”
Julian stared.
“Who are you?”
She lowered her gun.
“Someone your wife tried to kill.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Who?”
The woman looked at her.
“Your old investigator.”
Elena's face went pale.
“Rebecca?”
“Yes.”
Julian looked from one woman to the other.
“What investigator?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“The woman who found the payments.”
Julian's blood ran cold.
“The transactions.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Your father didn't fake his death.”
“Then why?”
“Because he discovered your company was laundering billions through a network that didn't belong to Sterling Holdings.”
Julian stared.
“My company.”
“No.”
Rebecca pointed to the red ledger.
“His company.”
Daniel slowly sat up.
“You're late.”
Rebecca gave him an angry look.
“You're alive because I'm late.”
Daniel smiled.
“Fair.”
Julian couldn't take it anymore.
“Someone explain everything.”
Daniel looked at Elena.
“You first.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then I'll tell him.”
Elena's eyes filled with anger.
“You promised.”
Daniel looked at the baby.
“I promised to keep him alive.”
“By destroying his father?”
“By keeping his father ignorant.”
Julian stepped forward.
“You used me.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“You were sixteen.”
“What?”
“When you joined the company, you thought the money came from investments.”
Julian stared.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your grandfather built Sterling Holdings with drug money.”
Silence.
Julian laughed once.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“I spent twenty years trying to clean it.”
“And?”
“I failed.”
The red ledger fell from his coat.
Julian picked it up.
The leather was soft from years of handling.
He opened it.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Codes.
One page made his stomach turn.
CHLOE MERCER
Under her name were dozens of payments.
Julian looked at Elena.
“She knew.”
Elena said nothing.
Julian turned another page.
There it was.
His own name.
Then another.
His mother's name.
The mayor.
A judge.
Three senators.
A federal prosecutor.
A dozen executives.
The ledger wasn't just a list of crimes.
It was a map of power.
Julian closed it.
“Who wants this?”
Daniel looked toward the city.
“Everyone.”
“Who is behind tonight?”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“The person who ordered your divorce.”
Julian stared.
“What?”
Daniel nodded toward Elena.
“They needed her removed from the company.”
“Why?”
“Because she found the ledger.”
Elena's eyes closed.
Julian turned toward her.
“You had it?”
“I found part of it.”
“Where?”
“Your father's private office.”
Julian felt betrayed.
“You knew all this.”
“I knew enough to know I would die if I stayed.”
“You let me believe you were unstable.”
“You believed it.”
The words cut deep.
Rebecca checked the rooftop.
“We need to leave.”
Julian nodded.
Then his father's eyes fixed on the baby.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
Daniel looked directly at Julian.
“Your son isn't just your heir.”
Julian waited.
“He is the reason they are willing to kill everyone in this family.”
Elena tightened her arms around Daniel.
“Why?”
Daniel whispered:
“Because your son was born carrying evidence.”
Julian frowned.
“What evidence could a newborn possibly carry?”
Daniel reached for the baby's blanket.
Elena pulled away.
“Don't.”
“Look at his wrist.”
Julian did.
A tiny red mark curved around the baby's wrist.
A crescent.
Daniel's face turned grim.
“It appeared when he was born?”
Elena nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at it.
Then he looked at Julian.
“The mark isn't a birthmark.”
A distant siren wailed.
Rebecca looked toward the eastern skyline.
“They found us.”
Julian picked up the ledger.
“Where are we going?”
Daniel stood.
“Under the city.”
Julian frowned.
“That's not an answer.”
“It is tonight.”
They ran toward the service elevator.
Behind them, a sniper's rifle flashed again.
The bullet struck the red ledger in Julian's hand.
One page tore free.
May you like
And Julian realized the bullet had not been aimed at him.
It had been aimed at the page.
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