Chapter 9 - The Father Who Never DiedAdrian didn't speak for several minutes.
“My father died seventeen years ago.”
Claire looked at the phone.
“Apparently he didn't.”
Adrian's expression was unreadable.
They traced the call to an abandoned warehouse.
When they arrived, the building was empty.
Except for a chair in the center.
A tape recorder sat on it.
Adrian pressed play.
Static.
Then a familiar voice.
Jonathan Whitmore.
Claire stopped breathing.
“My daughter…”
The recording continued.
“If you're hearing this, then the plan failed.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“I wanted you protected.”
Her father's voice sounded tired.
“Evelyn and I built the Meridian Network to monitor criminal organizations.”
Claire whispered, “Mom.”
“Yes. She helped me.”
Adrian stared at the recorder.
Jonathan continued.
“Adrian, your mother betrayed us.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“She sold information to Halcyon.”
The recording crackled.
“But she wasn't the mastermind.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Victor?”
Jonathan laughed softly.
“No.”
Silence.
“The mastermind is someone neither of you suspects.”
The recorder stopped.
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Who?”
He rewound the tape.
Nothing.
The message was designed to end there.
Suddenly a light appeared in the warehouse.
A projector turned on.
Images filled the wall.
People.
Politicians.
Judges.
Businessmen.
Police officers.
And then Claire saw Mason.
Then Victor.
Then her uncle.
Then a woman she hadn't expected.
Her own mother.
Claire stepped backward.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
“That's not possible.”
The projector displayed dates.
Money transfers.
Meetings.
Codes.
Claire read one line.
EVELYN WHITMORE: OPERATIVE 07.
Her mother's photograph appeared beside it.
Claire felt betrayed all over again.
“What did she do?”
Adrian shook his head.
“We don't know.”
A door slammed.
Victor walked into the warehouse.
Two armed men beside him.
Adrian raised his weapon.
Victor smiled.
“You finally understand.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Where's my mother?”
Victor nodded.
“She told me you'd come.”
“You have her?”
“Yes.”
“Then take me to her.”
Victor smiled.
“Not yet.”
He looked at Adrian.
“First, I want you to know what your mother did.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Victor threw a folder onto the floor.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Bank records.
One photograph showed Adrian's mother standing beside Jonathan Whitmore.
Another showed her handing money to Mason's father.
A third showed her meeting Victor.
Claire stared.
“What is this?”
Victor smiled.
“She betrayed both families.”
Adrian looked furious.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
Victor held up a final photograph.
Adrian's mother.
Claire's mother.
Together.
Standing over a dead body.
Claire stared.
The dead man was her father.
Her blood turned cold.
“That's impossible.”
Victor smiled.
“Your father wasn't killed in a plane crash.”
He stepped closer.
“He was murdered before the plane ever left the ground.”
Claire stared at him.
“By whom?”
Victor looked at Adrian.
“Ask him.”
Adrian's face went white.
Claire turned toward him.
“Adrian?”
He looked at her.
May you like
And for the first time since she had met him, the Black Wolf looked truly afraid.
“I was there.”
