Chapter 14 - The Final NameThe evidence was going public. But the person controlling the release had one last secret.
The Blackwell system completed at 2:13 a.m.
Millions of documents were released simultaneously.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Audio files.
Videos.
Witness statements.
Every hidden transaction.
Every payment.
Every person who had ever received money from Victor Shaw.
Within hours, Kane Automotive collapsed.
By sunrise, Richard Kane had been arrested.
Victor Shaw survived long enough to face charges.
Several officials resigned.
Businesses shut down.
Banks froze accounts.
The world finally saw what Richard had spent twenty years hiding.
But something was wrong.
One file had not been released.
The final file.
BLACKWELL_MASTER.
It required one final password.
I tried everything.
Thomas couldn't solve it.
My father couldn't remember it.
My mother refused to guess.
Then Derek woke up.
He was in the hospital.
Weak.
Connected to machines.
I showed him the file.
He stared at the name.
“Master file?”
“Yes.”
“What's the password?”
He smiled.
“You already know.”
“No, I don't.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“Your mother taught it to me.”
My mother stepped closer.
“What did I teach you?”
Derek looked at her.
“Something you told Evan when he was little.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Derek smiled.
“Numbers are honest.”
My heart stopped.
My old accounting phrase.
The phrase I used every time I trained junior accountants.
Numbers are honest.
I typed:
NUMBERSAREHONEST.
The file opened.
Inside was one final document.
It wasn't financial.
It was a list of victims.
Hundreds of names.
People who had been threatened.
Blackmailed.
Destroyed.
Murdered.
At the bottom were four names.
Edward Voss.
My father.
My mother.
Thomas Bell.
Next to each name was the truth.
Thomas had survived.
My father had survived.
My mother had survived.
Edward had not.
Then I saw the fifth name.
Derek Kane.
Status:
PENDING.
I looked at Derek.
He stared at the screen.
“What does pending mean?”
I scrolled.
There was a note.
“Derek Kane is not a victim.”
My pulse quickened.
“He is an asset.”
Derek looked confused.
Another line appeared.
“Subject was trained from childhood to become successor.”
I looked at my mother.
She shook her head.
“No.”
I continued scrolling.
The final document explained something nobody knew.
Richard had never intended Derek to inherit Kane Automotive.
Victor had.
Derek had been groomed to become the next Chairman.
His entire rebellion had been monitored.
His apparent betrayal of Richard had been expected.
Even his cooperation with us might have been part of the plan.
I looked at Derek.
“Were you working for Victor?”
“No.”
“Were you?”
He looked at his father.
Richard whispered:
“Derek.”
Derek's face was filled with confusion.
“I don't remember.”
That frightened me more than any confession.
Thomas stepped into the room.
He looked at the screen.
“It's not true.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I wrote that file.”
We all turned.
Thomas continued.
“I created it as a decoy.”
“For Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is it in Blackwell?”
“Because someone replaced the original.”
Silence.
Someone had altered Blackwell.
Someone had access to the master archive.
Someone who had survived.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown.
One sentence:
“You finally found me.”
Then a photograph appeared.
Thomas.
Standing beside a man.
The man was Edward Voss.
Alive.
I stared at the screen.
Thomas went pale.
“That can't be.”
The message continued.
“Tell Evan the fifty-dollar BMW was never the beginning.”
A second message arrived.
“It was the final test.”
Then the sender's name appeared.
EDWARD VOSS.
My father whispered:
“Impossible.”
I zoomed in on the photograph.
Edward was older.
But unmistakable.
Alive.
Standing behind him was another person.
A woman.
Her face was blurred.
Only one detail was visible.
A small scar above her eyebrow.
My mother touched her own eyebrow.
I looked at her.
She backed away.
“Evan…”
“What?”
Her face turned white.
“I know that woman.”
“Who is she?”
My mother whispered:
“My sister.”
I froze.
“My aunt died before I was born.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at the photograph.
“She died twelve years ago.”
Then the lights went out.
A final message appeared on my phone.
“Come alone.”
“Bring the money.”
“Bring the BMW.”
“And don't bring Thomas.”
May you like
I looked at him.
Thomas was already gone.
