Chapter 11 - The Deal That Cost Me EverythingDaniel climbed into the vehicle.
Nathan didn't lower his gun.
For several seconds, the brothers sat facing one another, separated by five years of lies and a single weapon.
“You're alive,” Nathan said.
“Yes.”
“You let me mourn you.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me visit your grave.”
Daniel looked down.
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Nathan struck him across the face.
The sound cracked through the car.
Daniel staggered against the door.
I gasped.
Nathan raised his hand again, then stopped.
For one terrible moment, I thought he might shoot his brother.
Instead, he dropped his fist into his lap and stared at the floor.
“I buried a coffin that contained someone else's body,” he whispered. “I spent five years wondering whether you suffered before you died.”
Daniel wiped the blood from his lip.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserved much worse.”
“I know.”
The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
Then Daniel looked toward me.
“Grace, I'm sorry.”
I stared at him.
“Do you have any idea what your family did to us?”
“Yes.”
“No. You don't.”
My voice shook.
“I hid my daughter behind a laundry cart. I slept on a folded blanket and counted diapers because I was terrified to ask Nathan for help. I watched my sister disappear. I believed she was dead. I didn't know whether the man who fathered my child would take her away from me or leave us to die.”
I leaned forward.
“And you were alive the entire time.”
Daniel bowed his head.
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you tell us the truth?”
He looked at Nathan.
“Because our father had men watching every person who came near me. He had already killed one witness and threatened another. I thought if I disappeared completely, he'd stop looking.”
“And did he?” Nathan asked.
“No.”
Daniel reached into his coat.
Nathan immediately raised his gun.
“Slowly.”
Daniel withdrew a small black flash drive and placed it on the seat.
“Everything we need to destroy Thomas's operation is on this drive.”
Nathan didn't touch it.
“What does that have to do with Lily?”
“Thomas needs the succession documents signed before the end of the month. If the family recognizes an heir, control of several trusts and legitimate businesses will shift to Nathan's line. Thomas has spent years trying to ensure that no child of yours can inherit.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“He could have challenged the arrangement legally.”
“He doesn't want a legal challenge. He wants permanent control.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Thomas built the criminal side of the organization around fear. As long as everyone believes he's dead, he can operate without being watched by the police, the courts, or the family's legitimate board members. Victor handles the public face. Thomas controls the private one.”
“And you?”
“I tried to bring the whole thing down.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“By faking your death?”
“By pretending to cooperate until I had enough evidence to expose him.”
“Five years?”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“I made mistakes.”
Nathan's expression turned dangerous.
“You made a life out of mistakes.”
Daniel accepted the accusation without defending himself.
Then he turned toward Emily.
“I couldn't get her out.”
My sister's face tightened.
“You didn't try hard enough.”
Daniel looked devastated.
“I know.”
The driver took another turn.
Calder spoke through the front partition.
“We're clear for now. But there are two unmarked vehicles tracking us from three blocks away.”
Nathan looked at Daniel.
“Where can we go?”
“The old Blackwood estate.”
“No.”
“It's the one place Thomas won't expect us to use.”
Nathan stared at him.
“It's where I was shot.”
“Exactly.”
I looked between them.
“Why would Thomas avoid a place he already attacked?”
Daniel's answer made my skin crawl.
“Because he believes the building is still wired to respond to his security codes.”
He opened the flash drive case and revealed a second compartment containing a tiny key.
“The estate has an underground archive. My father stored original documents there, including the records of his disappearance and the real succession agreement.”
Nathan took the key.
“And the truth about Lily?”
Daniel nodded.
“The archive contains the hospital's original records too. I found them before Thomas discovered I was alive.”
“Then why didn't you send them?”
“Because the person who altered the records was still working inside Nathan's organization.”
Nathan went still.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Calder.
The security chief's face didn't change.
But his right hand moved toward his jacket.
Nathan saw it.
“Calder.”
The room froze.
Calder withdrew his hand slowly.
In it was a small silver pistol.
“Mr. Blackwood,” he said quietly. “I can explain.”
Nathan raised his weapon.
“Put it down.”
Calder looked at him.
Then he looked at me.
“Grace, I'm sorry.”
My blood turned cold.
Before anyone could move, Calder fired.
The bullet struck the vehicle's rear window.
Glass exploded into the cabin.
Nathan threw himself across me and Emily as the driver swerved violently. Daniel grabbed Calder's arm, and the gun discharged a second time.
The car slammed into the curb.
I hit my shoulder against the door.
Lily wasn't with us.
That was the only thought I could hold on to.
She was safe in the north safehouse.
We had kept her away from the danger.
We had done everything right.
Then Nathan shouted my name.
“Grace!”
I looked up.
Calder was gone.
The rear door hung open.
Daniel stumbled out into the street, blood running down his cheek.
Nathan climbed after him.
“Where is he?”
Daniel looked toward the intersection.
“Gone.”
Nathan turned to the driver.
“Get us moving!”
But the driver was slumped over the steering wheel.
He wasn't moving.
I pressed two fingers against his neck.
Nothing.
I looked at Nathan.
He understood immediately.
For a moment, the world seemed to narrow to a single point.
Another man dead.
Another person lost because of the Blackwood family.
Then Nathan's phone rang.
He answered.
“Speak.”
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
“Mr. Blackwood, this is the nurse at your safehouse.”
Nathan's face changed.
“What happened?”
The nurse was crying.
“Sir, someone breached the outer security gate.”
My heart stopped.
“No,” I whispered.
Nathan gripped the phone.
“Where is my daughter?”
A pause.
Then the nurse answered.
“We found the guards unconscious. The child is gone.”
I couldn't hear anything after that.
Not Daniel shouting.
Not the sirens in the distance.
Not Nathan ordering every available man to find Lily.
All I heard was the silence where my daughter's voice should have been.
The nurse's final words reached us through the phone.
“They left something behind, sir.”
Nathan's voice dropped to a whisper.
“What?”
“A note.”
He closed his eyes.
Then she read it aloud.
BRING THE SUCCESSION DOCUMENTS TO THE BLACKWOOD ESTATE. COME WITHOUT THE MOTHER.
May you like
A second line followed.
OR YOUR DAUGHTER WILL NEVER CALL YOU DADA AGAIN.
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