Chapter 17 - The Brother Who Fooled EveryoneAdrian read the letter.
Again.
Then again.
“You think Toby is involved?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“There’s another possibility.”
“What?”
“He was protecting us.”
“By pretending to be sick?”
“Maybe.”
I remembered childhood.
Toby had always been fragile.
Too many medications.
Too many hospital visits.
Too many nights when I thought I might lose him.
Could all of it have been a lie?
We found him three hours later.
Not in a hospital.
At a warehouse.
Standing beside Victor Duca.
I felt something inside me break.
“Toby.”
He turned.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
“Cara.”
Adrian raised his gun.
“Step away from him.”
Toby smiled.
“You still think you’re the protector.”
Adrian stared.
“What did you do?”
Toby looked at me.
“I kept you alive.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You almost died.”
“Yes.”
“You let them think you were sick.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody investigates a dying boy.”
Silence.
He stepped forward.
“Mom knew Black Ledger would come for you.”
“So you joined them?”
“No.”
He looked at Victor.
“I joined the man who controlled them.”
Victor smiled.
Toby continued.
“I needed access.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
He handed Adrian a drive.
“The final ledger.”
Adrian took it.
“Why give it to me?”
Toby looked at me.
“Because it doesn’t belong to Adrian.”
He pointed at me.
“It belongs to Cara.”
I stared.
Victor’s face suddenly changed.
“Stop.”
Toby smiled.
For the first time, Victor looked genuinely afraid.
Toby pressed a button.
Every phone in the room received the same notification.
BLACK LEDGER WILL BE PUBLIC IN 10 MINUTES.
Victor shouted:
“Kill him!”
Gunmen raised their weapons.
Toby looked at me.
May you like
“Run.”
Then the shooting began.
