Chapter 14 - THE MAN BEHIND THE NAMEChristopher's father was supposed to have died seven years ago.
Cancer.
A private funeral.
Closed casket.
Christopher had always told me he hated talking about it.
Now he admitted the truth.
“He changed his identity.”
“Why?”
“He built the network.”
I felt sick.
“What is his name?”
Christopher whispered:
“Richard Miller.”
I froze.
“My father?”
“No.”
“Then why Miller?”
Christopher looked at me.
“Because he used your family name as one of his identities.”
Garrett stepped forward.
“This is insane.”
“I know.”
“Where is he?”
“Atlanta.”
“Where?”
Christopher pulled out his phone.
“I don't know.”
Then his screen lit up.
A message.
COME ALONE.
Attached was a location.
A warehouse near the airport.
Christopher looked at me.
“They have Brenda.”
We went.
Agent Bennett wanted a tactical team.
Garrett refused to wait.
The warehouse was almost empty.
One chair sat in the center.
Brenda was tied to it.
We freed her.
She was bruised.
“They've moved.”
“Who?”
“Ethan.”
“Where?”
She looked at Christopher.
“Your father.”
Christopher stared.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alive?”
Brenda nodded.
“He's been running everything.”
She pointed toward a monitor.
A live camera feed appeared.
Ethan stood inside a conference room.
Beside him was an older man.
Christopher went pale.
“Dad.”
The older man looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, son.”
Christopher stepped toward the screen.
“What do you want?”
“What I've always wanted.”
“Control.”
“No.”
His father smiled.
“The truth.”
The screen changed.
Bank records.
Government officials.
Judges.
Corporations.
Everything.
Then my father's name appeared.
“He was going to expose us.”
The man continued.
“So we removed him.”
My chest tightened.
“You killed my father.”
“Yes.”
Garrett moved toward the monitor.
“Why me?”
“Because your father refused to sell.”
“And my mother?”
“She chose survival.”
“And Rebecca?”
The man smiled.
“She was never the target.”
I stared.
“Then who was?”
He looked directly at me.
“You were the inheritance.”
The screen went black.
Then the building shook.
A bomb.
Glass shattered.
I fell.
Garrett pulled me beneath a steel table.
Christopher grabbed Brenda.
The ceiling began collapsing.
We crawled toward the exit.
A beam crashed down between us and Agent Bennett.
“GO!” she shouted.
We ran.
Outside, the warehouse exploded behind us.
I thought it was over.
Then I saw someone standing across the road.
Garrett saw him too.
The older man.
Christopher's father.
Alive.
He raised a gun.
Christopher stepped in front of me.
A shot rang out.
Christopher fell.
“NO!”
I ran toward him.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He looked at me.
“Rebecca...”
I dropped beside him.
His eyes struggled to stay open.
“I should have told you.”
“Stay awake.”
“I loved you.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I know.”
He smiled faintly.
Then he whispered:
“Not the safe.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The safe is a decoy.”
My blood turned cold.
“Where is the real ledger?”
He looked toward Garrett.
May you like
“Inside the wheelchair.”
Then he closed his eyes.
