Chapter 14 - Sunrise Over BostonPier 17 was empty when we arrived.
No guards.
No cars.
No lights.
Just the harbor.
Cold wind.
Black water.
Elias walked beside me.
“Stay close.”
“I will.”
“You trust me?”
I looked at him.
“Not completely.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
We reached the warehouse.
The doors opened by themselves.
Inside stood three men.
Arthur Baron.
Victor Hale.
And my father.
I stopped breathing.
He looked exactly as I remembered.
The same dark hair.
The same coat.
The same smile.
Except he was older.
Much older.
“Adeline.”
My voice shook.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let us believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You left Mom.”
“I was protecting her.”
“You left us.”
His smile disappeared.
“I was protecting you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone says that.”
Elias stepped forward.
“What happened to Daniel?”
My father looked at him.
“Daniel chose this.”
“Where is he?”
“Close.”
Arthur laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
Victor raised his gun.
“Enough.”
Elias drew his weapon.
My father shouted:
“No!”
A gunshot exploded.
Arthur fell.
Victor turned.
The shot had come from behind him.
Gabriel emerged from the shadows.
He shot Victor.
Then dropped his weapon.
“I've had enough.”
My father looked at him.
“You betrayed us.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Elias.
“I betrayed you once.”
“Why?”
“To keep Daniel alive.”
My father closed his eyes.
“Where is Daniel?”
Gabriel pointed toward the lower floor.
“Behind the wall.”
We ran.
A hidden door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
And one chair.
Daniel sat in it.
Alive.
Older.
Thinner.
Scar across his face.
I stopped.
He looked at me.
“Hey, Addie.”
I couldn't move.
Then I ran.
He caught me.
I cried against his shoulder.
He whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You left us.”
“I had to.”
“No.”
He pulled back.
“I thought you were safer without me.”
“You were wrong.”
He smiled sadly.
“I know.”
Elias stood behind me.
Daniel looked at him.
“I owe you a life.”
Elias shook his head.
“You already paid it.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“No.”
He pointed at the monitors.
“I owe you the truth.”
On the screens appeared names.
Hundreds of them.
People across Boston.
Black Harbor.
Daniel had spent three years collecting evidence.
And the final file was marked:
ORIGIN.
He opened it.
The first name was my father's.
The second was Elias's father.
The third was Senator Thomas Reed.
Then a fourth.
I stared.
It was my own name.
ADELINE HAYES.
My blood froze.
Daniel looked at me.
“You were part of the plan from the beginning.”
“What?”
“Not because of who you are.”
“Then why?”
“Because of what you inherited.”
He opened another file.
DNA records.
Property documents.
Bank accounts.
Then a legal document.
My father had transferred ownership of a hidden trust into my name.
A trust worth over sixty million dollars.
Money Black Harbor had been trying to find for twenty years.
I stared.
“You're saying all of this happened because of money?”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“The money is nothing.”
“Then what is it?”
He looked at Elias.
“The trust contains something more valuable.”
“What?”
“The original Black Harbor ledger.”
I stared.
“But we already found the ledger.”
Daniel smiled.
“That was the decoy.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Boots.
Dozens.
Daniel's smile vanished.
“They found us.”
Elias loaded his gun.
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
Then he whispered:
“The man who started everything.”
The door opened.
Senator Thomas Reed walked inside.
And beside him stood Evan.
May you like
My brother was holding a gun.
Pointed at me.
