Chapter 8 - The Man Inside BaronMom was alive.
That sentence broke everything I had believed about my family.
She sat across from me in Elias's private office.
Evan had fallen asleep again.
I couldn't.
I couldn't even blink.
“Why didn't you come home?”
Mom's eyes filled with tears.
“Because coming home would have killed you.”
“You let us believe you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
She flinched.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
She looked at Elias.
“He has to hear this too.”
Elias closed the door.
Mom placed an old envelope on the table.
“Your father and Elias's father worked together.”
Elias's jaw tightened.
“But my father turned on him.”
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted out.”
“Of Black Harbor?”
“Yes.”
“Did Daniel know?”
“He found the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Mom opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs.
Shipping containers.
Bank accounts.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Victor Hale.
But another name appeared more often.
Gabriel Knox.
I looked at Gabriel.
He had followed us into the office.
His face was unreadable.
Mom stared at him.
“Tell them.”
Gabriel didn't speak.
Mom's voice trembled.
“Gabriel was the architect.”
Elias raised his gun.
I stood.
“No.”
Gabriel didn't move.
He slowly said:
“Yes.”
The silence was unbearable.
Elias's weapon remained raised.
“You betrayed me.”
“I did.”
“Three years.”
“Yes.”
“Daniel?”
“I never ordered Daniel killed.”
“Then who did?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Victor.”
Mom shook her head.
“Not Victor.”
Everyone turned.
Mom continued.
“Victor took orders from someone else.”
Elias lowered the gun slightly.
“Who?”
Mom looked at him.
“Your sister.”
Elias went completely still.
I had never heard him mention a sister.
“Elias has no sister,” Gabriel said.
Mom's eyes met his.
“That's what he was told.”
A knock came at the door.
One of Elias's guards entered.
“Boss, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone accessed your father's old account.”
Elias stared.
“Impossible.”
The guard handed him a tablet.
A transfer had just been made.
Ten million dollars.
Recipient:
ELIAS BARON.
He looked at the timestamp.
The transfer had been authorized from inside the mansion.
Someone was using his private credentials.
His gaze hardened.
“Who has access to the vault?”
“Only you.”
“And Gabriel.”
Gabriel raised his hands.
“Not me.”
Elias looked at me.
Then at Mom.
Then at Evan.
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot echoed somewhere downstairs.
Then another.
Someone screamed.
Elias shoved me behind the desk.
His men rushed through the corridor.
Mom grabbed my hand.
“Do not let them find Evan.”
“Why?”
She looked terrified.
“Because they already know what he saw.”
My heart stopped.
“What did Evan see?”
Mom whispered:
“The night Daniel disappeared.”
The backup lights came on.
Evan was gone.
The chair beside the door was empty.
I screamed his name.
Elias ran into the hall.
The security feed showed a man carrying my brother through the garage.
The man's face was covered.
But his wrist was visible.
A tattoo.
A black compass.
Elias stared at it.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“That tattoo belongs to one of my dead men.”
He looked at Gabriel.
May you like
Gabriel whispered:
“Then the dead are working for us again.”
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