Chapter 10 - Mom ran upstairs.I was standing in the hallway, crying.
“I heard someone.”
Vincent followed.
“What did you hear?”
I pointed toward my bedroom.
“Someone said my name.”
Vincent opened the door.
Empty.
The window was closed.
No one inside.
Then he noticed something on my pillow.
A photograph.
Mom grabbed it.
It showed her.
Holding me as a newborn.
Behind her stood Daniel.
And another man.
Vincent's father.
Mom sat on the bed.
“I remember this.”
Vincent stared at her.
“What happened?”
She whispered:
“He came to me after Rory was born.”
“Why?”
“He said Rory was dangerous.”
Vincent frowned.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he want?”
“To take her.”
Mom hugged me.
“I ran.”
“With Rory?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Daniel helped me.”
Vincent stared.
“Daniel didn't disappear because he died.”
Mom shook her head.
“He disappeared because he protected us.”
Vincent looked toward the door.
David was gone.
His guards had been distracted by the alarm.
Vincent cursed.
“He wanted us to hear that.”
A guard entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“David escaped.”
Vincent's expression hardened.
“How?”
“He had help.”
“Who?”
The guard hesitated.
“Claire Monroe.”
Mom whispered:
“Claire.”
Vincent grabbed his coat.
“Find her.”
They traced David's phone.
A warehouse.
We arrived fifteen minutes later.
The building was abandoned.
Inside, one light was on.
Claire sat at a table.
No weapon.
No guards.
Just a folder.
She looked at Vincent.
“You took long enough.”
Vincent aimed a gun.
“Where is David?”
“He left.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you won't reach.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Who is behind the 77 List?”
Claire looked at Mom.
“Not David.”
“Who?”
She smiled sadly.
“You still think there is one person.”
Vincent frowned.
“There are three.”
“Who?”
“David Sterling.”
She pointed at herself.
“Me.”
Then she pointed toward Vincent.
“And your father.”
Vincent's hand tightened.
“My father is dead.”
Claire laughed.
“No.”
She opened the folder.
Inside were bank transfers.
Security reports.
Photographs.
And one recent passport.
Vincent stared.
A living man's face.
His father.
Standing in a European airport.
The passport date was last month.
Vincent went completely still.
“No.”
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
Vincent stared at the photograph.
“What does he want?”
Claire looked at Mom.
“Rory.”
Mom stepped back.
“Why?”
“Because Rory is the only person who can access the final account.”
Vincent frowned.
“She is four.”
“Exactly.”
Claire turned a page.
There was a biometric record.
A fingerprint.
A blood sample.
A DNA sequence.
And beneath it:
RORY CARTER.
Mom's face went pale.
Vincent asked:
“What account?”
“The Northstar Trust.”
“How does a child access it?”
Claire looked directly at me.
“Because Daniel designed it that way.”
Vincent stared.
“Why?”
“Because he knew someone would come for her.”
Mom whispered:
“And the seventy-seven million?”
Claire nodded.
“It's not stolen money.”
“Then what is it?”
“Protection money.”
“From whom?”
Claire's expression changed.
“From the people who control Chicago.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“That's impossible.”
Claire smiled.
“You're already standing inside their house.”
Suddenly, the warehouse lights shut off.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Claire ducked.
Vincent pulled Mom behind a concrete pillar.
Guards returned fire.
Then an explosion shook the building.
I screamed.
The floor split beneath us.
Mom grabbed me.
Vincent lunged.
Too late.
We fell.
Everything went black.
When I woke up, I wasn't beside Mom.
May you like
I was alone.
And standing in front of me was a man with Vincent Kane's face.
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