Chapter 9 - I carried Elena into the study.Claire followed.

“Move.”

We laid Elena on the desk.

Claire opened her medical bag.

“Bullet entry is high shoulder.”

“Is she dying?”

“No.”

“Don't lie.”

“I'm not.”

She cut through Elena's shirt.

The bullet had grazed her.

Blood.

Pain.

No fatal wound.

I exhaled.

Then the study door slammed shut.

Daniel shouted from outside.

“Marcus!”

I ran to the door.

Locked.

“Open it.”

“I can't.”

Claire looked up.

“There's someone in here.”

I turned.

The room was empty.

Then a voice came from the speakers.

My father's.

“It's time.”

A section of the wall opened.

A monitor descended.

The screen displayed an image of Harper.

Then another.

Then dozens.

Children.

Different countries.

Different years.

All photographed by Black Crown.

Claire looked sick.

“What is this?”

Victor entered after forcing the door.

His face changed.

“Training archives.”

“For children.”

“Yes.”

I stared.

“What was my daughter supposed to become?”

Victor didn't answer.

Claire did.

“An observer.”

“Meaning?”

“A child who remembers.”

“That's it?”

“No.”

She looked at the screen.

“They don't just remember.”

“They identify patterns.”

I frowned.

“How?”

“Faces. Voices. Habits. Lies.”

I looked toward the hallway.

Harper had already done exactly that.

She knew fake Victor.

Fake Daniel.

Fake Marcus.

She had recognized Elena.

Claire whispered:

“That's why they need her.”

Suddenly Harper's voice came through the speakers.

“Daddy.”

I turned.

“Harper?”

“I'm here.”

Her voice sounded strange.

Too calm.

“Where?”

“The library.”

I ran.

Victor and Daniel followed.

The library was empty.

Except for one chair.

On it sat a small recording device.

It clicked on.

Harper's voice:

“I found Mommy's book.”

The message continued.

“She told me not to show anyone.”

I froze.

“Where is it?”

A location appeared on-screen.

My father's old office.

Under the floor.

I knew the room.

Nobody had entered it since his death.

We rushed there.

The floorboards were already broken.

Inside was a metal box.

Elena arrived seconds later, pale and wounded but standing.

“Don't open it.”

I stared.

“Why?”

“Because that's what he wants.”

“Who?”

She looked at the box.

“Arthur.”

I opened it anyway.

Inside was a tape recorder.

Photographs.

A handwritten journal.

And one envelope with my name.

I opened it.

My father's handwriting.

Marcus, if you're reading this, Elena has probably told you I'm dead. She is wrong.

I looked up.

Elena looked away.

I kept reading.

Black Crown cannot be destroyed by killing its leaders. It survives through the people who believe they need it.

Next page.

Your brother knows what happened. Victor knows who started it. Elena knows who betrayed me.

I looked at them.

“Then stop hiding.”

Daniel stepped forward.

“I don't know the final name.”

Victor said:

“I do.”

Everyone turned.

Victor looked at me.

“The founder wasn't Arthur.”

I frowned.

“Then who?”

Victor pointed at Elena.

“She is.”

Silence.

Elena closed her eyes.

I stepped backward.

“No.”

Elena whispered:

“I didn't create Black Crown.”

Victor said:

“You inherited it.”

She looked at him.

“I was seventeen.”

“You were chosen because your father trusted your instincts.”

I stared at my wife.

“Your father?”

“Elena's father,” Daniel said.

He looked at me.

“Arthur Ashford didn't create Black Crown.”

“Then who did?”

“Elena's father.”

I felt dizzy.

My marriage.

My family.

My entire life.

Every truth seemed to have another truth underneath it.

Elena walked toward me.

“I tried to destroy it.”

“When?”

“Before I met you.”

“You married me because of Black Crown?”

“No.”

She touched my hand.

“I married you because I loved you.”

“Then why hide everything?”

“Because I thought I could keep you out.”

She looked at the letter.

“I was wrong.”

The recorder suddenly clicked on.

Arthur's voice filled the room.

“My son.”

A pause.

“You have always wondered why I kept you away from the family business.”

I listened.

“Because you were never the heir.”

I frowned.

“Then who?”

Arthur continued.

“Daniel was the heir.”

I looked at my brother.

Daniel's face went blank.

“But he refused.”

Arthur's voice changed.

“So I chose another.”

The recorder stopped.

A second recording activated.

Isabel's voice.

“Thank you for coming this far.”

The library doors locked.

Smoke began pouring beneath them.

“Dad!”

Harper's voice came from the intercom.

“Daddy!”

I ran toward the door.

Isabel spoke again.

“There is one person in that room who knows where Harper is.”

I looked at everyone.

Victor.

Daniel.

Claire.

Elena.

One of them had been lying.

The smoke thickened.

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