Chapter 6 - THE DEAD MAN'S PRISON CELLVictor Ashford had been officially dead for nine years.
I knew because Nathan had shown me the funeral photographs.
A private ceremony.
A closed coffin.
A doctor’s certificate.
Yet there he was.
Alive.
Walking inside a prison facility that officially did not exist.
I drove there with Dad's security team.
I didn't tell him where I was going.
For the first time in years, I wanted one truth that belonged only to me.
The prison stood beneath an abandoned courthouse.
No sign.
No guards outside.
Just a steel elevator leading underground.
I showed the photograph.
The officer stepped aside.
Victor was waiting.
He looked older than the man I'd seen in Nathan's family albums.
But his eyes were the same.
Cold.
Calculating.
"You're Elena's daughter."
"Yes."
"You look exactly like her."
I hated hearing that.
"Why are you alive?"
He smiled.
"Because your father needed someone to blame."
I stepped closer.
"Did you kill my mother?"
"No."
"Did you kill Nathan's mother?"
Victor paused.
"Yes."
My breath stopped.
"Why?"
"Because she knew too much."
"About The Architect?"
He laughed.
"You've met him."
I didn't answer.
Victor leaned back.
"Adrian Cross isn't The Architect."
I stared.
"Then who is?"
Victor's smile disappeared.
"The Architect is a system."
"What does that mean?"
"It's not one man."
My skin prickled.
"It's a network."
"How many people?"
"Thirty-seven."
"Who?"
Victor shook his head.
"You'll learn soon."
I leaned closer.
"Why was Nathan told to marry me?"
"Because you were the key."
"To what?"
Victor looked directly into my eyes.
"The original ledger."
I frowned.
"What ledger?"
"The ledger containing every transaction made by the consortium."
My heart began racing.
"It still exists?"
Victor smiled.
"Your mother hid it."
"Where?"
He leaned forward.
"In your childhood home."
My pulse stopped.
"The house in Vermont?"
"Yes."
Dad had sold it when I was fourteen.
Or so he'd told me.
Victor whispered:
"It was never sold."
I stood.
"What happened to it?"
Victor's voice became almost inaudible.
"Your mother hid the ledger inside the walls."
Then the lights suddenly flickered.
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
Someone was coming.
He smiled.
"You should leave."
"Why?"
"Because the person who wants the ledger most has just arrived."
The metal door behind me opened.
I turned.
Celeste walked inside.
She wasn't alone.
Three armed men followed her.
She smiled.
"You always were difficult to kill, Nina."
I stared at her.
"You betrayed Nathan."
Celeste laughed.
"Nathan was never my partner."
She glanced at Victor.
"He was our bait."
Then she looked back at me.
"And you?"
She smiled.
"You were always the key."
One of the men raised his gun.
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded.
Someone screamed.
And when the emergency lights returned, Victor Ashford was gone.
So was Celeste.
But on the floor, beside my feet, was a small brass key.
May you like
Engraved with my mother's initials.
E.V.
