Chapter 9 - My Father Was AliveNo one moved.
The voice came again.
“Put the gun down, Elias.”
Elias's face had gone completely white.
I stared into the darkness.
“Dad?”
A man stepped into the smoke.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair almost completely gray.
But the eyes.
Those were the eyes I remembered.
The eyes that watched me ride a bicycle.
The eyes that held mine when I was twelve and believed my world had ended because I had failed a math test.
My father.
Alive.
I couldn't breathe.
“You died.”
He smiled sadly.
“I tried.”
I shook my head.
“I saw your grave.”
“They needed you to believe it.”
“Who?”
He looked at Victor.
“Everyone.”
Victor appeared behind him.
“They always underestimate how useful grief can be.”
My father looked at him.
“You didn't touch her.”
Victor smiled.
“I didn't need to.”
I stared at my father.
“Why didn't you come for me?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Because every time I tried, they moved you.”
“You knew I was being hurt.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Grant was hurting me.”
“Yes.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I was building a way to end this.”
I stepped closer.
“You let me suffer.”
“I know.”
“Six years.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
“You watched?”
“Yes.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the hallway.
Nobody moved.
My father didn't defend himself.
He simply whispered:
“You have every right.”
I cried.
“I needed you.”
“I know.”
Then he looked at Emma.
“And now she needs you.”
Elias raised his weapon.
“Who is the man behind the Circle?”
My father looked at him.
“You already know.”
Elias stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
My father nodded toward the photograph.
“Your superior.”
Elias's face darkened.
“Director Mason.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“What does he want?”
“Control of the ledger.”
“Then why did he need me alive?”
“Because you are the only one who can release it.”
“And Emma?”
“She is the fail-safe.”
I held her tighter.
My father continued.
“Your mother discovered the Circle.”
“Claire infiltrated it.”
“Elias infiltrated it from the inside.”
“And I…”
I swallowed.
“You were the vault.”
He nodded.
“But there was one thing they didn't know.”
“What?”
He looked at Grant.
“Your husband wasn't the original candidate.”
I frowned.
“Then who?”
My father smiled sadly.
“Your father-in-law.”
I looked at Conrad.
He was sitting against the wall, bleeding from a gunshot wound.
“Conrad knew?”
“He knew part of it.”
“And Victor?”
“Victor recruited him.”
“Why?”
“Because Conrad was weak.”
My father turned toward Grant.
“And Grant became stronger than they expected.”
Grant stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
“You tried to save Maria.”
Grant whispered:
“Yes.”
“That is why you survived.”
My father looked at me.
“Now there's only one problem.”
“What?”
“Mason has the original key.”
I froze.
“But I have the chip.”
“That is a decoy.”
My blood went cold.
“The real key is inside Emma.”
“What?”
My father nodded.
“When she was born, the Circle implanted the second biological key.”
I stared at my daughter.
“No.”
“She's been carrying it her entire life.”
“What happens if they get her?”
“They can open everything.”
I looked at the hallway.
“How do we stop them?”
My father smiled.
“You don't.”
“What?”
“You let them open the vault.”
I stared at him.
“Are you insane?”
“No.”
He pointed toward Elias.
“Your brother has already copied the transmission protocol.”
Elias nodded slowly.
“If Mason accesses the vault…”
“We intercept the data,” my father said.
“And expose everything.”
“Yes.”
I realized.
The only way to destroy the Circle was to let them destroy themselves.
“We need Mason.”
My father nodded.
“He's coming.”
“How do you know?”
A phone rang.
My father's phone.
He answered.
Mason's voice came through.
“You have five minutes.”
My father smiled.
Mason continued.
“Bring Maria.”
Silence.
“And bring the child.”
The line went dead.
Elias looked at his watch.
“Where?”
My father answered.
“The Whitaker board meeting.”
I stared.
“The board meeting Helena was preparing for.”
“Yes.”
“All those people…”
“Are members of the Circle.”
I looked at Grant.
He understood.
The blood on my face.
The shattered mirror.
The recording.
Everything had been leading to this.
The board would meet.
Mason would activate the vault.
And the entire network would be exposed.
My father looked at me.
“You wanted justice.”
I wiped the blood from my cheek.
“I still do.”
He nodded.
“Then let's give them what they deserve.”
We walked toward the front hall.
But before we reached the doors, my daughter suddenly stopped.
“Mom.”
I turned.
She pointed toward the floor.
There was a small envelope.
It had my name on it.
I opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
THE PERSON YOU TRUST MOST WILL BETRAY YOU BEFORE THE MEETING ENDS.
I looked at Elias.
Grant.
My father.
Then Emma.
The envelope had no signature.
But on the back was a symbol.
A black circle.
May you like
And beneath it:
HE IS ALREADY IN THE ROOM.
