Chapter 13 - The Man Who Wanted My NameWe reached Terminal Four through the underground service tunnels.
Smoke covered the loading yard.
Firefighters fought flames around the containers.
Police vehicles blocked both entrances.
Every television screen in the city was carrying the same fabricated evidence against me.
My name had become a weapon.
Michael moved ahead with two men.
Petr stayed behind.
Mara held Ellie.
Elias carried the boy.
I walked through the smoke with my gun lowered.
Not because I trusted anyone.
Because there was no point pretending anymore.
At the center of the terminal stood Charles.
No guards.
No weapon.
Just a briefcase.
He looked at me.
“You finally understand.”
“You framed me.”
“I improved you.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were always going to inherit everything.”
“And?”
“You were never ruthless enough.”
I laughed.
“You destroyed my family to make me ruthless?”
“I destroyed your past.”
“Same thing.”
He opened the briefcase.
Inside were original documents.
Birth certificates.
Death certificates.
Ownership papers.
Medical records.
The whole architecture of my life.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Your father wasn't trying to save you.”
Charles removed one photograph.
It showed Victor standing beside Daniel.
“Victor betrayed Daniel.”
Mara stepped forward.
“You killed him.”
Charles shook his head.
“I ordered the shooting. Victor pulled the trigger.”
Mara froze.
I looked at Victor's name in the documents.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel had the master ledger.”
“Where is it?”
“Your family destroyed it.”
“Then why are you still afraid?”
Charles smiled.
“Because the ledger wasn't destroyed.”
He pointed at Ellie.
“She has the final key.”
Ellie shook her head.
“No.”
Charles crouched.
“You don't remember, do you?”
She backed away.
“What?”
“Your grandmother hid it in your favorite toy.”
Ellie looked confused.
“The rabbit.”
Mara's face changed.
“No.”
Charles smiled.
“The button.”
Ellie reached into her cardigan.
Pulled out a tiny wooden rabbit.
There was a brass button sewn into its stomach.
My chest tightened.
“Ellie.”
She looked at me.
“Mommy said never to open it.”
Charles laughed softly.
“She was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From the truth.”
Mara grabbed the rabbit.
Charles fired.
She fell.
I caught her.
Blood soaked my hand.
Ellie screamed.
The terminal erupted.
Petr fired from behind a truck.
Michael's men returned fire.
Charles disappeared.
I pressed my palm against Mara's wound.
“Stay with me.”
She looked at me.
“Open it.”
“What?”
“The rabbit.”
I opened the tiny compartment.
Inside was a key.
A metal key marked with one word.
VALE.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a recording began.
My grandfather's voice.
“Damon.”
I froze.
“If you're hearing this, Charles has reached the end.”
My grandfather's voice was weak.
“Your family thinks I built an empire.”
A pause.
“I built a prison.”
I stared at the burning terminal.
“The shipping network contains proof of every person harmed by the Vale operation.”
My grandfather continued.
“Your father tried to destroy it.”
“He failed because he loved you.”
I looked at Mara.
She was barely conscious.
The recording continued.
“You are the last person with enough authority to release every record.”
Charles appeared on the opposite catwalk.
He was holding a detonator.
“Don't.”
I raised my gun.
“You won't.”
He smiled.
“I'm not going to blow up the terminal.”
He looked at the children.
“I'm going to erase Chicago's oldest secrets.”
He pressed the detonator.
Nothing happened.
Charles frowned.
He pressed again.
Nothing.
Then Michael stepped from the smoke.
“You really should have checked the wiring.”
Charles's face went white.
Michael raised his weapon.
“It was a good plan.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
Charles backed away.
“Why are you doing this?”
Michael looked at me.
“Because Grandpa killed my mother.”
I stared.
“You had the master key?”
Michael nodded.
“I've had it for twenty years.”
Charles tried to run.
I caught him.
We crashed against the railing.
He hit me.
I hit him harder.
Then he laughed.
“You think killing me ends this?”
“No.”
I twisted his wrist.
“It ends your part.”
Police flooded the terminal.
Charles was dragged away.
I looked at the children.
Ellie.
Her cousin.
Elias.
Claire.
Mara.
My mother.
My broken family.
I thought it was over.
Then an officer walked toward me.
He looked nervous.
“Mr. Vale.”
“What?”
“We found something in the server room.”
“What?”
He handed me a tablet.
A single file.
Encrypted.
The title made my blood freeze.
DAMON VALE: SUBJECT 001
Underneath it:
MEMORY ALTERATION SUCCESSFUL.
Then:
SECONDARY SUBJECT STILL ACTIVE.
I stared.
“Secondary subject?”
The officer looked at the second page.
There was a name.
A woman.
Alive.
Watching me through a security camera.
I knew that face.
Because I had loved her before Mara.
Before my family.
Before everything.
And she had supposedly died when I was twelve.
Her name was Lena.
My first memory.
May you like
My first secret.
And the woman who had taught Mara the hand gesture.
