Chapter 8 - The Badge on the Wrong SideCaptain Reeves had been my mentor for seven years.
He taught me how to clear a building.
How to read a crime scene.
How to spot a liar.
How to control fear.
Now he stood behind Emily with Daniel and held the evidence that could destroy them all.
I could barely breathe.
“Reeves?”
He looked at me through the screen.
“Mara.”
Emily was crying.
“Don't listen to him.”
Daniel grabbed her shoulder.
Reeves spoke.
“Your sister has made a mistake.”
Anna stepped forward.
“You mean I survived.”
Reeves's face changed.
“You were supposed to die.”
There it was.
The truth.
I felt something inside me snap.
“Why?”
Reeves sighed.
“Because your parents wouldn't cooperate.”
“My parents?”
“Your father discovered the shell companies.”
“My father was an accountant.”
“He was more than that.”
Reeves leaned toward the camera.
“He was the man who found the money.”
I looked at Anna.
She nodded.
“Our father uncovered millions.”
“And your mother copied the records,” Reeves continued.
“She tried to hide them.”
“Then the Mercers found out.”
My voice shook.
“Why involve us?”
“Because your father wouldn't stop.”
“And Anna?”
“She took the files.”
“Lauren?”
“She helped.”
Daniel interrupted.
“This is becoming sentimental.”
I ignored him.
“Where is Emily?”
Reeves answered.
“Safe.”
“Bring her.”
“No.”
“Then I'm coming.”
“That's exactly what we expect.”
The video ended.
I turned to Anna.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew my captain was involved?”
“I knew someone close to you was.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know if it was him.”
I took a breath.
Then I looked at the flash drive.
“What's on this?”
“Enough to expose the network.”
“Enough to save Emily?”
Anna hesitated.
“No.”
“Then what does?”
Anna looked toward the horizon.
“The original ledger.”
“The one Daniel wants?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Your father hid it.”
“Where?”
Anna looked at me.
“In the first place you ever learned to read.”
I frowned.
“Our old house.”
“Not the house.”
“The library?”
Anna nodded.
“The children's section.”
We returned before dawn.
The library had been demolished years ago.
But the original building remained under renovation.
We found the old children's room behind a temporary wall.
A wooden alphabet shelf still stood against the back wall.
I remembered it.
A.
B.
C.
I ran my hand across the letters.
Then stopped at J.
The shelf moved.
Behind it was a metal compartment.
Inside was a book.
A children's storybook.
And beneath it:
The ledger.
Thick.
Handwritten.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
Every secret.
Every betrayal.
Every cover-up.
Then a photograph fell from the ledger.
It showed my father.
Standing beside Daniel's father.
And between them was Captain Reeves.
Young.
Smiling.
I stared.
Anna whispered:
“They've been connected for decades.”
I flipped another page.
At the bottom of the final entry was a name.
A name I had never seen.
THE ARCHITECT.
Next to it was one line.
ONLY ONE PERSON KNOWS WHO HE IS.
Anna looked terrified.
“Who?”
I asked.
She shook her head.
“Lauren.”
“Lauren is dead.”
Anna stared at the ledger.
“No.”
“What?”
“She isn't.”
My heart stopped.
Anna pointed to a payment entry dated three months ago.
L. VANE.
Beside it:
TRANSFER COMPLETED.
I looked at her.
“Lauren is alive?”
Anna whispered:
“Yes.”
Before I could say another word, the old library doors slammed shut.
A voice came through the intercom.
“Good evening, sisters.”
Daniel.
Then the building alarms activated.
Red lights flashed.
A gas hissed from the ceiling.
Anna grabbed the ledger.
“RUN!”
We raced toward the emergency exit.
But the door had been welded shut.
Emily's face appeared on the security monitor.
Daniel stood behind her.
He smiled.
“You found the original.”
I looked at the screen.
Daniel raised a lighter.
“Now let's see how much your badge is worth when everyone thinks you stole it.”
He dropped the lighter.
May you like
The screen went black.
And smoke began pouring into the room.
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