Chapter 12 - THE BETRAYAL INSIDE THE ROOMWe confronted Harold with police outside his office.
He looked surprised.
Then tired.
Very tired.
“You found Northstar.”
“Yes.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Neither were you.”
He smiled sadly.
“I suppose Thomas underestimated you.”
“Did you kill him?”
Harold's face changed.
“No.”
“Did you help them?”
“I helped myself.”
He admitted everything.
He had worked with Voss for years.
Not because he believed in Voss.
Because Voss had threatened him.
Harold had lost millions.
His family had been threatened.
He became trapped.
But he had also made choices.
He had altered documents.
Facilitated transfers.
Protected Claire.
And buried evidence.
“Why help me now?”
“Because Voss changed the rules.”
“What rules?”
“He stopped wanting money.”
I stared at him.
“What does he want?”
Harold looked at me.
“Control.”
The entire network was becoming obvious.
Money had been the instrument.
Power was the objective.
Northstar wasn't merely evidence.
It was leverage.
Whoever controlled it could expose everyone.
Destroy governments.
Blackmail corporations.
Collapse fortunes.
Voss wanted it as a weapon.
My father wanted it destroyed.
Harold wanted to sell it.
Marcus wanted access.
Claire wanted survival.
And I was the key.
Police arrested Harold.
But before they took him away, he whispered:
“Voss has Claire's brother.”
I froze.
“Claire doesn't have a brother.”
Harold shook his head.
“She thought he died.”
That night, we found a hidden adoption record.
Claire had an older brother.
Michael Mercer.
Listed as deceased.
Except he wasn't.
He had disappeared twenty-one years earlier.
We found him alive.
In a private psychiatric facility.
He had been registered under another name.
Michael had been manipulated for decades.
He knew Voss.
And he knew what happened in 2009.
I visited him.
He was thin.
Older than his age.
His hands shook constantly.
When he saw me, he smiled.
“You look like your father.”
“What happened?”
“Your father tried to stop them.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Michael told me that Voss had built a network by placing people inside families.
Money.
Law.
Medicine.
Politics.
Business.
Claire was one of hundreds.
But my father discovered Northstar.
He planned to expose them.
Voss responded by infiltrating my father's inner circle.
Diane was one of the infiltrators.
Harold was another.
Marcus came later.
And Claire became the final piece.
“Why me?”
Michael stared at the floor.
“Because your father knew you were the only person he'd trust with the archive.”
“So they married Claire to me.”
“Yes.”
“And my father knew?”
“He knew after it was too late.”
“Why didn't he stop it?”
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
“Because he thought he could protect you.”
I looked away.
My father had been fighting this war long before I knew there was one.
Michael leaned closer.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Voss doesn't want Northstar anymore.”
“What does he want?”
Michael whispered:
“He wants Lily.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your daughter has the same genetic marker as your father.”
I felt my blood drain.
“What does that mean?”
“She can unlock the second archive.”
“What second archive?”
Michael smiled bitterly.
“The one your father never told you about.”
My phone rang.
The number was Lily's school.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice said:
“Mr. Hayes, you need to come immediately.”
“What happened?”
There was a pause.
Then:
“We lost track of your daughter.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“She was with her security officer.”
“And?”
“He's missing too.”
I stood.
“Where is my daughter?”
The woman started crying.
“We think someone took her.”
I grabbed my coat.
Because suddenly, the conspiracy was no longer about money.
May you like
It was about my seven-year-old daughter.
And Voss had just taken the only person in the world I couldn't afford to lose.
