Chapter 3 - Willa couldn't breathe.“My mother was dead.”
Barrett shook his head.
“No.”
“You're lying.”
“She wasn't there.”
“You watched us burn.”
“I watched someone burn.”
Willa's hand tightened around the birth certificate.
“Then who died?”
Barrett's jaw clenched.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
He stepped forward.
“The question is why your mother needed everyone to believe she was dead.”
Willa raised the stolen gun from the desk.
“Don't move.”
Barrett actually laughed.
“You think I'm the villain?”
“You are.”
“I was following orders.”
“Whose?”
Barrett's expression changed.
Before he could answer, the door exploded inward.
Kendrick.
Two guards behind him.
His gun pointed directly at Barrett.
“Drop it.”
Barrett obeyed.
Kendrick looked between them.
Then at the safe.
His eyes landed on the documents.
“What did you find?”
Willa said nothing.
Kendrick walked toward her.
“Willa.”
She handed him the birth certificate.
His expression went blank.
He read the name.
Then looked at Willa.
“Why does my daughter's birth certificate have your mother's name on it?”
Willa whispered.
“I don't know.”
Kendrick stared at Barrett.
“You're going to explain.”
Barrett didn't answer.
Kendrick hit him.
Hard.
“Talk.”
Barrett wiped blood from his lip.
“Your wife wasn't Penny's biological mother.”
The room became silent.
Kendrick stopped.
“What?”
“She adopted her.”
Willa frowned.
“What does that have to do with my mother?”
Barrett looked at Willa.
“Everything.”
He finally told them.
Six years ago, Kendrick's late wife, Elena, had discovered that the syndicate was being secretly sold from within.
Someone was leaking locations, accounts, weapons shipments.
Elena discovered the traitor.
She also discovered a child.
Penny.
A little girl whose father had been murdered.
The child was connected to an international crime family whose enemies wanted her dead.
Elena took Penny.
Willa's mother helped hide her.
But then someone betrayed them.
Kendrick's own inner circle.
The mansion was burned.
The official story claimed Elena died protecting Penny.
But Barrett said the truth was different.
“Elena escaped.”
Kendrick stared at him.
“You're telling me my wife might be alive?”
“No.”
Barrett shook his head.
“She died later.”
Kendrick's jaw tightened.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Who killed her?”
Barrett looked at Willa.
“Her mother.”
Willa's world shattered.
“No.”
“She was trying to protect you.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Kendrick turned away.
His hands were shaking.
He had spent three years believing Elena's death was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
Now he discovered she had been alive after the fire.
And someone had hunted her.
Someone inside his organization.
Penny suddenly appeared at the doorway.
“Daddy?”
Kendrick turned.
Penny stared at him.
“Why is Mommy in Willa's picture?”
Everyone froze.
Willa looked down.
A photograph had fallen from the documents.
It showed Elena.
Beside her stood Willa's mother.
And between them was a little girl.
Penny.
But Penny was only two years old then.
Willa crouched.
“Penny.”
The child touched the photograph.
“Mommy told me about you.”
Kendrick stared at his daughter.
“You remember?”
Penny nodded.
“She said... when the bad men come, find the girl with the silver star.”
Willa's fingers went cold.
Her pendant.
The silver star.
Kendrick slowly looked at her.
“Your mother left instructions.”
Willa stared at the pendant.
For six years, she had believed it was only a keepsake.
Now she understood.
It was a key.
She turned it over.
A tiny seam ran along the back.
She twisted it.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a microchip.
Kendrick stared.
Barrett whispered one word.
“Oh God.”
Willa looked at him.
“What?”
Barrett's face was white.
“That contains the syndicate's original ledger.”
Kendrick stepped forward.
“The ledger?”
“The one containing every payoff, every murder contract, every traitor.”
Willa looked at the tiny chip in her palm.
“If my mother wanted someone to find this...”
She looked at Kendrick.
“Why hide it with me?”
No one answered.
Then every screen in the room turned on.
The same photograph appeared.
Willa's childhood face.
Underneath it were four words.
SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.
Kendrick stared at the screens.
A countdown began.
Willa looked at Barrett.
“What's happening?”
Barrett whispered:
“Someone just activated the old Ashford kill protocol.”
Kendrick grabbed Willa.
May you like
“Run.”
The windows shattered.
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