Chapter 5 - The Key Hidden Before She Was BornIsabella stared at Julian Voss.
“What key?”
Voss didn't answer immediately.
He seemed to enjoy watching her confusion.
Marcus kept his gun trained on him.
“Move away from her.”
Voss laughed.
“You still think guns matter.”
The armed men surrounding them stepped closer.
Eleanor whispered,
“Don't tell him anything.”
Voss smiled.
“She doesn't need to.”
He turned to Isabella.
“Your father was clever.”
“He built Eclipse's financial system.”
“He eventually betrayed it.”
“He hid the evidence in three locations.”
“One was the Hartwell Trust.”
“One was the flash drive.”
“And the final location?”
Voss tapped Isabella's chest.
“Inside the family.”
Isabella stared.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
Voss smiled.
“Your father knew every other hiding place could be discovered.”
“So he created something nobody would search.”
Eleanor's face went white.
“You don't know.”
Voss glanced at her.
“I know everything.”
Then he revealed the truth.
The final key was not money.
It was a biological access code.
A sequence tied to the Hart bloodline.
The key activated only when an heir reached a certain stage of development.
Isabella's unborn child.
Marcus frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Voss smiled.
“Modern genetics makes many things possible.”
Isabella touched her stomach.
“My child is not a password.”
“No.”
Voss stepped closer.
“Your child is the lock.”
Isabella felt sick.
Nathan had known.
Maybe that was the secret inside the flash drive.
The reason they wanted her powerless.
The reason they cared about the pregnancy.
Voss continued.
“Your father discovered that one of his corporate partners was secretly financing Eclipse.”
He named the man.
Isabella recognized it.
Her father had once trusted him.
Voss laughed softly.
“Your father planned to expose everyone.”
“But before he could, someone killed him.”
“Then your mother took the evidence.”
“She hid it.”
“She died protecting you.”
Isabella stared at Eleanor.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother made me promise.”
“She said the truth would get you killed.”
Voss interrupted.
“And she was right.”
He lifted his hand.
One of his men grabbed Marcus.
The gun was knocked from his hand.
Isabella screamed.
Marcus fought back.
A shot fired.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Everyone froze.
Then a voice came through the basement speakers.
“Let them go.”
Voss looked up.
The speakers crackled.
Nathan.
Isabella's heart jumped.
“You're alive.”
His voice sounded strained.
“Voss, release my wife.”
Voss laughed.
“You still think you can negotiate.”
“I have something you want.”
“What?”
“The final location.”
Isabella looked around.
“Nathan!”
His voice continued.
“I know where the key is.”
Voss's expression changed.
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Nathan.”
“You let Isabella and Eleanor go first.”
Voss laughed.
“You've always been disappointing.”
Nathan replied,
“That's why you should believe me.”
Isabella felt a terrible realization.
Nathan wasn't trapped.
He was still playing a game.
Voss slowly lowered his weapon.
“Fine.”
He gestured toward the door.
“Let them go.”
The men hesitated.
Voss repeated,
“Now.”
Marcus was released.
Eleanor grabbed Isabella.
They moved toward the exit.
As Isabella passed Voss, he whispered,
“Ask Nathan why your father trusted him.”
She stopped.
“What?”
Voss smiled.
“Ask him why your father knew his name.”
Isabella turned.
But Voss was already walking away.
They escaped through the service tunnel.
Outside, police surrounded the hotel.
Marcus immediately called for backup.
Isabella looked at Eleanor.
“My father knew Nathan?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Eleanor looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“I know your father met Nathan's father.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Eleanor hesitated.
Then she whispered,
“The first time your father saw Nathan, you were twelve.”
Isabella froze.
“Twelve?”
“He already knew who Nathan was.”
“How?”
“Because Nathan's father wasn't the one who introduced him.”
“Then who?”
Eleanor looked at Isabella.
“Your father.”
The answer hit harder than the gunshot.
Nathan had not simply been sent into her life by Eclipse.
Her father had known him decades earlier.
Maybe even selected him.
Isabella remembered something.
A photograph from the flash drive.
Nathan as a teenager.
Standing beside her father.
She had assumed the photo was unrelated.
It wasn't.
Nathan had been part of her father's plan from the beginning.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Nathan's voice came through.
“Isabella.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“You were in my life before we met.”
Silence.
“Tell me the truth.”
Nathan breathed slowly.
“I was assigned to protect you.”
“By whom?”
Another silence.
Then Nathan said,
“Your father.”
Isabella's heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Because he knew Eclipse would come for you.”
“And the trust?”
Nathan's voice became quieter.
“He knew your child would become the target.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“Then why did you betray me tonight?”
“I didn't.”
“You stood there while they humiliated me.”
“I needed Voss to believe I had failed.”
“You let them search me.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Nathan whispered,
“I didn't know Victoria had ordered them to hurt you.”
Isabella's anger sharpened.
“And the flash drive?”
“I wanted you to see it.”
“What is on it?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Instead he said,
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The DNA report was altered.”
“I know.”
“No.”
His voice shook.
“You don't know who altered it.”
“Who?”
Nathan whispered one sentence.
“The doctor who signed your prenatal records works for Eclipse.”
Isabella went cold.
Then Nathan added:
“And your baby may already be in danger.”
The call ended.
Isabella looked toward the hospital.
Then her phone buzzed.
A new message.
A photo.
Her baby scan.
Taken that morning.
May you like
Under it were four words:
WE CAN SEE HER.
Related Stories
