Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO KNEW MY CHILDHOOD
Thomas looked at the wooden horse as if it were a loaded weapon.
“Give it to me.”
I held it tighter.
“No.”
His expression barely changed.
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“Then explain.”
Alessandro stood beside me.
Thomas looked at him.
“You always were your father's son.”
“I'll take that as an insult.”
“It was.”
Lily stepped backward.
“Where is my brother?”
Thomas didn't look at her.
“You did what I asked.”
“I did.”
“So did he.”
Her face went white.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas finally looked at her.
“Your brother is safe.”
“For now?”
Thomas smiled.
“You're learning.”
Alessandro moved.
Two men appeared from behind the train.
Victor stepped in front of him.
Thomas raised one hand.
“Let's not ruin this.”
I looked around.
There were four men.
We were outnumbered.
But Thomas hadn't come to kill us.
He had come for the horse.
That meant we still had something he needed.
“What is inside it?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Your mother knew.”
“My mother knew what?”
“That Daniel had copied the original ledger.”
I frowned.
“The microfilm?”
“No.”
“The horse.”
“Yes.”
He stepped closer.
“The cylinder contains the location of the original records.”
Alessandro's face hardened.
“Where?”
Thomas smiled.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
“The records aren't in a building.”
Thomas looked at me.
“They're in a person.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
I stared at him.
“She doesn't have them.”
“She did.”
“Then where are they?”
Thomas smiled.
“She gave them to you.”
My heart stopped.
I looked at the horse.
The paper.
The drawing.
The watch.
Suddenly the objects connected.
Not evidence.
Instructions.
My mother had spent twenty-two years teaching me a language I didn't know I was learning.
Bluebirds.
Wooden horses.
The silver key.
The watch.
The drawings.
A trail only I could follow.
Thomas extended his hand.
“Give me the horse.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“I didn't want to hurt you.”
Alessandro's voice sharpened.
“You're not touching her.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You think this is about Claire?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“This is about what your mother believed you would become.”
I stared.
“She wanted you to choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Whether to expose everything.”
Lily whispered, “Claire…”
Thomas smiled.
“Your mother never trusted the law.”
He pointed at Reed's photograph.
“She knew people could be bought.”
He pointed at Alessandro.
“She knew powerful men could be changed.”
Then he looked at me.
“She believed the only person who couldn't be bought was her daughter.”
I felt tears rise.
“Why did she trust me?”
“Because you were never part of the system.”
I looked at the horse.
“What happens if I give it to you?”
“You walk away.”
“And my mother?”
“She receives the care she needs.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You'd pay for her treatment?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she is the last person alive who knows where everything began.”
There it was.
The truth.
Thomas wasn't afraid of me.
He was afraid of my mother.
And he needed me to lead him to what she had hidden.
I looked at Alessandro.
He understood.
“Don't.”
Thomas smiled.
“You see?”
He looked at me.
“Even now, he wants to decide for you.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
Thomas continued.
“That is what men like us do.”
I looked at Alessandro.
Then I looked at the horse.
“No.”
Thomas's smile disappeared.
“I said no.”
I opened the horse.
Removed the cylinder.
Thomas stepped forward.
I held it up.
“You want this?”
“Yes.”
“Then let Lily's brother go.”
Thomas hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
He didn't have control over Lily's brother.
Not anymore.
Lily understood too.
“You lied.”
Thomas looked at her.
She started crying.
“You never had him.”
“No.”
He sighed.
“He escaped.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Thomas turned back to me.
“And now you're making this unnecessarily difficult.”
Alessandro moved.
Everything happened at once.
Victor tackled one guard.
Reed drew his weapon.
Lily ran.
Thomas grabbed my wrist.
I fought him.
The cylinder fell.
It rolled beneath the train platform.
Thomas lunged for it.
Alessandro struck him.
Thomas staggered.
I grabbed the cylinder.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Nothing else.
Thomas stared at it.
“No.”
I smiled despite my fear.
“You were looking for the wrong thing.”
I remembered my mother's words.
Something I hope you never need.
The silver key.
I pulled it from my bracelet.
The brass key fit inside the cylinder.
I turned it.
A folded strip of paper emerged.
One address.
My mother's old house.
And beneath it—
THE LEDGER IS WHERE CLAIRE LEARNED TO READ.
I knew exactly what it meant.
The library.
Thomas realized it too.
He stepped forward.
“Stop.”
I looked at him.
“You're too late.”
We left the station.
At the hospital, my mother was awake.
I placed the paper in front of her.
She looked at it.
Then smiled.
“You found it.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward my purse.
“The blue book.”
I pulled out the old children's book she had given me when I was five.
Inside the cover was a hollow space.
A tiny key.
I opened it.
There was no ledger.
Only a photograph.
My mother.
Daniel.
Alessandro's father.
Thomas.
And a fifth man.
I stared at him.
I knew that face.
Everyone in Chicago knew it.
He had been dead for twelve years.
The city's most respected judge.
My mother whispered—
“He wasn't dead when that photograph was taken.”
I looked at her.
“Then who was he?”
May you like
She closed her eyes.
“The man who owned Thomas.”
