Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO STOOD BESIDE HIM
“Brian?”
Ethan's voice was almost a whisper.
Brian didn't move.
I looked between them.
“Is she telling the truth?”
Brian stared at Eleanor.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
Eleanor's face tightened.
“You should have stayed away from her.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“Answer me.”
Brian finally looked at him.
“I didn't betray you.”
“Then why does she say you're involved?”
“Because I was.”
The room went silent.
Ethan's face hardened.
“How?”
Brian took a slow breath.
“I worked for your father.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Brian looked at him.
“You don't know everything.”
He explained that when Ethan was younger, his father used Brian to carry messages.
Brian had believed the work was legitimate.
Then he discovered the truth.
The Broker was using the shipping routes to move information and money.
Brian tried to leave.
He was threatened.
So he stayed.
“Did you help him?”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked devastated.
“Did you help him kill Jane's mother?”
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“I knew something was going to happen.”
“You knew?”
“I tried to stop it.”
Ethan grabbed him by the collar.
“You let her die.”
Brian didn't resist.
“I was twenty-four.”
“So was I.”
“I was afraid.”
Ethan released him.
Brian straightened his shirt.
“I've regretted it every day.”
I looked at him.
“What happened the night my mother died?”
Brian looked at me.
“She was supposed to meet Evan.”
“She never arrived.”
“Because your father intercepted her.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He wanted the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one that could expose The Broker.”
I looked at the gold watch.
“Where is it?”
Brian stared at the watch.
“Evan found it.”
“Where?”
“He hid it.”
“Where?”
Brian shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Eleanor spoke.
“He left clues.”
She pointed at the watch.
“Your mother gave Evan that watch.”
I opened the back.
Inside was a tiny compartment.
A strip of paper.
THE MAN WHO NEVER LOOKS BACK.
Ethan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
I thought about my father.
Then my mother.
Then the old photographs.
The man who never looked back.
Someone who was always moving forward.
Someone who never stayed in one place.
I looked at Brian.
“You.”
He looked surprised.
“Me?”
“You always walk backward when you leave Ethan's office.”
He stared.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
I noticed the watch.
There was another engraving.
A tiny arrow.
Pointing toward the crown.
I turned it.
The crown came loose.
Inside was a microfilm strip.
Eleanor gasped.
“That is it.”
Ethan stared.
“The ledger?”
“Part of it.”
We took it to a specialist.
The film contained bank transfers.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
The Broker had paid people inside several organizations.
But one name appeared again and again.
Not Ethan's father.
Not my father.
Not Brian.
Marcus Reed.
I felt cold.
“Detective Reed.”
Ethan nodded.
“He was investigating the old case.”
“Could he be involved?”
“Maybe.”
Then we found another name.
Thomas Vale.
Ethan stared at it.
“Who is that?”
Brian answered.
“The man who handled security for your father's private meetings.”
I looked at him.
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“Everyone connected to this seems to be dead.”
Brian didn't answer.
Then Eleanor spoke.
“There is one more person.”
She pulled a photograph from the suitcase.
A woman.
Older.
Elegant.
Standing beside my mother.
“Who is she?”
“Your father's sister.”
“My aunt?”
“Yes.”
I had never heard of her.
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared after your mother's death.”
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“My father said she died.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“She didn't.”
A strange feeling passed through me.
“Where is she?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“She has been living under another name.”
“Why?”
“Because she was the only person who knew who The Broker really was.”
The door suddenly opened.
Everyone turned.
Detective Reed stood there.
His gun was lowered.
His expression was grim.
“Don't trust the woman.”
Eleanor stepped back.
“Marcus.”
Reed looked at her.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Why?”
“Because you're the reason Evan is dead.”
Eleanor's face went pale.
I looked at Reed.
“What are you saying?”
Reed stared at the microfilm.
“You have no idea what you've found.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Reed pointed at the film.
“That isn't evidence against The Broker.”
“What is it?”
“A list of people The Broker protected.”
I stared.
“Protected?”
Reed nodded.
“Because the people on that list were witnesses.”
“To what?”
Reed looked at me.
“To the person who actually controls the shipping network.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Brian.
Then at Ethan.
Then finally at me.
“The Broker isn't one person.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“There are three.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
Three men.
One was my father.
One was Ethan's father.
And the third was someone I knew.
Someone who had been at our wedding.
Someone who had toasted our marriage.
Someone who had smiled at me and called me family.
My blood ran cold.
Ethan looked at the photograph.
Then whispered,
May you like
“Derek.”
But Derek was already gone.
