Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Leo pulled me behind the stone fireplace.
Vincent stood beside us despite his injuries.
“You're supposed to be in bed,” I whispered.
“So are you.”
“This isn't funny.”
“I know.”
A bullet struck the wall above us.
Marcus moved toward the service hallway.
“There's another exit.”
Leo shook his head.
“Too exposed.”
Then a child's voice came from the television.
Everyone froze.
A video had appeared on the large screen.
My father was sitting in a chair.
He looked younger.
Healthy.
Alive.
My knees nearly gave out.
The recording began.
“If you're watching this, Daniel failed.”
My heart shattered.
It was my father's voice.
He looked directly into the camera.
“I need you to understand something. I never owed Vincent Carter forty thousand dollars.”
I covered my mouth.
“I owed him a life.”
Vincent stared at the screen.
My father continued.
“I made a deal to protect my daughter.”
The recording showed him placing a small box on a table.
The same wooden box I'd remembered from childhood.
“Inside this box is proof of what they did.”
He opened it.
There was a photograph.
A watch.
And a child's drawing.
My breath caught.
I recognized the drawing.
I had made it when I was six.
It showed three people holding hands.
My father.
My mother.
And me.
On the back, in my father's handwriting:
She remembers more than she knows.
The video continued.
“My daughter doesn't know that her mother survived.”
I looked at Vincent.
His eyes were fixed on the screen.
“She doesn't know that Vincent's father helped us escape.”
The recording paused.
Then my father said something that changed everything.
“And she doesn't know Vincent is the reason her mother disappeared.”
I turned toward him.
“What?”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Marcus looked away.
I stepped toward Vincent.
“What did you do?”
He didn't answer.
“Vincent.”
His voice was quiet.
“I was eighteen.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“My father ordered me to take your mother somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“I drove her to the coast.”
“And?”
“She never arrived.”
I stared at him.
“You lost her?”
“I was attacked.”
“By whom?”
“Cross's men.”
My father's recording continued.
“Vincent believed your mother was killed.”
I looked at Vincent.
“You thought she died.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Marcus say she was alive six months ago?”
Vincent didn't answer.
The recording ended.
The screen went black.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Leo's men shouted.
“They're retreating!”
The gunfire stopped.
Leo ran downstairs.
The attackers were gone.
No bodies.
No evidence.
Only one thing remained.
A small black handbag on the floor.
Marcus picked it up.
He froze.
“What?”
He opened it.
Inside was a pearl bracelet.
The same bracelet I'd seen on Dr. Price.
And beneath it was a folded note.
I opened it.
Only one sentence.
COME TO ST. MARY'S BEFORE MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.
Vincent immediately said no.
I looked at him.
“You know what that means.”
“Yes.”
“She wants to see me.”
“Or someone wants you there.”
Marcus studied the bracelet.
“This belonged to your mother.”
I looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because I gave it to her.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because she was leaving.”
“Leaving where?”
“Boston.”
“Why?”
Marcus looked at Vincent.
“Because she discovered who was ordering the medical attacks.”
I felt cold.
“Who?”
Marcus finally answered.
“The person Vincent trusted most.”
Leo came back into the room.
“There's something else.”
He handed Vincent a folded document.
“The succession agreement.”
Vincent opened it.
The final page had been replaced.
The signature line wasn't his.
It belonged to Leo.
I looked at Leo.
He looked horrified.
“I didn't sign that.”
Vincent stared at him.
“I believe you.”
Leo looked relieved.
Then Vincent turned the page.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
THE REAL SUCCESSOR WILL BE THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE BLOODLINE.
I stared at the words.
“My bloodline?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Vincent.
“His.”
Vincent frowned.
“Mine?”
Marcus nodded.
“There was another Carter heir.”
Leo stepped closer.
“Who?”
Marcus looked toward me.
“The child your mother was protecting.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Me?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Vincent.
“Your brother.”
Vincent went completely still.
“I don't have a brother.”
Marcus's voice was barely audible.
“You did.”
Vincent stared at him.
“His name was Michael.”
I looked at the photograph from the red book.
The young man standing beside Vincent.
The silver watch.
I suddenly recognized him.
“That's him.”
Marcus nodded.
“Michael Carter.”
Vincent backed away.
“My brother died when he was twelve.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Then he pointed toward the photograph.
“He didn't.”
Before anyone could speak, Leo's phone rang.
He answered.
His face turned white.
“What?”
He listened.
Then he looked at Vincent.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“The hospital just called.”
“What happened?”
Leo's voice cracked.
“Dr. Gable is missing.”
Vincent stared at him.
“And Marcus?”
May you like
Leo looked around.
Marcus was gone.
