Chapter 3 - The Traitor Inside the Hayes Empire
Sadie's mother answered on the third ring.
“Sweetheart?”
Sadie's knees nearly gave out from relief.
“Mom.”
Declan stood beside her, listening through the speaker.
“Why are you calling at two in the morning?”
“I just wanted to check on you.”
“At two in the morning?”
Sadie's eyes closed.
“Yes.”
There was a pause.
Then her mother said, “Are you in trouble?”
Mothers always knew.
Sadie glanced at Declan.
He shook his head slightly.
“Nothing I can't handle.”
“That means yes.”
“Lock the doors.”
“What?”
“Please.”
Her mother fell quiet.
Declan stepped closer to the phone.
“Mrs. Collins, this is Declan Hayes.”
Another pause.
Then, unexpectedly:
“Oh. The handsome boss.”
Sadie covered her eyes.
Declan raised an eyebrow.
Her mother continued.
“Sadie said you never smile.”
“I smile occasionally.”
“No, you don't,” Sadie muttered.
Her mother heard her.
“Well, at least she's with you.”
Declan's attention shifted.
“Mrs. Collins, do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?”
“My sister is five minutes away.”
“Go there now.”
Something in his voice ended the conversation.
Within ten minutes, a trusted driver had collected Sadie's mother.
Declan personally watched the vehicle through traffic cameras until it reached the destination.
Sadie sat beside him in the security room.
“You have access to city traffic cameras?”
“No.”
She stared.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“That was the least convincing lie you've ever told.”
Declan ignored her.
At 3:10 a.m., two men arrived outside Sadie's mother's house.
They stayed less than ninety seconds.
Then left.
Sadie watched the footage.
Her hands shook.
Declan closed the screen.
“They're escalating.”
“Because of me.”
“Because Greg failed.”
“I killed him.”
“Because he attacked you.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“But people are going to keep coming, aren't they?”
“Yes.”
Sadie exhaled.
“What happens now?”
Declan called four men to the penthouse before dawn.
Only four.
Men he believed were loyal beyond money.
Malcolm Reid, head of security.
Vincent Rusk, operations.
Leo Bianchi, port logistics.
And Eamon Pierce.
Sadie stared at him when he said the final name.
“You're inviting him here?”
“Yes.”
“He may be trying to kill you.”
“That is why I want him where I can see him.”
At 5:40, the men arrived.
Sadie remained in the upstairs guest suite with strict instructions not to leave.
She lasted fourteen minutes.
Then she quietly opened the door and listened from the landing.
Eamon was sixty-one, broad-shouldered, silver-haired, and impeccably dressed even before sunrise.
He greeted Declan like family.
“My boy.”
Declan allowed the embrace.
Sadie watched from the shadows.
“You look terrible,” Eamon said.
“Long night.”
“I heard something happened at headquarters.”
“Did you?”
Eamon's eyes sharpened.
“Security called me. Greg hasn't answered his phone.”
Declan poured coffee.
“Greg is dead.”
Silence.
Vincent swore softly.
Leo stared.
Malcolm's expression remained unreadable.
Eamon slowly lowered his cup.
“How?”
“Someone stabbed him.”
Sadie noticed the wording.
Someone.
Not Sadie.
Eamon looked genuinely surprised.
Or he was an excellent actor.
“Who?”
“We're still figuring that out.”
Declan studied every face.
“Greg was stealing from us.”
Eamon's jaw hardened.
“I told you I didn't trust him.”
“You recommended him.”
That landed.
Eamon's eyes narrowed.
“Three years ago.”
“Still.”
“You blaming me?”
“No.”
Declan smiled without warmth.
“Should I?”
Tension filled the room.
Malcolm stepped forward.
“We have a bigger issue.”
He placed a tablet on the table.
“Someone copied port schedules.”
Eamon looked at Declan.
“How bad?”
“Pier Seventeen.”
Leo swore again.
“The Rotterdam shipment?”
“Yes.”
Eamon stood.
“We move it.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Declan.
Eamon frowned.
“Declan, that's six million dollars of cargo belonging to—”
“I know who it belongs to.”
“Then you know we don't gamble with it.”
“We're not moving anything.”
“Why?”
Declan leaned against the table.
“Because whoever is doing this expects us to panic.”
Sadie watched Eamon.
For the first time, she saw something flicker across his face.
Relief?
Disappointment?
She couldn't tell.
Then Eamon said, “What about Sadie?”
Declan's expression remained unchanged.
Sadie's blood ran cold.
He hadn't mentioned her.
No one had.
“What about her?” Declan asked.
Eamon paused.
“The secretary. She worked late yesterday, didn't she?”
Malcolm looked toward him.
“How do you know that?”
Eamon smiled faintly.
“Security logs.”
Declan's eyes went colder.
“You checked?”
“I check everything.”
Sadie backed away from the railing.
Too late.
The wood beneath her foot creaked.
Everyone below looked up.
Declan's expression darkened.
“Sadie.”
She stepped into view.
Eamon looked at her.
His face registered surprise.
Real surprise.
Then something else.
Recognition.
“You're alive.”
The room went dead silent.
Eamon realized his mistake instantly.
Declan did too.
His voice dropped.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Eamon's hand moved toward his jacket.
Malcolm moved faster.
He pinned Eamon against the wall.
Vincent drew his weapon.
Sadie froze.
Declan walked toward his godfather.
“You knew.”
Eamon's breathing remained steady.
“Declan.”
“You knew she was supposed to die.”
“It isn't what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“That I betrayed you.”
“You did.”
“No.”
Eamon looked toward Sadie.
“She was never the target.”
Sadie went cold.
“Then who was?”
Eamon looked back at Declan.
“You.”
Declan's expression didn't change.
“Explain.”
“I've been feeding Marcus Vale information.”
Vincent swore.
Declan remained silent.
Eamon continued quickly.
“Because Vale has someone inside your operation.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Declan laughed quietly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I've spent three months trying to identify him.”
“Without telling me?”
“If I told you, he might have known.”
Declan's eyes sharpened.
“You thought I was compromised?”
“I thought your inner circle was.”
Everyone looked around the room.
Malcolm.
Vincent.
Leo.
Eamon.
One of them.
Maybe more.
Sadie slowly descended the stairs.
“Greg said Pier Seventeen would be Declan's grave.”
Eamon looked at her.
“What else did he say?”
“That tomorrow night was when it happened.”
Eamon's face changed.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
He turned toward Declan.
“Then we're out of time.”
“Out of time for what?”
Eamon looked at the others.
“No one leaves this room.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“You don't give orders here.”
Eamon ignored him.
He pulled a small flash drive from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“I've been recording Vale.”
Declan didn't touch it.
Eamon continued.
“Last week, he mentioned the words ‘Black Ledger.’”
Declan froze.
Sadie noticed.
“What is that?”
No one answered.
“Declan?”
He looked at her.
“The Black Ledger is a myth.”
Eamon shook his head.
“No.”
“It doesn't exist.”
“It does.”
“What is it?” Sadie asked again.
Eamon looked at her.
“A record of every payment, every shipment, every judge, cop, politician, and criminal organization connected to the Hayes network for twenty years.”
Sadie went pale.
“If someone got that…”
“They could destroy everyone.”
“Or control them,” Declan said.
Eamon nodded.
“And Vale believes the ledger is hidden beneath Pier Seventeen.”
Declan laughed once.
“He's wrong.”
Eamon stared at him.
“Is he?”
Declan's face changed.
Only slightly.
Sadie saw it.
And suddenly understood.
The ledger wasn't a myth.
Declan knew exactly where it was.
But before she could speak, Malcolm's phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
Then looked toward Declan.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a breach downstairs.”
Declan's eyes hardened.
“How many?”
Malcolm looked at the security feed.
“No men.”
“Then what?”
He turned the tablet around.
On the building's lobby camera stood a teenage boy.
Maybe sixteen.
Soaked from the rain.
Holding an envelope.
On the front were two handwritten words.
FOR SADIE.
Sadie's stomach dropped.
She stared at the screen.
“I don't know him.”
Declan looked at Malcolm.
“Bring him up.”
Five minutes later, the boy stood trembling in the penthouse.
He handed Sadie the envelope.
“A man paid me five hundred dollars to deliver it.”
“What man?”
“I don't know.”
Sadie opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother leaving her sister's home ten minutes earlier.
On the back, one sentence had been written in black ink.
COME TO PIER SEVENTEEN ALONE, SADIE.
May you like
OR YOUR MOTHER DIES FIRST.
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