Chapter 6 - The Night Bishop Chose
The chip contained one file.
An audio recording.
My father's voice.
Thomas Callaway had discovered the Ledger years before Julian.
He had treated people injured in Voss-related conflicts and realized the same supposed charity organization kept appearing afterward.
Medical bills paid.
Debts erased.
Then favors demanded.
My father had collected evidence.
Richard discovered him.
Before Dad died, he hid a copy inside the necklace he gave me.
His death hadn't been random.
The official report said highway accident.
Now I wondered.
Eli and I had spent fourteen years believing bad weather took our father.
Richard Voss might have taken him instead.
I wanted revenge.
For about thirty seconds.
Then I remembered Eli.
“Midnight,” I said.
Adrian shook his head.
“You aren't going.”
“He specifically demanded me.”
“Which is why you aren't going.”
“If we don't—”
“We'll get Eli back.”
“How?”
Adrian looked at Bishop.
“We let Richard think he's still controlling the situation.”
At 11:52 p.m., we reached the abandoned greenhouse.
Adrian.
Rener.
Me.
Bishop.
Security remained out of sight.
I carried the necklace.
The greenhouse doors opened.
Marcus Bell stepped forward.
So much for the injured employee.
His forearm had healed, but Bishop immediately stiffened when he saw him.
Marcus smiled.
“Still remembers me.”
“You triggered him,” I said.
“Yes.”
“You made him attack you.”
“I needed Adrian to believe the dog had become unstable.”
“Why?”
“Because Julian trusted animals more than people.”
A second man emerged.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Richard Voss.
Adrian looked at his uncle.
“You killed Julian.”
Richard smiled sadly.
“Julian killed himself by confusing morality with loyalty.”
Adrian's expression didn't move.
“Where's Eli?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
Eli appeared behind the glass partition.
Alive.
Terrified.
Relief almost dropped me to my knees.
Richard looked at me.
“The necklace.”
I held it up.
“You killed my father.”
“He made an unfortunate choice.”
My fingers tightened.
Beside me, Bishop growled.
Richard smiled at him.
“And there is the famous witness.”
Marcus reached into his pocket.
Bishop suddenly cried out and recoiled.
Remote transmitter.
The same conditioning.
I understood immediately.
Marcus pressed it again.
Bishop shook.
“Stop!”
Marcus laughed.
“He'll do exactly what he's trained to do.”
But he was wrong.
Because Bishop wasn't alone anymore.
I dropped to my knees.
“Bishop.”
His eyes found mine.
“Look at me.”
Another signal.
He trembled.
“Bishop.”
He looked at me.
“You're safe.”
Marcus pressed again.
Bishop didn't move.
“Attack,” Marcus commanded.
Nothing.
Bishop stayed beside me.
Richard's smile vanished.
Marcus increased the signal.
Adrian moved.
Everything happened quickly.
Rener freed Eli while Adrian's hidden security team entered from both sides.
No gunfight.
No heroic bloodshed.
Just overwhelming numbers and men realizing the plan had failed.
Marcus tried to run.
Bishop moved.
For one terrifying second I thought he would attack.
Instead, he planted himself in front of the door.
Marcus stopped.
Bishop growled.
Not fear.
Choice.
Marcus raised the transmitter.
I said one word.
“Bishop.”
The dog looked at me.
Then sat.
He didn't need to hurt anyone.
He had already won.
Richard was taken into custody along with records Adrian had secretly forwarded to federal investigators before we arrived.
The Ledger was finished.
Or so I thought.
Then Richard laughed.
“You still don't understand, Adrian.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Understand what?”
“Julian wasn't trying to expose me.”
Richard's eyes moved toward Bishop.
“He was trying to expose you.”
Silence.
I looked at Adrian.
Richard smiled.
“Ask your brother why the last file on his drive is named ADRIAN.”
Adrian's face changed.
Richard was taken away.
But the question remained.
At dawn, we returned to the estate.
Eli was safe.
Bishop slept beside him.
I found Adrian alone in Julian's study.
The final encrypted file had opened.
He hadn't watched it.
“Scared?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I sat beside him.
“Good.”
He looked at me.
“Why is that good?”
“Because people who aren't scared of the truth usually aren't interested in it.”
We played the file.
Julian appeared.
“Adrian, if you're seeing this, Richard has probably told you I was investigating you.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“He's right.”
I felt him stop breathing.
Julian continued.
“I was investigating the man you were becoming.”
The video showed Adrian signing documents.
Authorizing surveillance.
Approving aggressive business tactics.
Building the machinery Richard later exploited.
“You didn't create the Ledger,” Julian said. “But you created a world where men like Richard could hide inside your authority.”
Adrian looked devastated.
Then Julian smiled faintly.
“But I know my brother.”
Adrian looked up.
“If someone finally forces you to see what your power costs, you'll change it.”
Julian reached down.
Bishop entered the frame.
“And if Bishop trusts whoever is sitting beside you when you watch this, listen to them.”
The video ended.
Bishop walked into the study at that exact moment.
He came directly to me.
Then looked at Adrian.
I almost laughed through my tears.
Adrian didn't.
He whispered, “Julian planned all of this.”
“No.”
I touched his hand.
“He hoped.”
Adrian looked at our hands.
Then at me.
“What happens now?”
“You decide what kind of man your brother was hoping you'd become.”
He turned his hand beneath mine and held it.
For several seconds neither of us moved.
Then his phone rang.
Rener.
Adrian answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He stood.
“Are you certain?”
He hung up.
“What happened?”
Adrian stared at me.
“Richard escaped during transport.”
My heart dropped.
“How?”
“We don't know.”
Then Bishop entered.
Something hung from his collar.
An envelope.
Nobody had seen who placed it there.
Adrian removed it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Eli and me.
Taken years ago.
On the back:
THOMAS CALLAWAY WASN'T YOUR FATHER'S REAL NAME.
May you like
And beneath it:
Ask Adrian who he really was.
