Chapter 10 - Someone Inside Ronan’s Empire
Detective Vega was moving before Leo finished speaking.
She called the holding facility.
No answer.
Called a supervisor.
No answer.
Then dispatch.
The result turned her face pale.
“Power failure.”
Ronan looked at Leo.
“When?”
“Seven minutes ago.”
Vega grabbed her coat.
“I’m going.”
Sadie followed.
Ronan blocked the doorway.
“No.”
Sadie stared.
He sighed.
“Fine. I’m asking you not to.”
“Better.”
“This isn't funny.”
“I know.”
Vega looked between them.
“She stays.”
Sadie turned.
“You too?”
“Yes.”
“Carl is—”
“Carl is in police custody. This is my responsibility.”
Sadie stopped.
Vega lowered her voice.
“You gave us what we needed. Let us do our part.”
That was different.
Not control.
Responsibility.
Sadie nodded reluctantly.
Ronan joined Vega.
Before leaving, he looked at Sadie.
“I’ll call.”
“You'd better.”
He paused.
Something almost personal passed between them.
Then he left.
Sadie remained with Gabriel and two security guards.
For twenty minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Gabriel said, “He likes you.”
Sadie nearly dropped her coffee.
“What?”
“My brother.”
“You just survived being kidnapped and framed. Maybe rest.”
Gabriel smiled.
“I've known him my whole life.”
Sadie pointed toward his blanket.
“Sleep.”
“He doesn't listen to anyone.”
“He doesn't listen to me either.”
“He apologizes to you.”
Sadie became quiet.
Gabriel saw it.
“That's rare.”
“Maybe he should practice.”
Gabriel laughed.
Then winced.
Sadie sat opposite him.
“What happened between you two?”
Gabriel’s smile disappeared.
“Our father.”
Sadie waited.
“He wanted Ronan to inherit everything. The businesses. The organization. The responsibility.”
“And you?”
“I wanted architecture school.”
Sadie smiled faintly.
“Different career path.”
“Exactly.”
“Did Ronan object?”
“No.”
Gabriel stared into the fireplace.
“But he became our father after Dad died.”
“Meaning?”
“Protection became control. Questions became surveillance. Every choice I made had a contingency plan attached.”
Sadie understood more than Gabriel realized.
“So you left.”
“I ran.”
“There's a difference?”
Gabriel looked toward her.
“You'd know better than me.”
Sadie considered it.
“I used to think running meant weakness.”
“And now?”
“Sometimes leaving is the first thing you do when you stop being weak.”
Gabriel smiled.
“That sounds like something Ronan needs to hear.”
“Tell him yourself.”
“I've tried.”
“Try louder.”
A phone rang.
Sadie answered instantly.
Ronan.
“Carl?”
“Alive.”
She exhaled.
“What happened?”
“Martin never reached him.”
“How?”
“Harker did.”
Sadie’s stomach tightened.
“The cop?”
“Yes.”
“Harker cut power and entered the holding corridor. Vega’s people intercepted him.”
“And Martin?”
“Never actually arrested.”
Sadie frowned.
“Then how did Leo—”
“A booking record was created.”
“Fake.”
“Yes.”
“Someone inside your organization told you Martin was there.”
Ronan became silent.
Sadie’s skin chilled.
“The leak.”
“Yes.”
“You still have someone feeding him information.”
“Yes.”
“Who knew Leo would tell you?”
“Only my senior staff.”
Sadie’s mind raced.
“Leo?”
“No.”
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because Leo could have given Martin the drive six months ago and prevented all of this.”
Fair point.
“Who else?”
“Five people.”
“Gabriel?”
“He wasn't part of the current communication chain.”
Sadie glanced toward Gabriel.
He watched her.
Ronan continued.
“I need you to stay at the house.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
“But Ronan?”
“Yes.”
“Don't assume the traitor is the most obvious person.”
A pause.
“I learned that lesson.”
She ended the call.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
“He listens to you.”
Sadie ignored him.
The front entrance opened.
A woman entered.
Late fifties.
Elegant gray hair.
Dark coat.
Security immediately relaxed.
Gabriel stood.
“Aunt Evelyn.”
Sadie looked up.
Evelyn Hayes crossed the room and embraced Gabriel.
“I heard.”
Her voice trembled.
“I came as soon as I could.”
Gabriel hugged her tightly.
Evelyn turned toward Sadie.
“You must be Sadie.”
Sadie hesitated.
“Yes.”
“I’m Ronan and Gabriel’s aunt.”
Sadie remembered Ronan’s story.
My mother had a sister.
The woman who wore long sleeves.
The one nobody noticed soon enough.
Sadie’s expression changed.
Evelyn saw it.
“He told you.”
“A little.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Then he trusts you.”
Sadie did not know what to say.
Evelyn sat beside Gabriel.
“You look terrible.”
“Thanks.”
“You always were dramatic.”
For several minutes, the room warmed.
Family history.
Childhood stories.
Gabriel teasing Ronan.
Sadie found herself relaxing.
Then Evelyn’s phone buzzed.
She glanced at it.
Something about the motion caught Sadie’s attention.
Not the phone.
The case.
Dark green leather with a gold monogram.
E.H.
Sadie had seen it before.
Where?
Her memory moved backward.
The Continental.
The night Carl came.
Parking garage footage.
A reflection behind Martin.
Someone holding a phone.
Green case.
Sadie’s stomach tightened.
Impossible.
Evelyn noticed her staring.
“What is it?”
Sadie smiled faintly.
“Nothing.”
But everything inside her had sharpened.
She walked toward the kitchen.
“Coffee?”
“Please.”
In the kitchen, Sadie took out her new phone and quietly photographed Evelyn’s case.
She sent it to Ronan.
Have you seen this phone before?
His reply arrived thirty seconds later.
Yes. Why?
Sadie typed.
Check the parking-garage footage from the Continental.
Three minutes passed.
Then the phone rang.
Ronan’s voice was different.
“Where is Evelyn?”
“In the living room.”
“Do not confront her.”
Sadie looked through the doorway.
Evelyn laughed at something Gabriel said.
“She’s your aunt.”
“Yes.”
“Ronan…”
“I know.”
Sadie whispered, “Was she part of your senior staff?”
A long silence.
“Yes.”
Sadie closed her eyes.
The abused woman Ronan had once been too young to save.
The reason he noticed bruises.
The relative he trusted enough to know his internal operations.
It did not make sense.
Unless the story was incomplete.
“What happened to her husband?” Sadie asked.
“He disappeared fifteen years ago.”
“Disappeared?”
“My father handled it.”
The phrase carried weight.
Sadie looked toward Evelyn.
“What if she blamed your family?”
Ronan said nothing.
From the living room, Evelyn called.
“Sadie?”
She slipped the phone away.
“Coming.”
When Sadie returned, Evelyn was standing.
Gabriel looked confused.
“Aunt Evelyn?”
Evelyn held a small pistol.
Not pointed at Gabriel.
Pointed toward the floor.
But unmistakable.
Security guards near the entrance were gone.
Sadie stopped.
Evelyn looked at her.
“You notice things too.”
Gabriel went pale.
“Aunt Evelyn, what are you doing?”
Evelyn’s expression filled with sadness.
“Finishing something that should have ended a long time ago.”
Sadie understood.
“You’re working with Martin.”
“No.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Martin was working with me.”
And in that instant, the entire shape of Ronan’s betrayal changed.
Martin Pierce had not been the architect.
He had been another piece.
May you like
The real enemy had been inside Ronan’s family from the beginning.
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