Chapter 5 - The Secret Roman Never Wanted Her to Know
Roman didn't speak until they were inside the SUV.
Harper sat opposite him, her father's torn book clutched in her lap.
Her mother was still somewhere with Derek.
The ledger was gone.
And Derek had implied Roman knew something about Daniel Quinn's death.
Harper's hands were cold.
"Tell me."
Roman looked toward Elias.
"Give us privacy."
Elias stepped from the vehicle.
The door closed.
Harper waited.
Roman leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees.
"Nine years ago, I was twenty-nine."
"I don't care how old you were."
His eyes sharpened.
"You will if you want context."
Harper said nothing.
Roman continued.
"I was working under my father."
"Your criminal empire?"
"My family's businesses."
"That's not an answer."
"No. It's the answer you're getting until your mother is safe."
Harper's jaw clenched.
Roman continued.
"Viktor Saran and my father had a partnership. Daniel Quinn was brought in to audit several companies."
"My father."
"Yes."
"Did he know who you were?"
"He knew who my father was."
Harper swallowed.
"Then what happened?"
"Daniel discovered Saran was skimming money and financing operations without my father's knowledge."
"What operations?"
Roman hesitated.
"Trafficking."
Harper's stomach turned.
"People?"
"Yes."
Her grip tightened on the book.
"My father found that?"
"He found the money trail."
"And he planned to expose it."
"Yes."
"Then Viktor killed him."
Roman looked toward the dark window.
"Maybe."
Harper's anger flared.
"Stop saying maybe."
"I wasn't there."
"But you know something."
Roman's jaw flexed.
"Daniel contacted me."
Harper froze.
"When?"
"The night before he died."
"Why you?"
"Because Julian trusted him, and Daniel believed I could get him out of Chicago."
Harper stared.
"Did you?"
"No."
One word.
Heavy enough to fill the car.
"Why?"
Roman's face went still.
"I didn't believe him."
Harper inhaled sharply.
Roman forced himself to continue.
"Daniel claimed someone inside Saran's organization had discovered his investigation. I thought he was panicking."
"You thought my father was paranoid."
"Yes."
"And he died the next day."
"Yes."
Harper looked away.
Every muscle in her body tightened.
"Derek said someone gave Viktor his location."
Roman didn't answer.
Harper turned back.
"Was it you?"
"No."
The speed of the answer surprised her.
"But?"
Roman stared at her.
"I told my father Daniel contacted me."
Harper's stomach dropped.
"And your father?"
"Spoke to Viktor."
The rest required no explanation.
Harper whispered, "So your family told him."
"I don't know what my father said."
"But he talked to Viktor."
"Yes."
"Then my father died."
"Yes."
Harper shoved the door open.
Roman grabbed it before she could step out.
"Harper."
"Let go."
"We're moving in ninety seconds."
"Let go."
He released the door.
Harper climbed out into the cold night.
She paced several feet away.
Roman followed but kept distance.
Tears burned her eyes.
"You knew this when you picked me up."
"I knew my father had spoken to Saran."
"You knew your family might be connected to my father's death."
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell me."
"I didn't know if you were involved with Derek."
"After?"
Roman said nothing.
Harper laughed bitterly.
"After you decided I wasn't involved, you still didn't tell me."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
"That's not the same thing as telling the truth."
"No."
"Do you know what Derek did for three years?"
Roman watched her.
"He decided what information I could handle. He decided what was best for me. Every lie came with some reason that sounded protective."
Roman flinched almost imperceptibly.
Harper pointed toward him.
"I will not trade one controlling man for another just because the second one has better suits."
For a long second Roman said nothing.
Then, unexpectedly, he nodded.
"Fair."
Harper blinked.
"What?"
"You're right."
"I—"
"I should have told you."
His honesty disarmed her more than an argument would have.
Roman stepped closer.
"My desire to protect you doesn't give me ownership over your choices."
Harper's throat tightened.
"No, it doesn't."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Now I do."
She looked away.
Roman continued.
"If Daniel died because of information I shared, I have lived with that possibility for nine years."
Harper looked back.
"Why didn't you investigate?"
"I did."
"And?"
"My father refused to discuss it."
"Convenient."
"He died two years later."
Harper's anger paused.
"How?"
"Stroke."
Roman's face showed nothing.
"Julian continued investigating."
"And three years ago he was killed."
Roman nodded.
Harper suddenly understood.
"That's why this is personal."
"It has always been personal."
"Viktor may have killed both of them."
"Yes."
"And Derek has the ledger that could prove it."
"Possibly."
Harper rubbed her forehead.
Her phone buzzed.
A new text from Derek.
Midnight tomorrow. Bring Vale.
Then an address.
Abandoned freight warehouse near the river.
Another message:
No police. No army. Harper and Roman only.
Harper showed him.
Roman read it.
"He wants me."
"Obviously."
"Why?"
Roman looked toward the street.
"Because the ledger may contain enough evidence to destroy Viktor."
"Derek works for Viktor."
"Maybe not anymore."
Harper frowned.
"What?"
"Derek stole from him."
"So Derek wants protection."
"Or leverage."
Roman's phone rang.
Elias.
Roman answered.
"Talk."
His expression changed.
Harper waited.
"Are you sure?"
Pause.
"Send it."
He ended the call.
"What?"
Roman turned toward her.
"We recovered part of the hospital surveillance."
"And?"
"Kinsley wasn't helping Derek voluntarily."
Harper's chest tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"He threatened her."
Harper remembered the bruises.
"Then why did she move money before I caught them?"
"We don't know."
"Maybe she was involved before he turned on her."
"Likely."
A notification arrived on Roman's phone.
He opened a video.
Harper stood beside him.
Hospital corridor.
Kinsley and Derek.
No audio at first.
Then enhanced sound.
Derek's voice:
"You do exactly what I tell you, or Harper pays for everything."
Kinsley:
"You said she wouldn't get hurt."
Derek:
"I said she'd survive."
Harper felt sick.
The video continued.
Kinsley whispered:
"What about her mother?"
Derek smiled.
"Insurance."
Harper turned away.
Roman shut off the video.
"We'll get her."
Harper looked at him.
"Don't promise things you can't guarantee."
"I don't."
"What?"
"I don't make promises I don't intend to keep."
The certainty in his tone broke something in her.
Harper whispered, "I'm scared."
It was the first time she had admitted it.
Roman's face softened.
"I know."
"I don't know how to do this."
"You don't need to."
"What if he hurts her?"
Roman stepped closer.
"Look at me."
Harper did.
"We have twenty-three hours before Derek's deadline. My people are tracing the video location. Every camera around that warehouse is being mapped. Every vehicle connected to Derek is being tracked."
Harper's breathing slowed.
"We're not waiting until midnight."
"No."
For once she was grateful he was the kind of man who treated threats as logistical problems.
Roman reached toward her face.
Then stopped before touching.
The hesitation mattered.
Harper noticed.
"You can," she whispered.
His eyes searched hers.
"Can what?"
"Touch me."
Roman slowly brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
His hand was warm.
Harper's eyes closed for half a second.
Derek had touched her constantly.
Pinching.
Adjusting.
Guiding.
Correcting.
Roman touched her as though permission mattered.
The difference was devastating.
When Harper opened her eyes, Roman was watching her with an expression she couldn't name.
His hand fell.
"We should move."
Harper nodded.
Back at the safe house, Roman's team worked through the night.
Maps covered the dining table.
Screens displayed traffic footage.
Harper refused to sleep.
At 4:17 a.m., Elias walked in.
"We found the van."
Harper stood.
"Where?"
"South Side industrial district."
Roman moved toward the map.
"Current?"
"Thirty minutes old."
"Mom?"
Elias hesitated.
"We don't know."
Harper grabbed her coat.
Roman looked at her.
"You stay here."
She gave him a warning look.
Roman sighed.
"Right. We learned this lesson."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
Roman ignored him.
Twenty-five minutes later they reached the industrial building.
Roman's team entered first.
No gunfire.
No resistance.
The place was empty.
Harper ran inside despite instructions.
"Mom!"
Nothing.
Then she saw the chair from Derek's video.
Rope on the floor.
A discarded camera.
Roman inspected it.
"Recently moved."
Elias called from another room.
"Boss."
They entered a small office.
On the wall was a photograph.
Harper and Roman outside her mother's house.
Taken hours earlier.
Below it, written in black marker:
YOU'RE ALWAYS ONE STEP BEHIND.
Roman's jaw tightened.
Harper saw another object on the desk.
Her mother's necklace.
She grabbed it.
"Mom."
Then a television flickered to life.
Derek appeared on screen.
Recorded message.
"Roman, you're predictable."
Roman stared.
Derek smiled.
"And Harper, you're still trusting men who think they know better than you."
Harper's stomach twisted.
"I moved your mother somewhere safer."
Derek leaned closer to the camera.
"But don't worry."
His smile vanished.
"She's not the person Viktor wants."
The video cut.
A second image appeared.
Live surveillance.
Kinsley.
Still inside Roman's safe house.
Sitting alone.
Harper frowned.
Then she noticed a figure entering behind her.
A guard.
One of Roman's guards.
He pulled a weapon.
Roman's phone rang simultaneously.
Elias answered his own.
His face drained.
"Boss."
Roman was already moving.
"Say it."
"We have an internal breach."
The monitor showed the guard grab Kinsley.
Then the camera went black.
Roman looked at Elias.
"Who?"
Elias swallowed.
"Marcus."
Roman stopped.
Harper frowned.
"Who's Marcus?"
Elias didn't answer.
Roman's face had turned colder than Harper had ever seen it.
Finally he said:
"My cousin."
And for the first time Harper understood the terrifying truth.
Viktor Saran hadn't merely infiltrated the police.
He had someone inside Roman Vale's family.
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Continue to Chapter 6…
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