Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Dare
Diane understood too late.
Adrian had not come to help them.
He had come to find the drive.
Catherine moved toward the door.
Adrian blocked her.
“Don’t.”
Diane stood between him and the bedroom where Sadi had disappeared.
“Where is my sister?”
“Safe.”
“If you hurt her—”
“I’m not going to hurt a child.”
“Then bring her back.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor has her.”
Diane stared.
“So you work for him.”
Adrian looked at the tattoo.
“I did.”
“Did?”
“Victor gave everyone in his inner circle this mark years ago. I left him after your parents died.”
“Then why lie?”
“Because Ravi would never let me near you.”
“Maybe he had a reason.”
Adrian smiled sadly.
“He usually does.”
Catherine interrupted.
“Can we save the family therapy for later?”
She held up her phone.
“I called Ravi.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“You what?”
The elevator chimed outside.
Seconds later, Ravi entered.
He saw Adrian.
For the first time, Diane witnessed the two brothers face each other.
Three years of anger filled the silence between them.
“Where is Sadi?” Ravi asked.
Adrian answered.
“Pier 19.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
Ravi looked at Diane.
“Do you still have the drive?”
She reached into her pocket.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
“What?” Adrian asked.
Diane held up an identical flash drive.
“This is blank.”
She looked at Catherine.
“The real one is somewhere Victor will never find it.”
Catherine smiled faintly.
Ravi almost looked impressed.
“When did you switch them?”
“At the bank.”
Ravi raised an eyebrow.
“You didn’t trust me.”
“I still don’t completely.”
“Good.”
Adrian looked between them.
“You two are exhausting.”
They went to Pier 19 together.
Not because Diane trusted them.
Because Sadi was there.
An abandoned warehouse stood beside the river.
Inside, Victor Dane waited.
Sadi sat several feet away with an older man beside her.
Diane recognized him.
Edmund Voss.
Catherine gasped.
“Dad!”
Edmund looked exhausted but unharmed.
Victor smiled.
“Finally.”
Diane moved forward.
“Sadi.”
“I’m okay!” Sadi shouted.
Victor raised one hand.
“No dramatic heroics. Nobody needs to get hurt.”
Ravi stepped beside Diane.
“You’ve spent two years hiding.”
Victor shrugged.
“And you spent two years looking in the wrong direction.”
“Why Thomas?”
“Because Thomas was incapable of minding his own business.”
Diane’s fists clenched.
“My father trusted people.”
“That was his weakness.”
“No,” Diane said. “It was yours.”
Victor’s smile faded.
“You have the drive?”
Diane held up the fake.
“Release Sadi first.”
Victor laughed.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because without this, everything you did was pointless.”
Victor stared at her.
Then Edmund suddenly spoke.
“He’s lying, Diane.”
Victor turned.
“Quiet.”
Edmund continued.
“The drive isn’t what he needs.”
“What?”
“He already has the financial records.”
Diane looked at Victor.
“Then why take Sadi?”
Edmund answered.
“Because Thomas hid something else.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
Catherine moved toward her father.
“What?”
Edmund looked at Diane.
“A recording.”
Diane remembered the corrupted file.
“What recording?”
“Thomas recorded Victor admitting what he had done.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Ravi moved between Victor and Diane.
Victor stopped.
For all his confidence, he clearly still feared Ravi.
Diane suddenly understood.
“The third copy.”
Edmund nodded.
“Thomas told me he hid it somewhere only his daughters would eventually find.”
Diane thought about the apartment.
Their parents’ belongings.
Old books.
Photographs.
Then Sadi spoke.
“Dad’s music box.”
Everyone turned.
Diane stared at her.
“What?”
“The wooden music box in your closet.”
Diane remembered it.
Their mother’s old music box.
Broken for years.
Sadi continued.
“Dad told me never to throw it away.”
Victor’s face changed.
That was confirmation enough.
Ravi’s phone vibrated.
He glanced at it.
Then looked at Victor.
“You’ve lost.”
Victor laughed.
“Have I?”
“Yes.”
Ravi turned the screen.
Police vehicles were approaching outside.
Diane stared.
“You called them?”
“No.”
Catherine raised her phone.
“I did.”
Everyone looked at her.
She shrugged.
“I’ve made enough terrible decisions this week.”
Victor backed away.
“You stupid girl.”
Catherine’s expression hardened.
“No. I was stupid when I paid someone ten thousand dollars because my ego was bruised.”
She looked at Diane.
“I’m trying something different now.”
Within minutes, the warehouse filled with officers.
Sadi ran to Diane.
Diane held her so tightly the girl complained she couldn’t breathe.
Edmund embraced Catherine.
Victor was arrested.
And Adrian?
He disappeared during the confusion.
Three days later, Diane returned to her apartment with Ravi.
She removed the wooden music box from her closet.
Inside the base was a hidden compartment.
A memory card waited there.
They played the recording.
Victor’s voice.
Thomas’s voice.
And another voice.
The conversation established that Victor had arranged sabotage of Thomas’s car.
But the final minutes revealed something nobody expected.
Victor said:
“Ravi will never discover it. Not while I have someone inside his house.”
Thomas asked:
“Who?”
Victor laughed.
“You already met her.”
A woman’s voice entered the recording.
Diane froze.
Ravi went completely still.
The woman said:
“Thomas, you should have stopped asking questions.”
Diane looked at Ravi.
“You know that voice.”
Ravi’s face had lost all color.
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
Ravi didn’t answer.
“Ravi.”
He finally looked at Diane.
May you like
“My mother.”
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