Chapter 4 - Daniel Hayes Left Behind One Final Secret
We drove back to the mansion in silence.
I wanted to scream at Elias to go faster.
He was already doing ninety.
“How could Evan have the ledger?”
“He can't,” Elias said.
“The message says—”
“The message is designed to frighten us.”
“It's working.”
Marco turned from the front seat.
“Adeline, think. Did Daniel ever give Evan anything before he died?”
I tried.
Then remembered.
“A watch.”
“What kind?”
“An old military watch.”
“Where is it?”
“Evan always wears it.”
Elias looked at Marco.
“The key.”
The small key from Daniel's locker.
A watch could contain almost nothing.
But perhaps it wasn't meant to.
Maybe the key opened something else.
We reached the mansion.
The gates were open.
Too open.
No guards.
Inside, silence.
“Stay behind me,” Elias said.
“No.”
“Adeline.”
“That's my brother.”
“And I'm trying to keep you alive long enough to see him.”
That shut me up.
We entered.
The library door was open.
Evan sat in a chair.
Unhurt.
Vincent stood beside the fireplace.
He was handsome in a polished, expensive way.
I'd seen him many times during my shifts.
He had always smiled at the staff.
Always remembered names.
That somehow made everything worse.
“Elias.”
“Let him go.”
Vincent smiled.
“You haven't even asked what I want.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
He looked at me.
“Daniel did.”
I stepped forward.
“You killed my brother.”
Vincent's smile faded.
“Daniel killed himself.”
Elias's gun appeared.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Vincent laughed.
“There he is.”
“Release Evan.”
“Give me the drive.”
Elias had the flash drive from the gym.
“What’s on it?” I asked.
Vincent looked at me.
“Everything.”
“Everything what?”
“Names. Payments. Judges. Police. Politicians. Shipments. Your brother was thorough.”
I felt sick.
“He found your operation.”
“He found everyone's operation.”
Elias stared at Vincent.
“You were using my warehouses.”
“For years.”
“You killed my men.”
“Necessary losses.”
“You killed Daniel.”
Vincent shrugged.
That movement nearly got him shot.
I saw Elias's finger tighten.
“Don't,” I whispered.
Vincent smiled.
“Listen to her.”
Then Evan spoke.
“Addie.”
I looked at him.
He moved his wrist.
Daniel's watch.
I understood.
The key.
I slowly reached into my pocket.
Vincent noticed.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Hands where I can see them.”
Elias stepped sideways, deliberately drawing Vincent's attention.
“You wanted the drive.”
Vincent looked back at him.
“Yes.”
“Take it.”
Elias tossed it.
Vincent instinctively caught it.
Evan moved.
He threw himself sideways.
I ran.
Gunfire exploded.
Marco fired.
Elias fired.
Glass shattered.
Vincent disappeared behind the fireplace wall.
A hidden passage.
I reached Evan.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
We ran outside.
Vincent escaped.
But he'd left something behind.
The ledger in Evan's hands was fake.
A prop.
The real secret was Daniel's watch.
The key opened its back casing.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
We inserted it into Elias's laptop.
One video file appeared.
Daniel filled the screen.
Alive.
Smiling.
My brother.
My knees gave out.
Elias caught my chair.
Daniel looked tired in the recording.
“If you're watching this, I'm probably dead.”
I covered my mouth.
Evan began crying.
Daniel continued.
“Addie, I'm sorry.”
I couldn't breathe.
“I know you. You're going to blame yourself. Don't.”
Tears blurred the screen.
“The accident wasn't your fault. None of this is.”
He looked away, then back.
“And Elias, if you're there…”
Elias froze.
“You owe me.”
A broken laugh escaped Elias.
Daniel smiled.
“Not your life. Stop being dramatic. You owe me something harder.”
His expression became serious.
“Protect them.”
Elias closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
“But don't lock them away. Addie hates being told what to do.”
I laughed through tears.
Then Daniel gave us the information we needed.
Vincent had been running the network.
But he wasn't the top.
There was someone above him.
Someone known only as Shepherd.
Daniel hadn't identified Shepherd.
But he had discovered one important thing.
Shepherd planned to destroy Elias's organization from inside and blame Elias for crimes that would bring federal investigators down on everyone.
The current warehouse leaks were part of that plan.
Then Daniel said something unexpected.
“The proof isn't in the ledger.”
Elias leaned closer.
“The ledger is bait.”
My heart jumped.
“If Vincent finds it, let him think he's won.”
Daniel smiled.
“The real evidence is somewhere only Addie will understand.”
He held up a piece of paper.
On it were three words.
Mom's blue roses.
The video ended.
Evan looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I knew immediately.
Our mother had owned a blue ceramic vase painted with roses.
After she died, Daniel kept it.
After Daniel died, it came to me.
I stood.
“The vase.”
“Where?” Elias asked.
My stomach dropped.
“Our apartment.”
We drove back to Chelsea.
The door was open.
The apartment had been destroyed.
Drawers emptied.
Mattress ripped.
Walls damaged.
But the blue vase remained on the shelf.
I picked it up.
Too heavy.
Elias broke the base carefully.
Inside was a second memory card.
And a note.
TRUST THE MAN WHO CHOOSES YOU OVER POWER.
I looked at Elias.
He looked away.
We loaded the card.
Files appeared.
Hundreds.
Names.
Payments.
Photographs.
Enough evidence to destroy Vincent.
Perhaps Shepherd too.
Then one file caught Elias's attention.
A photograph.
Vincent meeting another man.
The second man's face was partially hidden.
But Elias recognized him.
His face went white.
“No.”
“Who is it?”
He didn't answer.
“Elias.”
He enlarged the image.
The man's face became clearer.
Older.
Gray-haired.
A scar beneath one eye.
Elias whispered:
“My father.”
I stared at him.
“I thought your father was dead.”
“So did I.”
The computer chimed.
A new message appeared.
HELLO, SON.
Then another.
May you like
BRING ADELINE TO ME, OR BOSTON BURNS.
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