Chapter 3 - What Julian’s Father Knew
Julian stared at the storage-unit door.
Thomas had been under guard at the estate.
Yet somehow he was standing outside.
That fact alone told Julian how deeply the betrayal reached.
Daniel looked furious.
"Someone helped him."
"Obviously."
Julian gestured for Camille to remain behind him.
Thomas spoke again.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone."
Julian opened the door.
Thomas stood alone.
No weapon.
No visible backup.
His suit jacket was gone and his white shirt sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
He looked tired.
For the first time Julian could remember, Thomas Mercer looked old.
Rex stepped forward.
The dog growled.
Thomas stopped.
"That animal has become inconvenient."
"Funny," Julian said. "I was thinking the same about you."
Thomas glanced at Camille.
"I'm sorry about Mateo."
Camille's face hardened.
"Don't say his name."
Thomas lowered his eyes.
Julian watched him carefully.
"Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Did you cause his death?"
Thomas hesitated.
That was answer enough.
Camille inhaled sharply.
Thomas looked at her.
"I tried to stop what was happening."
"By visiting my apartment at two in the morning?"
"I was looking for the ledger."
"The blue notebook?"
"Yes."
Julian stepped closer.
"What was in it?"
"Everything."
"That's vague."
"Because everything is a long story."
"We have time."
Thomas looked at Rex.
"Apparently not."
He glanced down the corridor.
"We need to leave."
Daniel almost laughed.
"You don't give orders anymore."
"Then consider it advice."
A distant door slammed.
Rex's ears lifted.
Thomas said, "The people I've been protecting Julian from now know this unit exists."
Julian studied him.
"Protecting me?"
"Your father made mistakes. I spent eight years containing them."
"And stealing from me?"
Thomas's expression tightened.
"That money wasn't stolen."
"Then explain."
"Not here."
Rex suddenly moved toward the emergency exit.
He looked back at Julian.
Julian trusted the dog.
They left through the rear stairwell and drove east.
Nobody spoke for the first ten miles.
Finally Thomas began.
Julian's father, Henry Ashworth, had discovered financial irregularities shortly before his illness became severe.
He suspected someone inside the organization was building a separate network.
Henry asked Mateo Rivera, an ordinary logistics supervisor no senior executive would notice, to quietly copy shipping records.
Mateo discovered the scheme.
But Thomas claimed he wasn't its architect.
"Who was?" Julian asked.
Thomas looked through the windshield.
"Your uncle."
Julian went still.
"Victor?"
Thomas nodded.
Victor Ashworth had disappeared from Nashville eleven years earlier after a bitter dispute with Henry.
Julian had been told Victor moved overseas.
"He's alive?"
"Very."
"And you've been working with him?"
"I've been paying him."
Julian's hands tightened.
"With my money."
"To keep him away from you."
Thomas explained that Victor had threatened to expose enough family secrets to destroy everything Henry built. Thomas began diverting money into accounts Victor controlled.
What started as temporary payments became permanent extortion.
Then Mateo discovered them.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Thomas laughed without humor.
"Because your father asked me not to."
"My father is dead."
"And his last request was that I keep his sons out of the mess."
Julian looked at him.
"Sons?"
Silence filled the SUV.
Thomas realized his mistake.
Julian's voice became dangerously quiet.
"What did you just say?"
Thomas stared ahead.
"Nothing."
"You said sons."
Camille looked between them.
Thomas finally closed his eyes.
"That's on the second recording."
The old hunting cabin appeared among the trees just after dark.
It had remained largely untouched since Henry's death.
Rex became excited the moment they arrived.
He ran around the side of the cabin and stopped beside an old stone fireplace.
Julian remembered his father sitting there with Rex as a puppy.
"Trust the dog."
Daniel removed a loose stone.
Behind it was a sealed metal container.
Inside lay another recorder.
Julian pressed play.
His father's voice filled the cabin.
"Julian, if you're hearing this, then Thomas failed to keep the past buried."
Thomas looked away.
Henry continued.
"Don't hate him too quickly. I asked him to do impossible things."
Julian listened in silence.
His father explained Victor's betrayal.
The payments.
Mateo's discovery.
Then came the secret.
"Victor isn't merely your uncle."
Julian's stomach tightened.
"Before you were born, your mother and Victor had a relationship. Years later, Victor had a son with another woman."
Julian frowned.
Why would that matter?
Then Henry said the name.
"That boy was Mateo Rivera."
Camille gasped.
Julian stared at her.
Mateo had been Victor Ashworth's son.
Julian's cousin.
Henry had secretly brought Mateo into an Ashworth company to keep him close, hoping the younger man would never become like his father.
Mateo eventually learned the truth.
And when he discovered Victor was extorting the family, he began collecting evidence.
Henry's recording continued.
"Mateo has a daughter. If anything happens to him, protect that child. Victor believes blood gives him ownership over people. It doesn't."
Camille began crying silently.
Julian thought of Elsie washing Rex.
The little girl wasn't merely the housekeeper's child.
She was an Ashworth descendant.
And Victor knew it.
Henry's voice softened.
"Rex has been trained to recognize a scent marker I gave Mateo. If Victor or anyone carrying that marker comes near the family, Rex will react."
Julian looked at Thomas.
Thomas nodded.
"I carried one."
"Why?"
"Because I met Victor yesterday."
The barking suddenly made sense.
Rex wasn't warning Julian about Thomas himself.
He was reacting to Victor's scent marker on him.
Julian's anger shifted.
"You met him?"
"He returned to Nashville three weeks ago."
"Why?"
Thomas looked at Camille.
"Because he discovered Mateo had a child."
Camille's face went white.
Julian immediately called the estate.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Daniel tried security.
Nothing.
Julian's pulse hammered.
They ran outside.
The drive back felt endless.
When they finally reached the estate, the front gates stood open.
Julian was out of the SUV before it fully stopped.
"Elsie!"
Camille ran behind him.
The courtyard was empty.
The metal bucket remained where the child had left it.
Soapy water had spilled across the stones.
"ELSIE!"
Camille raced inside.
Then a tiny voice came from beneath the oak tree.
"Mommy?"
Elsie emerged holding a stuffed rabbit.
Camille dropped to her knees and pulled her daughter into her arms.
Julian exhaled.
Rex ran to the child.
Safe.
Then Daniel appeared from the house.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"The security system was remotely disabled."
Julian looked toward Thomas.
Thomas shook his head.
"It wasn't me."
Daniel held up a white envelope.
"This was on Julian's desk."
Julian opened it.
Inside was a photograph taken that afternoon.
Elsie washing Rex.
Someone had photographed them from outside the estate.
On the back were six handwritten words.
She belongs to the Ashworth bloodline.
And beneath them:
Tell Thomas the payments are over.
Julian turned the photograph over again.
May you like
There was one final sentence at the bottom.
Tomorrow, I come for my granddaughter.
