Chapter 5 - THE PHOTOGRAPH NOBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO SEEI didn't sleep that night.
Neither did Evelyn.
We sat across from each other in the library while snow tapped against the windows.
“You knew me,” I said.
She nodded.
“As a child.”
“How?”
“Our families were connected.”
“Why don't I remember?”
“Because you were eleven.”
She smiled faintly.
“You used to hate snow.”
I stared at her.
“I did?”
“You cried when your father made you shovel the driveway.”
I almost laughed.
“That sounds like me.”
“You also stole my chocolate.”
“That's definitely me.”
For the first time, the tension softened.
Then she reached into her bag.
“I kept this.”
A small photograph.
Two children sitting beneath a tree.
I was holding a broken toy soldier.
She was holding a red scarf.
“You gave me that soldier,” she said.
“I don't remember.”
“You told me you would protect me.”
I looked at her.
“I failed.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You didn't know you were supposed to.”
Silence settled between us.
Then she whispered:
“I loved you before I knew what love was.”
I looked away.
That sentence frightened me more than any gun.
Because I felt something similar.
Not the childhood memory.
The woman standing in front of me.
The woman who had survived sixteen years of fear.
The woman who still wore the red scarf.
I wanted to touch her.
I didn't.
Not yet.
We had more urgent problems.
Marcus entered.
“We found Adrian.”
“Where?”
“Baltimore.”
“What is he doing?”
“Moving money.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred million.”
I stood.
“Then we move tonight.”
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
“No.”
I turned.
“Why?”
“Because that's what he wants.”
She explained that Adrian had spent years building a second network.
He wanted me angry.
He wanted me reckless.
He wanted me to attack first.
Then he would eliminate me and claim self-defense.
I stared at the map.
“She’s right,” Marcus said.
I hated that.
“What do we do?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“We make him believe you died.”
The plan was dangerous.
But it worked.
A fake convoy left the estate.
A false medical report was leaked.
By midnight, three news outlets reported that Roman Vale had died from complications related to his injuries.
Adrian reacted exactly as expected.
He moved.
His hidden accounts began transferring money.
His private communications activated.
Marcus intercepted them.
For three days, we watched.
Then we found the real target.
A warehouse in Philadelphia.
Inside were documents proving Adrian's involvement in our father's murder.
But there was something else.
A list.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
At the bottom was a name I recognized.
Samuel Carter.
I stared at it.
“No.”
Evelyn went pale.
“What?”
“Your grandfather.”
I looked at Samuel.
He didn't deny it.
“I worked for your father.”
“You knew?”
“I knew some of it.”
“How much?”
Samuel sighed.
“Enough to regret it.”
He admitted he had helped hide the ledger.
But he had never betrayed my father.
He had protected Evelyn.
Then Noah entered.
“Grandpa?”
Samuel looked broken.
Noah had heard everything.
“Are you bad?”
Samuel dropped to his knees.
“No.”
Noah stared at him.
“Then why did you lie?”
Samuel hugged him.
“Because sometimes adults think lies can protect children.”
Noah looked at me.
“Does that mean you're going to lie too?”
I froze.
“No.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
That night, we raided the Philadelphia warehouse.
The operation went wrong immediately.
The building was empty.
Too empty.
Then the doors locked.
Gas began filling the room.
Marcus shouted:
“Out!”
We searched for an exit.
Evelyn found one.
A hidden service tunnel.
We escaped seconds before the warehouse exploded.
Outside, I found Adrian's message.
Written on a wall.
You always were Father's favorite.
Then my phone rang.
Adrian.
His voice was calm.
“Hello, brother.”
I stared into the darkness.
“You're done.”
He laughed.
“No, Roman.”
A pause.
“I'm just getting started.”
May you like
Then he said the one thing that made my blood run cold.
“I have Noah.”
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