Chapter 5 - The Secret Evelyn Died For
The gunshot sounded impossibly loud inside the library.
Celeste fell.
I screamed and dropped behind the desk.
The second shot shattered a lamp.
I crawled.
The flash drive was still clenched in my hand.
"Mariana," the man called calmly. "Don't make this difficult."
My eyes found the brass fireplace poker.
Too far.
The French doors were closer.
I ran.
A bullet struck the wall beside my head.
I crashed through the doors and sprinted barefoot across the terrace.
Behind me, another gunshot exploded.
Then an alarm began screaming.
Not the house alarm.
A car alarm.
Headlights flashed near the driveway.
The shooter hesitated.
That gave me enough time to reach the garden wall.
I climbed badly, tearing my palm on stone, and dropped onto the other side.
A black SUV skidded to a stop.
The passenger door opened.
"Get in!"
Grant.
He was pale, weak, and wearing hospital clothes beneath a coat.
But he was sitting upright.
I jumped inside.
Marcus Chen accelerated before the door fully closed.
"What are you doing here?"
Grant ignored me.
"Celeste?"
"Shot."
His face drained.
"We have to go back."
"No," Marcus said. "Police are coming."
Grant turned toward me.
"Drive."
"Grant—"
"She's family."
"So is Julian."
Grant looked at him.
"Drive."
We returned with police less than ten minutes later.
The shooter was gone.
Celeste was alive.
The bullet had struck below her shoulder.
As paramedics carried her away, she grabbed my wrist.
"Not Julian," she whispered.
"What?"
"The beginning... wasn't Julian."
Then she lost consciousness.
At the clinic, we opened Evelyn's flash drive.
There were hundreds of documents.
Invoices.
Shipping manifests.
Bank transfers.
Audio files.
And a video.
Evelyn appeared on-screen.
She looked like the woman in Grant's photograph, only exhausted.
"If you're watching this, I either finally found the courage to confront my family or something happened to me."
Grant stopped breathing.
Evelyn continued.
"Sterling Meridian has been moving money through subcontractors that don't exist. Someone has stolen more than eighty million dollars over seven years."
Documents appeared on-screen.
Then a name.
Richard Sterling.
Grant's father.
Grant stared.
"No."
Evelyn's voice continued.
"Dad started it."
Grant looked physically sick.
"But after his stroke, someone else continued it. I believed it was Aunt Celeste. I was wrong."
Another photograph appeared.
A younger Dr. Ruben Barragan stood beside Richard Sterling.
Then another man.
Thomas Sterling.
Julian's father.
Grant's older brother.
Thomas had died nine years ago.
At least, that was what Grant believed.
The video continued.
"Thomas knows. Worse, I think Thomas is controlling it."
Grant whispered, "Impossible."
Evelyn looked directly into the camera.
"If anything happens to me, don't trust the death certificates."
The room went silent.
I turned toward Grant.
"Your brother's death certificate."
Grant stared at the frozen image.
"Barragan signed it."
Everything changed.
Thomas Sterling had supposedly died overseas from a heart attack.
There had been a closed casket because his body had been badly damaged during transport.
Julian inherited his father's minority stake.
Grant had comforted Julian at the funeral.
But if Evelyn was right...
"Thomas might be alive," I said.
Grant didn't answer.
The final file was newer.
Not Evelyn's.
It had been added three years after her death.
A woman appeared.
Isabel.
Older now.
Terrified.
"Uncle Grant, if you ever find this, I'm sorry I disappeared."
Grant leaned forward.
Isabel continued.
"Mom was murdered. I saw who arranged it."
She held up a photograph.
Thomas Sterling.
Alive.
Taken two years after his supposed death.
"I've been hiding because Thomas knows I saw him. Julian doesn't know his father is alive. At least, I don't think he does."
I looked at Grant.
"So Julian isn't behind everything?"
"He poisoned me."
"Yes. But maybe somebody convinced him to."
We reviewed financial records.
Julian had received payments through a consulting company.
Barragan had received millions.
But the largest transfers went to a corporation registered in Panama.
Its beneficiary was hidden behind layers of shell companies.
One recurring authorization code appeared on every transfer.
TS-01.
Thomas Sterling.
Grant leaned back.
His hands trembled.
"My brother."
I touched his wrist.
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
"Knowing everything isn't the same as loving someone."
He looked at me.
"That's what Evelyn used to say."
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then Grant's phone rang.
Only three people had the number.
Marcus answered.
His face changed.
"It's Julian."
Grant held out his hand.
Marcus gave him the phone.
Grant put it on speaker.
Julian's voice came through.
"I know you're alive."
Grant's expression became stone.
"Disappointed?"
A pause.
Then Julian laughed softly.
"You always were difficult to kill."
"Where's your father?"
Silence.
For the first time, Julian sounded genuinely confused.
"My father is dead."
Grant and I exchanged a glance.
"You sure?"
"What game are you playing?"
"Ask Barragan."
Julian's breathing changed.
Grant continued.
"Your father arranged Evelyn's death."
"You're lying."
"He also faked his own."
"Shut up."
"He has been using you."
Julian shouted now.
"My father is dead!"
Grant ended the call.
Three minutes later, an unknown number sent me a photograph.
Leo.
He was asleep in Sofia's arms.
Taken through a window.
Below it were seven words.
BRING THE DRIVE OR THE CHILD DISAPPEARS.
Then another message arrived.
An address.
Grant saw my face.
"What?"
I showed him.
His jaw tightened.
"No."
"That's my son."
"It's a trap."
"I don't care."
"I do."
I stared at him.
Grant struggled to stand.
His knees almost gave way, but he caught the table.
Then he looked directly at me.
"They took two months of my life."
His voice was stronger now.
"They killed my sister."
May you like
He reached for his coat.
"They are not taking your son."
