Chapter 7 - The Man Marco Trusted Most
Marco did not point a gun at Cal.
That frightened Cal more.
They had known each other for 14 years.
Cal had saved Marco’s life twice.
Marco had stood beside Cal when his wife died.
Trust like that didn’t disappear in a second.
It cracked slowly.
“Tell me,” Marco said.
Cal looked at Tessa.
“Your father contacted me 18 years ago.”
“You were what, 24?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Why you?”
“Because I worked for Victor, but I wasn’t important enough for anyone to watch.”
Daniel and Victor had discovered Bell Tower members inside the Duca organization.
They planned to expose them.
Cal was supposed to deliver evidence to federal investigators.
He never made it.
His car was hit.
The evidence vanished.
When Cal woke in a hospital, both men were dead.
“Why didn’t you tell Marco?”
“Victor made me promise.”
Marco finally spoke.
“My father died and you kept his secrets from me for 18 years.”
“I kept you alive.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
Cal reached inside his jacket.
Marco’s men reacted.
Cal slowly removed an envelope.
Inside was a photograph of 17-year-old Marco leaving school.
A red circle had been drawn around his head.
“Victor received this 3 days before he died.”
Marco stared.
“He knew they’d kill you if you inherited what he knew.”
Tessa understood.
“So Cal stayed close.”
Cal nodded.
“I watched Marco until he became powerful enough that killing him was more dangerous than leaving him alone.”
Marco’s anger remained.
But something beneath it broke.
“Anthony?”
Cal hesitated.
“Anthony found out 2 years ago.”
Marco closed his eyes.
“And joined them.”
“Not exactly.”
Anthony had been feeding Bell Tower controlled information while searching for the Janus archive himself.
The staged attack was his.
The attempted kidnapping wasn’t.
“He created the explosion to force you underground,” Cal explained. “He believed Victor’s section of Janus was there.”
Tessa frowned.
“Then who tried to take me?”
Cal looked toward the window.
“The person who killed your father.”
Silence.
“Who?”
“I don’t know his real name.”
“But?”
“Daniel called him Shepherd.”
Tessa sat down.
Marco moved beside her.
Cal continued.
“Enzo knows who Shepherd is.”
“Then we find Enzo.”
Tessa looked at Marco.
“And Anthony.”
Marco’s phone rang.
Anthony.
Marco answered.
His brother sounded breathless.
“Marco, don’t hang up.”
“You have 10 seconds.”
“I know where Enzo is.”
“Nine.”
“And I know who Shepherd is.”
Marco stopped counting.
Anthony gave an address.
An abandoned church outside Chicago.
Then screamed.
The call disconnected.
They arrived 40 minutes later.
The church was empty.
Blood marked the floor.
Anthony’s watch lay near the altar.
Tessa discovered a hidden staircase.
Below it was a server room.
Hundreds of drives.
Paper files.
Photographs.
Janus.
Or part of it.
Then a screen activated.
Enzo appeared on video.
“If you’re seeing this, Shepherd has Anthony.”
Marco stepped closer.
Enzo continued.
“He wants all 3 pieces of Janus. He believes Tessa carries Daniel’s piece. He doesn’t know I took it.”
Tessa exhaled.
“So Enzo was protecting me.”
Marco nodded.
The video continued.
“The final piece is not a drive. Victor changed the design before he died.”
Marco frowned.
“Then what is it?”
Enzo answered the recorded question.
“Marco.”
Tessa looked at him.
Marco stared at the screen.
Victor had hidden the final encryption key inside a childhood memory only Marco could reconstruct.
Three pieces.
Tessa’s pendant.
Enzo’s archive.
Marco’s memory.
None worked alone.
The screen flickered.
A live video replaced Enzo.
Anthony appeared tied to a chair.
Blood covered his shirt.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Bring Tessa Morgan to the place her father died.”
Marco’s expression turned lethal.
“You’re not going.”
Tessa stared at Anthony.
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
She turned toward Marco.
“If my father died protecting this, I’m finishing what he started.”
“Tessa.”
“You hired me to find the weakness in your security.”
She stepped closer.
“I found it.”
“What?”
“Everyone around you thinks protecting you means keeping secrets from you.”
Marco said nothing.
Tessa took his hand.
“We stop doing that now.”
His fingers closed around hers.
Then the screen displayed an address.
Tessa recognized it.
May you like
Her childhood home.
The house where she had spent 18 years believing her father never returned.
