Chapter 4 - A SECRET BURIED IN BLOOD
Hannah couldn't speak.
The photograph remained on the screen.
Her father.
Robert Brooks.
Older.
Thinner.
Alive.
Damen watched her carefully.
“When did your father supposedly die?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Cause?”
“Heart failure.”
“Who identified the body?”
“My mother.”
“Are you certain?”
Hannah's stomach turned.
“My mother died when I was nineteen.”
Damen looked at Marco.
“Find the death certificate.”
Marco nodded.
Hannah stared at him.
“You're investigating my entire family.”
“Because someone has been lying to you for years.”
“My father was a police detective.”
Damen's eyes sharpened.
“Organized crime?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to his career?”
“Corruption allegations.”
“Was he convicted?”
“No.”
“Then why did he disappear?”
Hannah's voice cracked.
“I don't know.”
Damen leaned against the desk.
“Your sister knew.”
Hannah shook her head.
“No.”
“She left evidence.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
Hannah suddenly remembered something.
Her sister's old apartment.
A storage locker.
Emily had always paid for one.
Hannah had forgotten it existed.
They went there that night.
The locker contained boxes of medical records, photographs, old police files, and one locked metal case.
Hannah recognized the handwriting.
FOR HANNAH — ONLY IF I'M GONE.
Her hands shook.
She opened it.
Inside was a flash drive.
And a letter.
Hannah unfolded the paper.
Han,
If you're reading this, I failed.
Do not trust the hospital.
Do not trust the police.
And whatever you do, do not trust the man named Elias Vane.
Hannah looked at Damen.
“Who is Elias Vane?”
Damen's face went cold.
Marco whispered:
“The old syndicate attorney.”
Damen's expression darkened.
“Vane disappeared eleven years ago.”
“Why?”
“He was believed to be dead.”
Hannah looked at the flash drive.
“Then why did Emily mention him?”
Damen inserted the drive into a secure laptop.
A video appeared.
Emily sat in a dark room.
She looked exhausted.
Afraid.
“Hannah, if you see this, it means I couldn't get out.”
Her voice cracked.
“There is a network inside the healthcare system. They recruit doctors, administrators, police officers, even judges.”
She looked over her shoulder.
“They don't just move money.”
Hannah held her breath.
“They erase people.”
The video stopped.
A second file opened automatically.
A list appeared.
Names.
Dates.
Hospital numbers.
Payments.
At the bottom was a column titled:
REMOVAL STATUS.
Some names were marked deceased.
Others were marked relocated.
Hannah stared.
Then she saw one name.
ROBERT BROOKS.
Status:
ACTIVE.
Her knees nearly gave out.
“My father.”
Damen caught her.
“Easy.”
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“He's alive.”
She laughed once, almost hysterically.
“Why would he let us believe he was dead?”
Damen didn't answer.
Because another name had appeared.
SOPHIA MORETTI.
Status:
REMOVED — FAILED.
Damen stopped breathing.
His sister hadn't died because of random violence.
She had been targeted.
And someone had documented it.
Marco looked at the screen.
“Boss…”
Damen's jaw tightened.
“Keep going.”
Another file opened.
A recording.
A man's voice.
Damen recognized it immediately.
His uncle.
Victor Moretti.
The man who had raised him after his father died.
The man who had stood beside Sophia's coffin.
The man who had told Damen:
You couldn't have saved her.
Damen slowly closed his eyes.
Hannah looked at him.
“What is it?”
“My uncle.”
“What about him?”
“He was talking to the person who ordered Sophia's death.”
“Who?”
Damen played the recording.
Victor's voice filled the room.
“We need the girl removed before she reaches the truth.”
A second voice replied.
“We already have the sister.”
Victor answered:
“Then finish the family.”
Hannah went cold.
“The girl?”
A date appeared on the recording.
Six years ago.
Two days before Emily's death.
Hannah whispered:
“That was me.”
Damen looked at her.
Suddenly the entire case made sense.
Emily had discovered the network.
Robert had tried to expose it.
Sophia had helped.
And Hannah had unknowingly inherited the evidence.
She wasn't simply a witness.
She was the final person who could expose them.
Then a phone rang.
Not Damen's.
Hannah's.
Unknown number.
She answered.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice whispered:
“Your father wants to see you.”
The line disconnected.
Hannah stared at Damen.
“Where?”
Her phone buzzed.
A location appeared.
An abandoned church on the south side.
Midnight.
Damen shook his head.
“No.”
“He's my father.”
“It's a trap.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
Hannah stared at him.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No. You understand how to fight enemies. I understand what it means to spend years believing someone you loved is dead.”
Damen said nothing.
Hannah stepped closer.
“If my father is alive, I'm going.”
May you like
Damen's eyes hardened.
“Then I'm going with you.”
