Chapter 5 - THE ENEMY INSIDE
The abandoned church smelled of dust and rain.
Hannah entered first.
Damen followed.
Marco and two men waited outside.
The building was dark except for moonlight filtering through broken stained glass.
“Dad?”
Her voice echoed.
Nothing.
Then a figure appeared behind the altar.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Robert Brooks.
Hannah's father.
She stopped breathing.
He looked at her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Robert whispered:
“God, you're so much like your mother.”
Hannah's eyes filled with tears.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let me think you were dead.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Robert looked at Damen.
“You shouldn't have brought him.”
Damen stepped forward.
“She wasn't coming alone.”
Robert's face hardened.
“You're Moretti.”
“Yes.”
“I should have killed your father.”
Damen's eyes narrowed.
“You knew him.”
“I worked undercover inside his organization.”
Hannah looked between them.
“My father was undercover?”
“For years.”
Robert nodded.
“Your mother and I were supposed to disappear. Then the network discovered me.”
“What happened?”
“They took your sister.”
Hannah's face crumpled.
“They threatened Emily?”
“They threatened all of you.”
“Why didn't you come back?”
“Because every time I tried, someone close to you died.”
Damen stepped closer.
“Who is running Black Meridian?”
Robert looked at him.
“You already know.”
Damen froze.
“Victor.”
Robert nodded.
“Your uncle.”
Hannah's stomach dropped.
“Why would he do this?”
“Money.”
“That doesn't explain murder.”
Robert gave a bitter laugh.
“For men like Victor, money eventually becomes power, and power eventually becomes the only thing they can feel.”
Damen's phone vibrated.
Marco.
He answered.
“Talk.”
Silence.
Then Marco said:
“Boss, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone accessed the mansion.”
Damen's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“Margaret.”
Hannah looked at him.
“Your aunt?”
“Yes.”
Marco continued.
“She took something from the study.”
“What?”
“We don't know.”
Damen's voice became dangerously calm.
“Lock the house.”
“Already done.”
“Find her.”
The call ended.
Robert looked at Hannah.
“Your family isn't the only thing in danger.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your clinic.”
Hannah's blood ran cold.
“My patients?”
Robert nodded.
“Black Meridian uses clinics like yours to recruit desperate people. Cheap medicine. Debt assistance. Fake insurance.”
Hannah stared at him.
“West Haven?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I saw the files.”
“But Mrs. Alvarez…”
“May not know.”
Hannah thought of the patients.
The elderly carpenter.
The frightened mother.
The diabetic man.
How many had disappeared from the system?
Damen touched her shoulder.
“We'll protect them.”
Hannah looked at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I mean it.”
Then headlights appeared outside.
Too many.
Damen immediately reached for his weapon.
“Down.”
The church doors exploded inward.
Men rushed inside.
Gunfire cracked through the darkness.
Damen pushed Hannah behind a stone pillar.
Robert fired from the balcony.
Marco's men returned fire outside.
The attack lasted less than two minutes.
Then silence.
Damen looked toward Robert.
His father was wounded.
“Dad!”
Hannah ran to him.
Blood soaked his side.
“I’m fine.”
“You're not fine.”
Robert smiled weakly.
“Your mother used to say the same thing.”
Damen helped carry him outside.
As they reached the car, Robert grabbed Hannah's hand.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Emily wasn't the only person who survived.”
Hannah froze.
“Who else?”
Robert looked at Damen.
“Someone inside Black Meridian has been feeding us information.”
“Who?”
Robert whispered a name.
Hannah's eyes widened.
“No.”
Damen's expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
Robert nodded.
“That's why they haven't found the evidence.”
Hannah whispered:
“Who?”
May you like
Robert looked at them both.
“Margaret Moretti.”
