Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE GLASS
Baltimore Harbor was empty at midnight.
Too empty.
No workers.
No trucks.
No ships moving.
Only fog.
Alessandro's men surrounded the area.
David and I stayed inside an abandoned warehouse.
Marcus monitored the entrance.
Then the lights came on.
One by one.
A path appeared through the darkness.
At the end stood a woman.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
Walking stick.
She looked fragile.
Until she lifted her eyes.
David stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Eleanor smiled.
“My son.”
David nearly collapsed.
Twenty years of grief disappeared in one second.
Then anger replaced it.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“So did you.”
“I was protecting my family.”
“So was I.”
“You watched me suffer.”
Eleanor's expression changed.
“I watched you survive.”
David stopped.
She looked at me.
“Catherine.”
I stiffened.
“You know my name.”
“I knew your name before you married my son.”
“Why?”
“Because I chose you.”
The words frightened me.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor walked closer.
“When David began working undercover, he needed someone outside the organization.”
David stared at her.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Catherine?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew Logan?”
Her eyes softened.
“I knew my grandson before he was born.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Then why didn't you come back?”
“Because if I did, everyone around you would die.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“You built the network.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“And you destroyed half of it.”
“You used people.”
“I protected people.”
“You killed people.”
Her face hardened.
“So did you.”
The two stared at each other.
Then Eleanor turned to David.
“Your father didn't disappear the network.”
“He tried to take it.”
“He succeeded.”
David frowned.
“Then why did Nathaniel inherit it?”
“He didn't.”
Silence.
Eleanor reached into her coat.
She removed a small key.
“Nathaniel was only a messenger.”
David's expression changed.
“Who was the real heir?”
Eleanor looked at me.
“You.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She placed the key in my hand.
“Your father wasn't the only person who hid secrets.”
David stared at me.
“Catherine?”
“I don't know what she's talking about.”
Eleanor smiled sadly.
“You don't remember because you were a child.”
My blood ran cold.
“What are you saying?”
“Your father worked with mine.”
David stepped back.
“My wife's family was involved?”
Eleanor nodded.
“That's why I chose you.”
David's voice broke.
“You married her because of this?”
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“I brought you to her because I knew she would become the only person capable of ending this.”
Then a gunshot exploded.
Eleanor fell.
David screamed.
Alessandro dragged me down.
Marcus shouted:
“Sniper!”
We ran for cover.
But Eleanor wasn't dead.
She opened her eyes.
And whispered:
“They're not trying to kill me.”
May you like
She looked at me.
“They're trying to kill you.”
