Chapter 14 - CATHERINE'S SECRET
We escaped the harbor.
Eleanor survived the shooting.
But the bullet had come dangerously close to her heart.
She was taken to a private clinic.
David refused to leave her side.
I sat alone in the hallway.
Marcus approached.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He sat beside me.
“Your wife's family wasn't part of the organization.”
I looked at him.
“What did Eleanor mean?”
“We're still investigating.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Marcus sighed.
“Your father was an accountant.”
“I know.”
“He worked for a shipping company.”
“I know.”
“He discovered suspicious transfers.”
I stared at him.
“That sounds exactly like David.”
Marcus nodded.
“Because your father and David were investigating the same network.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened to my father?”
“He disappeared.”
I looked away.
“My mother said he abandoned us.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“He didn't.”
I looked at him.
“He was killed.”
Everything inside me went silent.
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
Then Marcus gave me an old photograph.
My father.
Standing beside Eleanor Winters.
And another man.
David's father.
I stared at it.
“Why were they together?”
“That is what Eleanor hasn't told us.”
The clinic doors opened.
David came out.
“She wants to see you.”
I entered the room.
Eleanor looked weak.
But her eyes were sharp.
“Your father didn't abandon you.”
I sat beside her.
“I know.”
“He was killed because he found the original ledger.”
“The one missing from David's files?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“The one that proves who ordered everything.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked toward David.
“His father.”
David closed his eyes.
“But Nathaniel said—”
“Nathaniel never knew the whole truth.”
Eleanor reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out an old envelope.
Inside was a photograph of two men.
David's father.
And my father.
On the back was a handwritten message:
THE CHILDREN MUST NEVER KNOW.
I stared at David.
“What children?”
Eleanor looked at us.
“You.”
The room went silent.
David stepped forward.
“Our fathers knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“And they were protecting us?”
“No.”
Eleanor's voice became barely audible.
“They were using you.”
She handed me another document.
It contained a list of names.
At the bottom:
CATHERINE WINTERS — FUTURE KEYHOLDER.
I looked at David.
“Why me?”
Eleanor whispered:
“Because your father stole the key.”
“What key?”
“The key to the entire network.”
She pointed toward the object hanging around my neck.
My wedding necklace.
The one David had given me years ago.
I touched it.
It had always been a simple silver pendant.
Eleanor smiled.
“Open it.”
David looked at me.
I pulled the pendant apart.
Inside was a tiny metal key.
I stared.
“I've had this for years.”
May you like
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“And your father spent twenty years making sure nobody knew you had it.”
