Chapter 12 - Blood Is Not Loyalty
I called Rachel seventeen times.
No answer.
Sophie stood beside me.
“She took Lily?”
“I don’t know.”
Marco searched the camera feeds.
“There.”
Rachel’s car left the property nine minutes earlier.
Lily sat in the passenger seat.
She wasn’t struggling.
Of course she wasn’t.
Rachel was her aunt.
Someone she trusted.
I called again.
This time Rachel answered.
“Daniel.”
“Bring her back.”
“She’s safe.”
“BRING HER BACK!”
“You don’t understand.”
“I’m getting tired of hearing that.”
Rachel started crying.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Not when they have your son.”
I froze.
Rachel’s son Ben had been studying in London.
At least I thought he was.
“Where is Ben?”
“They took him two weeks ago.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know!”
“Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Put Lily on.”
A pause.
Then Lily’s voice.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
“Aunt Rachel says we’re going to see somebody.”
“Listen to me. Stay with her. Don’t get out of the car.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The line disconnected.
Marco traced the phone.
Industrial district.
We drove.
Rachel’s car sat outside an abandoned textile factory.
Inside, we heard voices.
A man shouted.
Rachel cried.
Then Lily screamed.
Marco entered first.
Two men guarded the hallway.
Police tactical officers took them down.
I ran toward Lily’s scream.
A huge room opened ahead.
Rachel stood near a chair.
Lily sat beside her.
A man faced them.
I stopped.
I knew him.
“Thomas?”
Thomas Reed.
My uncle.
My father’s younger brother.
The man who had helped raise Rachel and me after our parents died.
He smiled.
“Daniel.”
My stomach turned.
“You?”
Thomas sighed.
“You were always slower than Amelia.”
Sophie stepped into the room.
Thomas’s expression darkened.
“You should have stayed dead.”
She stared.
“You worked for Victor?”
Thomas laughed.
“Victor worked for fear.”
“What does that mean?”
Thomas looked at Lily.
“It means that child controls more than a corporate trust.”
I stepped between them.
“She’s five.”
“She’s an asset.”
“She is my daughter.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“She is the key to a fortune.”
Marco raised his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Thomas lifted both hands.
“Marco, you still think this is about money.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Margaret Hale didn’t just own Crane shares.”
He looked at Sophie.
“She controlled the account Noah discovered.”
Sophie shook her head.
“My mother was trying to expose it.”
“No.”
Thomas smiled.
“Your mother created it.”
The room went quiet.
“What account?” I asked.
Thomas answered.
“A private network used to move billions outside corporate books.”
Sophie stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
“Amelia thought so too.”
He looked at me.
“Until she discovered Margaret had named one final beneficiary.”
My eyes moved toward Lily.
Thomas nodded.
“The child.”
Lily gripped Rachel’s hand.
I stepped closer.
“You murdered Amelia.”
Thomas smiled.
“No.”
“Who did?”
He looked toward the dark doorway behind him.
A man walked out.
Victor Crane.
Alive.
Unhurt.
And carrying a gun.
Victor aimed it at Thomas.
May you like
Then said:
“He did.”
