Chapter 12 - CELESTE'S LAST SECRET
Kendrick stared at Samuel.
"What are you talking about?"
Samuel played the recording.
Celeste's voice sounded frightened.
"If Kendrick finds out what Victor did, it'll destroy him."
A man's voice answered.
Daniel Mercer.
"He deserves the truth."
Kendrick looked at Evelyn.
She was just as confused.
Celeste continued.
"Victor wasn't his father."
Silence swallowed the warehouse.
Kendrick's expression emptied.
Samuel smiled.
"Your mother had an affair."
Barrett shouted from behind the SUV.
"Don't listen to him!"
Samuel ignored him.
"Victor discovered it when Kendrick was two."
Kendrick aimed his weapon.
"Finish very carefully."
Samuel's smile widened.
"Your biological father was Daniel Mercer."
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Lucas stared at Kendrick.
"What?"
Kendrick looked at Evelyn.
Impossible.
Daniel Mercer had been nearly twenty years older than Kendrick.
But the dates...
His mother had known Daniel before marrying Victor.
Samuel continued.
"Victor raised you anyway. Daniel respected that. He never told you."
Evelyn shook her head.
"My father would have told me."
"Would he?"
Samuel looked at her.
"He protected people with silence. It was his greatest weakness."
Kendrick looked sick.
"So Evelyn..."
Samuel nodded.
"Is your half sister."
Nobody spoke.
Then Lucas started laughing.
Everyone turned.
Samuel frowned.
"What's funny?"
Lucas laughed harder.
"You're still lying."
Samuel's face changed.
Lucas had been imprisoned for six years, but his mind remained sharp.
"Daniel wasn't Kendrick's father."
Samuel's eyes narrowed.
Lucas looked at Kendrick.
"My dad told me what he found."
He pointed at Barrett.
"Barrett is your father."
The warehouse erupted into confusion.
Kendrick turned toward Barrett.
Barrett's face collapsed.
"No."
Kendrick whispered, "Is that true?"
Barrett looked away.
"Answer me."
Barrett swallowed.
"Your mother and I were young."
Kendrick's gun lowered slightly.
Victor Ashford had been Barrett's older brother.
The man Kendrick had called Uncle Barrett his entire life was actually his biological father.
Lucas continued.
"Daniel found the birth records while investigating Barrett's hidden accounts."
Samuel's calm expression finally cracked.
"Enough."
Lucas laughed.
"You kept me alive because I remembered everything Dad told me."
Samuel aimed at him.
"Enough!"
Evelyn moved in front of Lucas.
Kendrick aimed at Samuel.
Titan growled.
Barrett looked destroyed.
Kendrick stared at him.
"You knew."
Barrett's eyes filled.
"Yes."
"And you killed Celeste."
"No."
"Don't lie to me."
"I ordered the attack."
Penny whimpered.
Kendrick's face turned deadly.
"But Samuel told me she was planning to expose everything. Your birth. The accounts. His network."
Barrett looked toward Samuel.
"I thought if the truth came out, you'd lose the family."
Kendrick laughed bitterly.
"So you murdered my wife to keep me?"
Barrett's voice broke.
"I loved you like a son."
"You were my father."
Barrett flinched.
"And you made me call you Uncle while you killed everyone I loved."
Samuel slowly backed toward a side door.
Evelyn noticed.
"Kendrick."
He turned.
Samuel fired.
Barrett shoved Kendrick aside.
The bullet hit Barrett in the chest.
Everything exploded.
Kendrick returned fire.
Samuel disappeared through the door.
Barrett collapsed.
Kendrick caught him.
For one second, they stared at each other.
Father and son.
Too late.
Barrett coughed.
"Don't let him take Penny."
Kendrick froze.
"What?"
Barrett grabbed his jacket.
"Samuel has another team."
His eyes rolled toward the doorway where Penny had been hiding.
The space was empty.
Titan was gone too.
Kendrick's blood turned to ice.
"Penny?"
No answer.
Then Evelyn saw the open loading door.
A van was disappearing into the night.
Samuel hadn't been trying to escape alone.
May you like
He had taken Kendrick's daughter.
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