Chapter 13 - THE BLOODLINE SECRET
When the lights came back on, Cassandra was still holding my hand.
But every federal agent in the room had drawn a weapon.
No one moved.
I looked at Cassandra.
She looked terrified.
"Who said that?" she whispered.
I didn't answer.
Agent Collins ordered everyone to remain still.
Security searched every hallway.
No one was there.
The voice had come through the conference room speakers.
Someone had hacked the system.
But that wasn't what frightened me.
The voice had sounded exactly like my father.
Later that night, we returned to a secure residence.
Luke and Violet were asleep upstairs.
Cassandra sat across from me at the kitchen table.
"You believe him."
I stared at the rain.
"I don't know."
"You heard a voice."
"I heard my father's voice."
"That doesn't mean it was him."
"I know."
She reached across the table.
"Damon, we've spent years learning not to believe the first thing someone tells us."
She was right.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Damon."
My father's voice.
Again.
"Who is this?"
"You know."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere your mother couldn't find me."
"Are you alive?"
A pause.
"Yes."
My chair scraped backward.
Cassandra stood.
"What does he want?"
I put the call on speaker.
"Why did you abandon us?"
His breathing became heavier.
"I didn't."
"You disappeared."
"I was forced to."
"By whom?"
Silence.
Then:
"Your mother."
I stared at Cassandra.
"That's a lie."
"No," my father said. "Your mother saved you from me. But she also lied to you about why."
"What happened?"
"I discovered what my partners were doing."
"You were their leader."
"I was."
His admission felt like a punch.
"But I tried to leave."
"And?"
"They threatened you."
I closed my eyes.
"Who?"
"Eleanor."
The name returned again.
"What did Eleanor know?"
"That you weren't my biological son."
I couldn't breathe.
Cassandra's hand flew to her mouth.
"What?"
My father continued.
"Your mother had been married before me."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Your biological father was a man named Samuel Carter."
"My name is Carter."
"Because your mother changed it."
"Why?"
"Samuel was one of the original architects of the financial network."
The room seemed to tilt.
"Then who am I?"
"You are his heir."
Cassandra whispered my name.
My father continued.
"Your mother knew the network would eventually come for you. So she created the trust."
"To protect me?"
"To keep them from finding you."
"Then why did Eleanor want the trust?"
"Because Samuel left something inside it."
"What?"
My father hesitated.
"A ledger."
"What kind?"
"The original ledger."
Cassandra stared at me.
"Original ledger of what?"
"Every transaction."
Every crime.
Every hidden account.
Every person who had been paid.
Every official who had been compromised.
Every family destroyed.
Everything.
"And my mother had it?"
"She did."
"Where?"
"She divided it into three pieces."
I suddenly remembered Daniel's message.
Three locations.
Three archives.
My mother's dead-man system.
My biometric key.
My bloodline.
It wasn't a coincidence.
My father spoke again.
"Your mother didn't leave you an empire, Damon."
"What did she leave me?"
"A weapon."
The call ended.
For several seconds, neither Cassandra nor I spoke.
Then Luke appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Daddy?"
I turned.
"Go back to bed, buddy."
He looked at me.
"Is Grandpa alive?"
My heart stopped.
"Why would you ask that?"
Luke pointed toward the hallway.
"Because he was here."
Cassandra stood.
"What?"
Luke's eyes filled with confusion.
"The old man gave me this."
He opened his hand.
A small brass key rested in his palm.
Attached to it was a paper tag.
May you like
One word was written across it.
MOTHER.
