Chapter 9 - THE LAST TRUST
Samuel woke inside a concrete room.
His wrists were restrained.
Across from him sat the man who looked like him.
For the first time, Samuel could see him clearly.
The resemblance was terrifying.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“My name is Samuel Hale.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
The man leaned forward.
“You were given my identity.”
Samuel stared.
“Why?”
“Because I was supposed to die.”
Samuel's stomach tightened.
The man explained.
Seventeen years ago, Project Harbor planned to eliminate him.
But Samuel's adoptive father intervened.
He created a new identity.
A new life.
A new family.
Samuel had been raised as Samuel Hale.
The real Samuel disappeared.
Until now.
“Where is Emma?”
The man smiled.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“She is with Daniel.”
“Let them go.”
“Not yet.”
Samuel clenched his fists.
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
Samuel laughed.
“You don't need it.”
“I don't.”
“Then why?”
“Because the trust contains something more valuable than money.”
“What?”
“The names.”
Samuel understood.
The trust wasn't simply an inheritance.
It contained evidence of every person involved in Project Harbor.
Judges.
Police.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
And the families who had been destroyed.
The real Samuel wanted the names.
Samuel looked at him.
“Then why involve Emma?”
“Because she can unlock it.”
Samuel shook his head.
“She won't help you.”
“She won't have to.”
A door opened.
Emma walked inside.
Samuel's heart stopped.
She was unharmed.
Daniel stood behind her.
“Dad.”
Samuel stood.
“Are you okay?”
Emma nodded.
Then she looked at the real Samuel.
“Who is he?”
Samuel answered:
“The man whose life I was given.”
The real Samuel smiled.
“And the man who saved your life.”
Emma looked confused.
He explained that his biological family had been targeted.
His father had tried to expose Project Harbor.
The network killed him.
The real Samuel was next.
But Samuel's adoptive father rescued him.
Then he disappeared.
For seventeen years, two identities existed.
One man lived openly.
The other lived in the shadows.
Both were trying to destroy the same network.
Samuel stared.
“So you're not working with Victoria.”
The man shook his head.
“She thinks I am.”
“Then why let her believe it?”
“Because I needed her to expose herself.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“We have the evidence.”
Samuel looked at him.
“All of it?”
Daniel nodded.
“Every file.”
Emma suddenly held up a small device.
“The trust opened.”
Samuel looked at it.
“What did you find?”
Emma pressed play.
A recording filled the room.
Victoria's voice.
“I don't care what happens to the family. Once Emma signs, everything belongs to us.”
Then another voice.
The police chief.
Then Damian.
Then a judge.
Then dozens of others.
The entire network was recorded.
Samuel closed his eyes.
After seventeen years, they finally had enough.
But then the recording continued.
Victoria said:
“There is only one person I still haven't found.”
A man's voice answered.
“Who?”
“Samuel.”
“Which one?”
Silence.
Then Victoria said:
“The father.”
Samuel opened his eyes.
“The father?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Your adoptive father.”
Samuel's heart sank.
The man who had raised him.
The man who had saved him.
The man who had supposedly died twelve years ago.
Maybe he was alive too.
The real Samuel looked toward the door.
“He is.”
Samuel froze.
“Where?”
The man smiled.
“He's waiting upstairs.”
They climbed the stairs.
A door opened.
And Samuel saw an elderly man sitting in a wheelchair.
His adoptive father.
Alive.
Samuel couldn't speak.
The old man looked at him.
“You finally found me.”
Samuel's eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
The old man smiled sadly.
“Because I needed you to become strong enough to finish what I started.”
Then he handed Samuel a folder.
Inside was one final document.
The original Project Harbor charter.
At the bottom was a signature.
Samuel stared.
It belonged to his own father.
But beside it was another signature.
His mother.
The two people who had supposedly died decades ago had founded the network together.
Samuel whispered:
“This goes deeper than we thought.”
His adoptive father nodded.
“Yes.”
“How far?”
The old man looked at Emma.
“Into the government.”
Then every phone in the room began ringing at once.
May you like
The federal investigation had begun.
But someone inside the government had already ordered the arrests of everyone in the room.
