Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO LEFT A WARNING
Victor arrived at noon.
He had been part of my life since childhood.
After my father died, he became my closest adviser.
If Daniel had distrusted him, I needed to know why.
Victor entered my office and immediately noticed Jenna.
“What is she doing here?”
“She has a name.”
His eyes moved to me.
“This concerns family.”
“So does threatening her.”
Victor’s expression tightened.
I placed Daniel’s note on the desk.
He read it.
Something changed in his face.
Only for a second.
But Jenna saw it too.
“Explain,” I said.
Victor sat.
“Daniel was paranoid before he died.”
“About you?”
“About everyone.”
“Why?”
“He discovered your father was laundering money through defense contracts.”
That was new.
“My father never touched defense work.”
“That’s what he told you.”
Jenna stepped closer.
“And Ryan?”
Victor looked at her.
“Ryan Mercer’s father ran one of the consulting companies.”
Jenna’s voice dropped.
“Ryan told me his father sold insurance.”
“He lied.”
She absorbed that slowly.
Victor continued.
“Daniel found irregular payments. He thought I was involved because I signed several contracts.”
“Were you?”
“I signed what your father put in front of me.”
I watched him carefully.
“You never told me.”
“You were twenty-eight and already trying to take control of an organization at war. You didn’t need another enemy.”
“Let me decide what I need.”
Victor stood.
“I protected you.”
“That phrase is becoming unpopular around me.”
Jenna almost smiled.
Then Victor turned toward her.
“Miss Hart, Ryan Mercer isn’t simply an obsessive ex-boyfriend.”
“What is he?”
“His father worked with federal intelligence contractors. Ryan inherited the relationships.”
“Why was he watching me?”
Victor looked at me.
“Probably because of Evan.”
Jenna folded her arms.
“Twenty-three months ago, I barely knew Evan.”
Victor said nothing.
That silence mattered.
I stepped forward.
“What aren’t you telling us?”
Before he could answer, gunfire cracked from the hallway.
I pulled Jenna behind my desk.
The office door burst open.
One of my guards stumbled inside.
“Boss, breach!”
I reached for my weapon.
Victor drew his.
Three men entered.
The fight lasted less than thirty seconds.
When it ended, one attacker was alive.
Barely.
I crouched beside him.
“Who sent you?”
He smiled through bloody teeth.
“Daniel.”
My blood went cold.
“My brother is dead.”
The attacker laughed.
May you like
Then whispered the secret none of us were prepared to hear.
“Not according to the man who hired me yesterday.”
