Chapter 6 - THE FATHER VICTOR HATED FOR THE WRONG REASON
Victor Castle had spent fourteen years believing his father murdered mine.
He told me that inside Elena’s kitchen at two in the morning.
“My father was brutal,” he said.
“That doesn't answer anything.”
“No.”
He looked toward the table.
“When Nathan threatened to expose the shipping fraud, my father told him to stop.”
My throat tightened.
“What happened?”
“They argued.”
“And then Dad died.”
Victor nodded.
“I assumed my father ordered it.”
“Did he admit it?”
“No.”
“Then why believe it?”
His expression turned bitter.
“Because he’d ordered other things.”
That answer silenced me.
Victor wasn't trying to turn his father into a good man.
He was admitting why murder seemed plausible.
Then he continued.
“My father died six years ago. I found a file about Nathan afterward.”
“What did it say?”
“Two words.”
He looked at me.
“Protect Hazel.”
My throat tightened.
“So he knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“No. Elena handled the file.”
I looked toward her.
She nodded.
“I checked on you twice a year.”
My mouth fell open.
“You what?”
“From a distance.”
“That is incredibly creepy.”
“Yes.”
Victor almost smiled.
Elena continued.
“We were told not to contact you unless danger returned.”
“And you decided danger hadn't returned when I got hired by Graham Mercer?”
Her expression faltered.
“We didn't know.”
I shook my head.
Everyone had been keeping secrets because they thought secrecy was protection.
Meanwhile, I had walked into the trap without knowing one existed.
At dawn, Elena’s attorney obtained access to the safe-deposit box with my mother’s cooperation.
Inside was a sealed packet.
Dad’s handwriting covered the first page.
HAZEL — IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I FAILED TO FINISH IT MYSELF.
My eyes filled.
The packet contained a copy of the master ledger.
Names of shell companies.
Police officers.
Judges.
Shipping managers.
Political donors.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Graham Mercer.
Another:
Marcus Castle.
Victor’s father.
But beside Marcus’s name, Dad had written:
NOT PARTNER. TARGET.
Victor stared.
My father believed Marcus Castle wasn't controlling the conspiracy.
Someone was stealing through his companies without his knowledge.
Then came a recorded statement.
Dad appeared on an old digital file.
He looked tired.
“If anything happens to me, Marcus Castle did not order it.”
Victor covered his mouth.
My father continued.
“He is dangerous. He has done terrible things. But he is not the man running this operation.”
I stared at Victor.
Then Dad named the person he suspected.
“Graham Mercer.”
My stomach tightened.
But the final sentence changed everything.
“Mercer isn't alone.”
Dad leaned toward the camera.
“The person protecting him is Victor Castle’s mother.”
Elena gasped.
Victor went completely still.
His mother, Catherine Castle, had supposedly died sixteen years earlier.
May you like
Two years before my father.
And according to Nathan Brooks, she may have been alive when Dad was murdered.
