Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN BEHIND EVERYTHING
Vincent couldn't speak.
I had never seen him look so lost.
His mother, Evelyn Marlowe, had been dead for fifteen years.
Or so everyone believed.
A car accident.
A funeral.
A closed casket.
A family grieving.
Except now my father was telling us she'd been alive all along.
“Why?” Vincent finally asked.
Daniel looked at him.
“Because she wanted everything.”
Vincent shook his head.
“She loved my father.”
“She loved power.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Your father was her instrument.”
Vincent looked at him.
“And you?”
“I was disposable.”
Marcus smiled without humor.
“She told me to kill Daniel.”
My father nodded.
“I know.”
“But I couldn't.”
“So she killed your mother?”
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
My breath caught.
“Who did?”
“She tried to kill your mother.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because your mother discovered Evelyn was using the ledger to manipulate federal investigations.”
I felt sick.
“And my mother?”
“Survived.”
“What?”
“She survived.”
“Where is she?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Safe.”
I started crying.
“She's alive?”
“Yes.”
My hands covered my mouth.
For twelve years, I had believed I had lost both parents.
My father had been hiding.
My mother had been hidden.
And someone had built an entire life of lies around me.
“Take me to her.”
Vincent stepped toward me.
“We will.”
The meeting happened in a quiet farmhouse two hours away.
When the door opened, my mother stood there.
She looked older.
Smaller.
But her eyes were the same.
“Claire?”
I ran into her arms.
She held me tightly.
“I knew you'd come.”
I cried against her shoulder.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because every time I tried, someone died.”
I pulled away.
“What?”
She wiped my tears.
“Evelyn had people everywhere.”
“Why didn't she kill you?”
“Because she needed me.”
“For what?”
My mother looked at Vincent.
Then at Daniel.
“The vault.”
“What vault?”
“The Black Ledger isn't stored in a bank.”
She pointed toward me.
“It's inside you.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She smiled sadly.
“When you were nineteen, your father transferred the final encryption key into your medical records.”
I didn't understand.
“How?”
“Your blood.”
My stomach turned.
“What?”
“The ledger requires a biological key.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Claire's blood?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn could never access it without Claire.”
I remembered all the strange blood tests my father had insisted I take as a child.
I remembered the bracelet my mother had given me.
The one I had worn for years.
I touched it.
My mother nodded.
“That's the physical key.”
I stared at it.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because knowing would have gotten you killed.”
Vincent took my hand.
“We're going to end this.”
My mother looked at him.
“You may not be able to.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn doesn't want the ledger.”
She looked at me.
“She wants Claire.”
A phone rang.
Vincent answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“Evan.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?”
Vincent's voice became cold.
“Evan disappeared from the hospital.”
We returned to the Marlowe estate.
A message was waiting.
One photograph.
Evan was sitting in a chair.
His hands were tied.
Behind him stood Evelyn.
The caption read:
BRING THE KEY.
Claire.
Alone.
I stared at the photograph.
Vincent grabbed my shoulders.
“No.”
“They have Evan.”
“We'll get him.”
“They'll kill him.”
“We'll get him.”
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“He was hurt because of me.”
“He was hurt because of them.”
I looked into Vincent's eyes.
“I can't let him die.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he kissed my forehead.
“Then we save him together.”
I shook my head.
“They said alone.”
“Then we'll make them believe you're alone.”
He turned to Marcus.
“Get the team ready.”
Marcus nodded.
Daniel opened a laptop.
My mother pulled out a map.
Within twenty minutes, we knew where Evelyn was holding Evan.
The old Marlowe estate.
The house where Vincent had grown up.
The house that had burned fifteen years earlier.
The house everyone believed had been abandoned.
As we prepared to leave, my mother stopped me.
“Claire.”
I turned.
“If you see Evelyn, don't let her manipulate you.”
“Why?”
“She will tell you that Vincent is responsible for everything.”
“Is he?”
My mother looked at him.
“No.”
May you like
Then she whispered:
“But she will make you believe it.”
