Chapter 6 - The Secret Behind Brutus's Fear
Mave stared at the woman.
"Who are you?"
The woman stepped inside.
"Claire Gallagher."
Mave immediately looked at her hand.
Left index finger.
The tip was missing.
Claire noticed.
"Good."
"You were checking."
"Yes."
"Then you already know the woman in the footage wasn't me."
"Who was she?"
"Someone Evan paid."
Mave's mind raced.
"Why?"
"Because he needed Declan looking backward instead of at the person standing beside him."
Claire looked exhausted.
Not mysterious.
Not dangerous.
Just tired in the same deep way Mave had recognized in Declan.
"Where have you been for twelve years?"
"Running."
"From Evan?"
"From what he was protecting."
Claire explained.
At nineteen, she had worked one summer at the Copper Anchor.
She discovered Evan searching old records.
Back then, Evan had been a young security employee working indirectly for Martin.
Claire reported him.
The next night, someone followed her home.
She escaped.
Eleanor helped her disappear because they believed returning would endanger Declan too.
"Why didn't you tell your brother?"
"I tried."
"Try harder."
Claire accepted the criticism.
"I was nineteen and terrified."
Mave softened slightly.
"What does Evan want now?"
"The second ledger."
"He knows we found it."
"Yes."
"Why Brutus?"
Claire's face tightened.
"Because Brutus recognized him."
Mave stopped.
"What?"
"Six months ago, Evan entered Declan's warehouse at night."
"The break-in."
Claire nodded.
"He was searching for documents. Brutus caught him."
"So the alarm—"
"Evan triggered it deliberately."
Brutus had learned to associate the painful sound with the terror of that confrontation.
Evan later remained around Declan, behaving normally.
But Brutus had changed around him.
Restless.
Watchful.
Suspicious.
Declan interpreted it as lingering trauma.
Tonight, Evan had helped stage another incident to make Brutus appear unstable.
If the dog seriously frightened or injured someone, Declan might be forced to remove him.
The one living witness who couldn't be bribed would disappear.
Mave felt sick.
"He hurt that dog because Brutus knew him."
"Yes."
"Where's Declan?"
Claire gave her the address of an abandoned Gallagher warehouse.
"We call the police."
"Already done."
"Then why are we standing here?"
"Because Evan gave them another address."
Mave understood.
"He expected us to call."
Claire nodded.
Mave looked at Arthur.
"Call again. Give them the correct address. Then call Eleanor."
Arthur nodded.
"Mave."
"What?"
"Don't do anything stupid."
She thought about it.
"I'll try something moderately stupid."
Claire almost laughed.
They drove to the warehouse but stopped two blocks away.
Mave had no intention of storming inside.
This wasn't a movie.
She was a waitress.
Claire was an accountant who had spent twelve years hiding.
Neither possessed magical combat skills.
So they waited.
Then Mave heard barking.
Brutus.
She moved toward a side entrance.
Claire whispered, "Wait."
Mave looked through a cracked window.
Declan wasn't tied up.
He was standing.
Evan faced him.
Brutus was behind a metal gate.
So the photograph had been staged.
Mave could hear voices.
Declan said, "You were there the night my father died."
Evan answered, "I was seventeen."
"You worked for Martin."
"My father worked for Martin."
"Then why Claire?"
"Because she saw too much."
Mave's phone was recording.
Claire's too.
Evan continued.
He hadn't killed Patrick.
But his father had participated in the cover-up.
Years later, Evan inherited the secret.
He believed protecting the Gallagher family required burying the truth.
Claire threatened that.
The ledgers threatened it.
Brutus threatened it.
Mave whispered, "He thinks he's protecting Declan."
Claire's eyes filled.
"That's the worst kind of betrayal."
Inside, Declan said the same thing differently.
"You spent years telling yourself this was loyalty."
Evan looked wounded.
"It was."
"No. Loyalty doesn't require lies."
Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.
Evan heard them.
His face changed.
He moved toward Brutus's gate.
The dog backed away.
Mave saw it.
Brutus wasn't aggressive.
He was terrified.
Evan reached for the latch.
Mave stepped through the door.
"Don't."
Everyone turned.
Declan's face went pale.
"Mave?"
Evan stared.
"How did you—"
"You're really bad at keeping secrets."
Claire entered behind her.
Declan stopped breathing.
"Claire."
His sister looked at him.
Twelve years collapsed into one word.
"Hi, Dec."
Declan's expression broke.
Mave had never seen him look that vulnerable.
Evan used the distraction.
He opened Brutus's gate.
Then activated something in his hand.
A sharp electronic tone filled the warehouse.
Brutus panicked.
He slammed backward.
Mave recognized the reaction instantly.
"Turn it off!"
Evan backed toward the exit.
Declan moved after him.
Mave shouted, "Declan, stop!"
He did.
"Brutus needs you."
That stopped him more effectively than anything else could have.
Declan turned.
Brutus was crouched against the wall, trembling.
Mave approached slowly.
Not directly.
Just as before.
She lowered herself.
"Hey, big guy."
The sound continued.
Brutus shook.
Declan moved beside Mave.
"What do I do?"
"Sit."
"What?"
"Sit down."
The powerful man sat on a dirty warehouse floor.
Mave almost smiled.
"Now stop trying to control him."
Declan looked at Brutus.
"Then what?"
"Be there."
The electronic tone suddenly stopped.
Police had reached the building.
Evan was detained outside.
Silence returned.
Brutus remained frozen.
Mave extended her hand.
Declan did the same.
Brutus looked at both.
Then moved.
Slowly.
One step.
Another.
He passed Mave.
And placed his enormous head against Declan's chest.
Declan closed his eyes.
His arms wrapped around the dog.
Mave looked away, giving him the dignity of privacy.
Claire was crying.
Quietly.
Then Declan looked up at her.
"Sis?"
Claire crossed the room.
He stood.
They embraced.
No speeches.
No dramatic explanations.
Just twelve missing years and two people finally in the same room.
Later, police took statements.
Evan was questioned.
The ledgers were secured.
Claire agreed to testify.
The machinery of truth had finally begun moving.
Mave thought the worst was over.
Then Anna called.
"Mave."
Her mother's voice was shaking.
"What happened?"
"I found Patrick's final recording."
Mave went still.
"What recording?"
"He made it the night he died."
"Where are you?"
"At Eleanor's."
"What does it say?"
Anna became silent.
"Mom?"
"It says Martin wasn't the last person Patrick met."
Mave's heart sank.
"Who was?"
Anna whispered a name.
Mave looked across the warehouse at Declan.
She couldn't believe what she'd heard.
May you like
Because the final person Patrick Gallagher met before his death...
was Anna Mercer.
