Chapter 8 - The Last Lie
Daniel did not confront Cross immediately.
He watched him walk toward the house.
Lily was in the kitchen decorating cupcakes.
Daniel moved her quietly into the secured upstairs room and contacted Grant.
Then he opened the door.
Cross stood outside.
"You saw the video," Cross said.
Daniel said nothing.
"I assumed you would."
"Come inside."
Cross entered.
Daniel kept distance between them.
"Rachel was talking to you."
"Yes."
"You told me you were helping her."
"I was."
"You told her to hide your involvement from me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Cross sat.
"Because I was William's son too."
Daniel stared at him.
The sentence did not make sense at first.
Then it did.
Half brother.
William's second family.
Another hidden life.
Cross explained.
William had recruited him young.
Cross spent years inside the network.
Then he learned what it really was.
He tried to leave.
William threatened his family.
Rachel discovered Cross's identity while investigating the trust.
Instead of exposing him, she convinced him to help destroy the network.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you would never have trusted me."
"You were right."
Cross nodded.
Daniel played the recording.
"Then explain this."
Cross listened.
When the unseen voice said, Then make sure he never discovers me, Cross shook his head.
"That isn't me."
Daniel frowned.
"The voice—"
"Listen again."
Daniel did.
Similar.
Not identical.
Cross removed his phone and played an old recording.
Another man's voice.
Grant.
Daniel's stomach dropped.
"No."
Cross looked toward the window.
"Thomas Grant worked for William."
Daniel called Grant.
No answer.
Then the security alarm sounded upstairs.
Daniel ran.
Lily's room was empty.
The window was open.
A rope hung outside.
Daniel's heart stopped.
"Lily!"
His phone rang.
Grant.
Daniel answered.
"You should have stopped after Vale."
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"You'll understand soon."
Daniel heard Lily crying in the background.
His entire body tightened.
Cross grabbed his shoulder.
"Keep him talking."
Daniel forced himself to breathe.
"Grant, what do you want?"
"The original ledger."
"It has been copied."
"Not the ledger Rachel hid."
Daniel looked at Cross.
Cross shook his head.
Neither knew.
Grant laughed.
"Lily knows."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rachel's bedtime song.
The birthday bracelet.
The giraffe.
How many safeguards had Rachel built?
"Where do we meet?"
Grant gave him an address.
An abandoned Army records facility.
Daniel and Cross alerted federal agents.
This time, Grant anticipated them.
He had blocked access roads.
Daniel entered alone.
Grant stood beside Lily.
He held no gun to her.
He didn't need to.
Lily was terrified.
"Daddy!"
Daniel raised his hands.
"I'm here."
Grant smiled.
"Where's the ledger?"
"I don't have it."
"Lily does."
Daniel looked at his daughter.
She was clutching the yellow birthday bracelet.
Daniel suddenly understood.
The inside contained three words.
Daddy Comes Home.
Initials.
D.C.H.
Not a message.
A code.
He remembered Rachel's blue box.
One compartment had remained locked.
Three letters.
Daniel had assumed it was decorative.
He looked at Grant.
"The ledger isn't here."
"Then take me to it."
Daniel agreed.
They returned under surveillance to Sarah's mansion.
The blue box remained in evidence storage temporarily established in the house.
Daniel entered DCH.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Grant smiled.
"Finally."
Daniel held it.
Then closed his fist.
"No."
Grant's expression changed.
"You don't have a choice."
"I do."
Daniel crushed the card beneath his boot.
Grant screamed.
He lunged.
Federal agents entered from both sides.
Cross tackled Grant.
Lily ran to Daniel.
Grant was arrested.
Hours later, Cross asked the obvious question.
"Why destroy the evidence?"
Daniel smiled.
"I didn't."
Rachel had taught him something.
Never keep one copy.
The memory card was a decoy.
Inside the hidden compartment, beneath it, Daniel had seen a web address and password.
Rachel's final archive.
The complete network.
Every transaction.
Every participant.
Every victim.
Every order.
Grant had been the last active operative.
The conspiracy was finished.
But Daniel still had one unfinished responsibility.
His daughter.
May you like
And one relationship that could not be repaired by evidence.
Sarah.
