Chapter 9 - Cassian’s Dead Brother
Marlo found the hidden latch.
The wall opened onto a maintenance tunnel.
They escaped seconds before the archive filled with smoke.
At the tunnel's end, they found Elise's grandson bound but alive.
Adrian had used him to control Elise.
The boy identified Victor as the man who secretly helped him escape.
Victor had not betrayed Cassian.
He had infiltrated Adrian's operation.
The pieces finally aligned.
Almost.
One remained.
Dr. Julian Vale.
They found him in a motel outside Boulder City.
Dead.
For twelve years.
Dental records confirmed it.
Someone had been using Vale's identity.
Maria knew who.
“Adrian.”
Cassian stared at her.
His brother had inherited Vale's network, records, methods, and patients.
Cassian's illness was Adrian's masterpiece.
But Marlo saw something nobody else did.
Again.
She examined the photographs.
In every image of Adrian delivering Maria somewhere, he wore gloves.
Except one.
A recent photograph outside the care facility.
His left hand was bare.
No scar.
Maria had described Adrian as having a deep burn scar across that hand from the explosion.
“This isn't Adrian.”
Cassian looked closer.
His face hardened.
Nico enlarged the image.
Plastic surgery could alter a face.
It could not erase the history Maria remembered from a hand that had once been badly burned.
“Then who?” Marlo asked.
Maria whispered, “Julian had a son.”
Pell looked stunned.
“Evan.”
The true architect was Evan Vale.
He had reconstructed himself to resemble Cassian's dead brother.
He had weaponized grief.
Cassian had been chasing a ghost created for him.
Nico traced Evan to the Black Lantern.
He was already inside.
They raced back.
Casino security had been compromised.
Elevators locked.
Fire doors closed.
Guests were quietly evacuated under a fabricated electrical emergency.
Cassian and Marlo reached the medical suite by service stairs.
The room was empty.
Except for one thing.
A fresh cup of tea.
Beside it lay a contract transferring control of the Black Lantern.
A pen rested across the signature line.
Then the bathroom door clicked.
Someone inside whispered, “Marlo?”
May you like
She knew the voice.
Her sister.
