Chapter 10 - The Truth About Austin's Father
Austin replayed Jacey's words once.
Not twice.
He didn't need to.
Dad.
The word settled somewhere he could deal with later.
Now he needed to bring her home.
Elena understood the second part.
“The song.”
“The lullaby.”
“No,” she said. “Not the music-box version.”
Austin looked at her.
“What other version?”
“The one you sang to her.”
Austin frowned.
“I don't remember changing it.”
“You did.”
Elena explained that Austin had always forgotten one line of his mother's lullaby and replaced it with nonsense syllables.
Those syllables corresponded to numbers.
Jacey had memorized them.
Catherine knew the encryption depended on the song but didn't know Austin had accidentally altered it.
For once, a mistake might save them.
They built a plan.
Nathan would leak a false location for the master files.
Marcus would arrange vehicles.
Bruno would coordinate Judge Bell's trustworthy federal contacts.
Daniel would release portions of the evidence automatically if Austin failed to return.
Elena looked at him.
“And me?”
“You stay.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And mine.”
The words hung between them.
Elena's eyes softened despite the terror.
“Yes,” she said. “She is.”
Austin exhaled.
“We go together.”
Before leaving, Daniel handed Austin one final recording from their father.
Austin played it alone.
His father's face appeared.
“Austin, if you ever learn what happened, don't avenge me.”
Austin almost laughed.
His father had known him well.
“Revenge is how families like ours keep burying their children.”
Austin's smile disappeared.
“If you have a choice between destroying the person who betrayed me and saving someone you love, save them. Every time.”
The recording ended.
Austin sat in silence.
Then he placed his gun on the table.
Not because he wouldn't carry it.
Because for the first time, he understood that using it wasn't the objective.
Jacey was.
At Pier Nine, fog rolled over the water.
Catherine waited inside a warehouse.
Jacey sat beside her.
Vale stood near the loading doors.
Whitmore paced nervously.
Austin and Elena entered.
Catherine smiled.
“My beautiful son.”
Austin looked only at Jacey.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
Catherine touched the girl's hair.
“She's remarkable.”
“Take your hand off her.”
Catherine smiled.
“There he is.”
Austin placed a flash drive on the floor.
“The ledger.”
Whitmore stepped toward it.
Catherine stopped him.
“The song first.”
Austin looked at Jacey.
She shook her head almost imperceptibly.
He began singing.
The lullaby.
Correctly.
Not his version.
Catherine frowned.
Jacey realized immediately.
Austin was giving them the wrong sequence.
Catherine entered the numbers.
ACCESS DENIED.
Her face changed.
“Again.”
Austin repeated it.
ACCESS DENIED.
Vale grabbed Jacey.
Elena screamed.
Austin stepped forward.
“Touch her and you lose the only person who knows it.”
Vale stopped.
Catherine looked at Jacey.
“Tell me the song.”
Jacey's chin trembled.
“No.”
Catherine crouched.
“I knew your grandfather.”
“I don't care.”
“He was weak.”
“My dad isn't.”
Austin nearly broke.
Catherine noticed.
Then she smiled.
“Oh.”
She looked between them.
“She knows.”
Austin said, “Let her go.”
Catherine stood.
“You still don't understand. I built everything for you.”
“I never wanted it.”
“You inherited power.”
“I inherited your crimes.”
Her face hardened.
Outside, sirens approached.
Whitmore panicked.
“You said we had time.”
Catherine turned toward him.
That distraction was enough.
Jacey bit Vale's hand.
He shouted.
She ran.
Austin moved.
Gunfire exploded.
Elena pulled Jacey behind a steel column.
Nathan fired from above.
Whitmore fled toward the docks.
Marcus pursued.
Austin tackled Vale.
The gun slid away.
Vale punched him.
Austin struck back.
Then he remembered his father's words.
Save them.
He looked toward Jacey.
Catherine had disappeared.
Austin left Vale.
He ran to his daughter.
Elena held her.
“You came back,” Jacey cried.
“Always.”
A motor started outside.
Catherine's yacht.
Austin looked through the loading door.
Catherine stood on deck.
Whitmore was with her.
So was someone else.
Marcus.
Austin froze.
Marcus turned toward him across the water.
Then Marcus raised his gun.
Not at Catherine.
May you like
At Austin.
And Catherine smiled.
