Chapter 11 - The Second Crimson Package
The account belonged to Marcus Vale.
Arthur’s transportation chief.
The man they had watched die.
Except Marcus had not died.
The body had disappeared from the hospital morgue.
The medical records had been altered.
Arthur understood immediately.
Marcus was the sixth custodian.
His “death” had been staged to remove him from the board.
But by whom?
Dominic knew.
“Evelyn.”
Everyone turned.
Evelyn admitted it.
Marcus had discovered Sebastian years earlier.
They staged his death because he was the only person positioned close enough to trace Victor’s transportation network.
Now Marcus was moving Victor’s money.
Not stealing it.
Freezing it.
Account by account.
Victor had unknowingly activated the mechanism by making the transfer.
Within hours, billions would become evidence.
Arthur almost smiled.
His father had triggered his own destruction.
Then Victor escaped federal transport.
The news arrived at 4:06 a.m.
A convoy had been attacked.
Two officers wounded.
Victor gone.
Arthur immediately prepared for war.
Clara stopped him.
“No.”
“He’s coming.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
“No.”
Arthur stared.
“For ninety-four nights, you reacted exactly how he trained you to react. Someone moves, you move. Someone disappears, you chase. Someone threatens you, you reach for a gun.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Make him come to us.”
Arthur slowly smiled.
They prepared the penthouse.
Victor arrived before dawn.
Not with an army.
Alone.
Because Clara had sent him one message.
I have the original ledger.
Victor entered the bedroom where everything began.
The new pillow sat on the bed.
Clara stood beside it.
Arthur remained hidden.
Victor smiled.
“You really are Evelyn’s daughter.”
Clara held the ledger.
“You want it?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me where my father died.”
Victor’s smile weakened.
He answered.
Thomas died protecting Evelyn and the twins.
Victor had killed his own brother personally.
Clara’s hands shook.
But her voice didn’t.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For confessing.”
Arthur stepped from the shadows.
Cameras recorded everything.
Victor reached for his gun.
Dominic disarmed him.
Daniel entered.
Evelyn followed.
Victor looked around at the family he had tried to destroy.
For once, he had nothing.
No secret.
No leverage.
No frightened son.
Arthur approached him.
Victor whispered, “You think these people make you strong?”
Arthur looked at Clara.
“They already did.”
Victor was arrested again.
This time, no private transport.
No compromised officers.
Federal marshals, state investigators, and cameras surrounded him.
Clara watched him leave.
Then she noticed Arthur swaying.
“Arthur?”
He touched his side.
Blood.
His old wound had reopened.
She caught him.
Hours later, in the hospital, Arthur woke.
Clara sat beside him.
“You need a hobby,” she said.
“I have several.”
“Getting shot isn’t a hobby.”
“Debatable.”
She smiled.
Arthur reached for her hand.
“Stay.”
One word.
No command.
No manipulation.
A request.
Clara stayed.
Daniel visited.
Evelyn visited.
Dominic complained about hospital coffee.
For the first time, Arthur’s world contained people who entered his room without making him reach for a weapon.
That evening, a nurse delivered his personal effects.
Inside the bag was something nobody recognized.
A crimson package.
Clara froze.
Arthur opened it.
A key.
Different from the first.
Attached was a handwritten note.
For Clara and Arthur. What Victor feared most was never the ledger.
No signature.
Arthur turned it over.
An address had been written on the back.
Clara recognized the street.
It was where her father had supposedly died.
They exchanged a look.
Daniel entered at that exact moment.
He saw the address.
And whispered, “That building was demolished fifteen years ago.”
Arthur looked again.
Beneath the address, fresh ink slowly appeared across the paper.
May you like
Three words.
Thomas is waiting.
