Chapter 8 - Marcus Vale
Adrian did not embrace his father.
He did not speak.
Marcus Vale descended one stair at a time.
He looked nothing like the photographs.
Age and injury had changed him.
One leg dragged slightly.
A scar crossed his throat.
His hair was almost entirely gray.
But his eyes were Adrian’s.
Marcus stopped several feet away.
“You have every right to hate me.”
Adrian laughed quietly.
“You rehearsed that?”
“No.”
“You had twelve years.”
“Adrian.”
“Don’t.”
Marcus stopped.
Nora recognized something painful.
Adrian had spent days telling Nora not to accept secrecy disguised as protection.
Now his own family had built an entire life from exactly that.
Nora moved near him.
Their hands brushed.
Adrian took hers.
Marcus noticed.
“Nora.”
“Apparently that’s my name.”
Marcus smiled sadly.
“Claire chose well.”
“Why did you pretend to be my father?”
“To keep you alive.”
Nora sighed.
“Of course.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“You’ve heard that too often.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll give you the uglier version. Protecting you also protected me. Victor knew Jonathan had evidence that could destroy the organization and implicate me. Claiming you as mine gave me leverage.”
Nora appreciated the unpleasant honesty.
“So I was useful.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Marcus looked at the ledger.
“Later you became a child I cared about.”
Jonathan’s expression hardened.
“You should have told me you survived.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Jonathan stepped forward.
Adrian intervened.
“This family reunion is already crowded.”
Nora nearly smiled.
Marcus explained the shooting.
Twelve years earlier, Victor’s remaining network attacked him.
Marcus survived.
Evelyn helped hide him.
But Marcus suspected there was still a traitor inside Vale Capital.
His death gave him freedom to investigate.
“Claire thought Evelyn was the traitor,” Nora said.
Marcus nodded.
“She was wrong.”
Evelyn exhaled.
Adrian asked, “Who?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Your uncle.”
Adrian stiffened.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Nora knew the name.
Daniel Vale.
Marcus’s younger brother.
Current vice chairman of Vale Capital.
The man who had helped Adrian take control after Marcus died.
Adrian’s most trusted advisor.
“He raised me after you disappeared,” Adrian said.
“That was the plan.”
“Whose?”
“Daniel’s.”
The room shifted.
Marcus explained Daniel had been cooperating with Victor for decades.
When Marcus tried to separate Vale Capital from Moretti money, Daniel warned Victor.
The shooting was arranged to remove Marcus.
Evelyn’s disappearance happened earlier because Marcus feared Daniel might use her.
Claire discovered pieces.
Not enough.
She wrongly believed Evelyn betrayed Marcus because financial transfers carried Evelyn’s authorization.
Daniel had forged them.
Adrian shook his head.
“You expect me to believe the man who stayed was the traitor, and everyone who abandoned me was protecting me?”
Marcus looked stricken.
“No. I expect you to understand that we all failed you differently.”
That silenced the room.
Nora looked at Adrian.
His eyes had gone distant.
“Where is Daniel now?” she asked.
Adrian checked his phone.
No service.
Security tried theirs.
Nothing.
Jammer.
Marcus turned toward the windows.
“Victor isn’t working alone.”
The lights died.
Adrian pulled Nora against the wall.
Security drew weapons.
A voice boomed from outside.
Daniel Vale.
“Nobody needs to die tonight.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Recognition hurt more than surprise.
Daniel continued through a loudspeaker.
“Bring me the ledger and Nora Quinn.”
Jonathan raised his weapon.
“No.”
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Think.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And shooting blindly gets her killed.”
Nora whispered to Adrian.
“He wants me alive.”
“For now.”
“Why?”
Marcus answered.
“Because Claire encrypted the digital records.”
Nora looked at him.
“She did?”
“The password is tied to you.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because she trusted only you.”
Daniel’s voice returned.
“You have five minutes.”
Adrian looked toward a rear hallway.
“There’s a tunnel.”
Marcus nodded.
“You remember.”
“I remember everything about this family. That’s the problem.”
They moved.
The tunnel led from the basement toward an old boathouse.
Nora carried the metal case.
Halfway through, Jonathan stopped.
“I’ll hold them.”
“No,” Nora said.
“I abandoned you once.”
“Then don’t do it again.”
His expression broke.
She grabbed his hand.
“Come with me.”
They ran.
At the boathouse, Adrian’s security prepared a vehicle hidden behind storage doors.
Then Nora noticed the case felt lighter.
She opened it.
Ledger gone.
Only Claire’s letter remained.
Everyone froze.
“Who had the case?” Adrian asked.
Nora thought.
She had.
Then during the shooting, Evelyn held it.
Evelyn looked horrified.
“I didn’t—”
A voice sounded behind them.
Jonathan.
“I’m sorry.”
Nora turned.
Her father stood near the tunnel entrance.
The ledger was in his hand.
And beside him stood Victor Moretti.
Nora whispered, “Dad?”
Jonathan would not meet her eyes.
Victor smiled.
“I told you everyone chooses eventually.”
Adrian moved in front of Nora.
Jonathan lifted a gun.
His hand shook.
Nora stared at the father she had wanted for twenty-nine years.
“Why?”
Jonathan finally looked at her.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Because Victor has your mother.”
Nora stopped breathing.
“My mother is dead.”
Victor smiled.
Then he held up a phone.
A live video appeared.
A woman sat tied to a chair.
Older.
Thin.
But unmistakable.
Claire Quinn lifted her face toward the camera.
“Nora?”
The phone slipped in Victor’s hand just enough to reveal someone standing behind her.
Daniel Vale.
May you like
And Daniel said:
“Bring me Adrian, or your mother dies.”
