Chapter 5 - The Price of a Brother
Mara stared at Noah's photograph.
Everything inside her became still.
Lucian reached for the phone.
She pulled it away.
“No.”
“Mara.”
“He has Noah.”
“I can see that.”
“Then don't tell me to calm down.”
“I wasn't going to.”
That stopped her.
Lucian looked at Darius.
“Trace it.”
“Already trying.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Mara—”
“Don't.”
“He'll use Noah to get the ledger.”
“I know.”
“Sebastian won't let either of you leave.”
“I know.”
Her father flinched at hearing his own words thrown back at him.
Lucian took the ledger.
“You're not going.”
She stared at him.
“The message says me.”
“Exactly.”
“He'll kill Noah if I don't.”
“He'll kill you if you do.”
“Then give me a better option.”
Lucian said nothing.
Mara stepped closer.
“My brother has spent half his life fighting for every breath he gets. I am not sitting here while some monster decides whether he gets another one.”
Lucian looked at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
Adrian snapped, “Lucian.”
“She goes.”
Mara was surprised.
Lucian continued.
“But she doesn't go alone.”
“The message—”
“He'll believe you do.”
Darius traced the phone to an abandoned restaurant near the river.
Sebastian had chosen carefully.
Few cameras.
Multiple exits.
Mara wore a wire.
Lucian hated it.
“You don't speak unless necessary.”
“That's going to be difficult for me.”
“I noticed.”
“If I see Noah, I'm getting him.”
“Wait for us.”
“If I see an opportunity—”
“Mara.”
“What?”
His voice softened.
“Don't be brave for no reason.”
She stared at him.
For the first time since they met, there was no command in his face.
Only fear.
For her.
“I'll try.”
Thomas approached before she left.
“Mara.”
She stopped.
“I know you hate me.”
“I don't know what I feel.”
“That's fair.”
“No. Fair would have been having a father.”
Thomas lowered his eyes.
She immediately regretted the cruelty.
But not enough to take it back.
He handed her something.
His old watch.
“Your mother gave me this.”
Mara recognized it.
“She saved for six months.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Because there wasn't one day I didn't think about coming home.”
Mara swallowed.
“Then you should have.”
She walked away.
The restaurant smelled of dust and river water.
Mara entered carrying the ledger.
“Hello?”
A light came on.
Sebastian Vale sat at a table.
He was in his sixties.
Silver hair.
Perfect suit.
Warm smile.
He looked like someone's favorite uncle.
That made Mara hate him more.
“Mara Hayes.”
“Where's Noah?”
“Your brother is safe.”
“I want to see him.”
“In time.”
She placed the ledger on the table.
“Here.”
Sebastian smiled.
“You have your father's impatience.”
“You know him?”
“Very well.”
“Apparently everybody does except me.”
Sebastian laughed softly.
“Thomas always had a talent for sacrifice.”
“Don't talk about him.”
“You're angry with him.”
“I'm angry with you.”
“You shouldn't be.”
“You kidnapped my brother.”
“To negotiate.”
“You drugged Celia.”
“To protect her.”
Mara almost laughed.
“From what?”
“The truth.”
He leaned back.
“People romanticize truth. They think it heals. Usually it destroys.”
“Where is Noah?”
Sebastian sighed.
“You really are focused.”
“It's one of my annoying qualities.”
He gestured toward a door.
“Noah is behind there.”
Mara's eyes flicked toward it.
“Open it.”
“Ledger first.”
She pushed it halfway across the table.
“Brother first.”
Sebastian smiled.
“Lucian likes you.”
Mara's heart skipped.
She kept her expression flat.
“You've known me fifteen minutes.”
“I've known Lucian his entire life.”
“You don't know him at all.”
That erased Sebastian's smile.
Mara realized she had hit something.
Good.
“He thinks fear makes people loyal,” she continued.
“No. Lucian understands fear.”
“Because you taught it to him?”
Sebastian's eyes hardened.
There.
The real man.
“You're clever.”
“I serve rich people alcohol for a living. You learn things.”
“Such as?”
“Men like you hate being laughed at.”
His hand moved.
Mara heard Lucian's voice faintly through her earpiece.
Careful.
Sebastian stood.
“Give me the ledger.”
“Give me Noah.”
The door opened.
Noah stumbled out.
Mara almost moved.
A man behind him held a gun.
“Mara.”
Noah looked terrified.
“I'm okay.”
“You sure?”
He nodded.
“Breathing?”
“Mostly.”
She nearly cried.
Instead she smiled.
“Good.”
Sebastian held out his hand.
“Now.”
Mara pushed the ledger across.
Sebastian opened it.
He immediately knew.
“This is a copy.”
Mara's stomach dropped.
He looked at her.
“Did Lucian think I wouldn't recognize my own handwriting?”
The gunman grabbed Noah.
Mara stood.
“Wait.”
Sebastian closed the ledger.
“Where is the original?”
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Lucian didn't tell me.”
That part was true.
Sebastian studied her.
Then smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“You're protecting him.”
“No. I'm protecting Noah.”
“You're protecting both.”
He approached.
“Do you know what Lucian Vale does to people who betray him?”
“I've heard stories.”
“And yet you trust him?”
“I trust him more than you.”
Sebastian's smile vanished.
A crash came from outside.
The lights died.
Lucian.
Mara dropped.
Gunfire erupted.
Noah shouted.
Mara crawled toward his voice.
Emergency lights flickered.
She saw the gunman.
Then Thomas tackled him.
“Dad!”
The weapon slid away.
Lucian entered through the kitchen.
Darius behind him.
Sebastian ran.
Adrian intercepted him near the rear exit.
For one second uncle and nephew stared at each other.
“You should have stayed dead,” Sebastian said.
Adrian punched him.
Police sirens approached.
Not Sebastian's police.
Darius had contacted a federal investigator whose name appeared nowhere in the ledger.
Sebastian was trapped.
He smiled anyway.
“You think this ends with me?”
Lucian grabbed him.
“It begins with you.”
Mara reached Noah.
She hugged him so hard he complained.
“Ribs.”
“Sorry.”
“Still ribs.”
She laughed through tears.
Thomas stood nearby.
Blood ran from his forehead.
Noah looked at him.
“Dad?”
Thomas froze.
Noah had been ten when he disappeared.
He stepped closer.
“You got old.”
Thomas laughed.
Then cried.
“So did you.”
Noah hugged him.
Mara watched.
Her anger remained.
But something else appeared beside it.
Possibility.
Police entered.
Sebastian was handcuffed.
As they led him away, he looked at Mara.
“You still don't understand why your father disappeared.”
She stared at him.
“He wasn't hiding from me.”
Sebastian smiled.
“No.”
Thomas went pale.
Mara turned.
“What does he mean?”
Sebastian laughed as officers pulled him toward the door.
Thomas said nothing.
“Dad?”
His face broke.
“There is something I never told you.”
“What?”
He looked at Noah.
Then Mara.
“Sebastian wasn't threatening me because I helped Adrian.”
Mara's stomach tightened.
“Then why?”
Thomas opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, Darius rushed toward them holding his phone.
“Lucian.”
Everyone turned.
“The missing ledger page just surfaced.”
Lucian took the phone.
His face changed.
Mara stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Lucian slowly looked at Thomas.
“The page says Sebastian wasn't working alone.”
Mara's father closed his eyes.
Lucian turned the screen toward her.
May you like
At the bottom of the missing page was a second signature.
The signature belonged to Thomas Hayes.
