Chapter 5 - A Traitor Inside Marlow’s House
Leo had been seventeen.
That was the first thing he said.
Victor did not lower the gun.
“My father owed Edward Vale money,” Leo continued. “Vale threatened my mother. I gave him a gate code.”
Victor stared at him.
“That code let them reach my father.”
“I didn't know.”
“But you hid it.”
“For twenty-two years.”
Victor’s hand tightened.
Lana expected a gunshot.
None came.
Victor lowered the weapon.
“Get out.”
Leo looked stunned.
“Victor—”
“Before I change my mind.”
Leo left.
Klaus was still breathing.
They moved him to a secure room.
When he woke, he asked for Lana.
“Why me?”
“Because Marlow will assume everything I tell him is manipulation.”
“He’s probably right.”
Klaus coughed.
“Marcus tried to kill me.”
“You were trying to kill Victor.”
“I was.”
At least he admitted it.
“Why?”
“Marcus promised me the docks.”
“And Sarah?”
“Insurance.”
Lana hated him.
“Where is she?”
Klaus looked toward the door.
“Under the docks.”
“Where?”
“Old customs tunnels.”
“Which entrance?”
Klaus smiled weakly.
“You need me alive after all.”
Victor entered.
“No. We need you cooperative.”
Klaus gave him the location.
Pier Twelve.
Tunnel C.
Victor prepared a rescue.
Lana insisted on joining.
“No.”
“She knows my face,” Lana said. “Sarah heard me on the phone.”
“This isn't a restaurant.”
“And hiding me hasn't worked.”
Victor stared at her.
Finally he said, “You stay beside me.”
The customs tunnels smelled of rust and seawater.
They found two guards.
Victor’s men disarmed them quietly.
Then they found Sarah.
Gavin reached her first.
She collapsed into his arms.
For several seconds, nothing existed except two terrified people holding each other.
Then Sarah saw Victor.
“Marcus has someone inside your organization.”
“We know.”
“No. Someone else.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“Who?”
“I never saw him.”
Sarah looked at Lana.
“But Marcus said the person had been protecting Lana for years.”
Lana felt the ground shift beneath her.
“Protecting me?”
“He said that was why they couldn't take you earlier.”
“Who?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don't know.”
They returned to Victor’s safe house.
Leo was gone.
His room had been emptied.
Victor said nothing about it.
Later, Lana found him alone on the balcony.
“You let him leave.”
“Yes.”
“You believe him.”
“I believe guilt can make honest men look like traitors.”
“Is that experience talking?”
Victor looked toward the city.
“Yes.”
She leaned against the railing.
“My grandmother trusted you.”
“For a while.”
“What happened?”
“I wanted revenge. She wanted evidence.”
“Which one of you was right?”
“Her.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Victor looked at Lana.
“I was twenty-seven and stupid enough to think violence could erase violence.”
“And now?”
“Now I'm forty-nine and smart enough to know it multiplies.”
It was the first time Lana saw something beyond the feared man at the table.
Regret.
Not weakness.
Regret.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Victor gestured for her to answer.
“Hello?”
A man spoke.
“Lana.”
She knew the voice.
She had not heard it since childhood.
Impossible.
Her hand shook.
“Who is this?”
“You know.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Her father had disappeared when she was nine.
Everyone told her he was dead.
“Dad?”
Victor straightened.
The voice continued.
“I don't have much time.”
“Where are you?”
“Don't trust the archive.”
“What?”
“Your grandmother changed it.”
“Why?”
“Because one name inside it would destroy everything Victor believes.”
Lana looked at him.
Victor watched her face.
“Whose name?”
Her father breathed once.
Then said, “His mother.”
The call disconnected.
A second later, someone knocked on the safe-house door.
Three slow knocks.
Victor reached for his gun.
The door opened.
May you like
Leo stood outside.
And beside him was Lana’s father.
