The second shot deafened me.
Dust fell from the concrete wall.
I rolled behind a stack of storage bins.
The gunman moved fast.
Professional fast.
He ignored Rebecca.
Ignored Eleanor.
His focus remained on the brass compass near the center of the floor.
Rebecca lay on her side three feet from it.
Blood darkened her shoulder.
Still alive.
Her gun had fallen beyond reach.
The attacker stepped toward the compass.
I saw his boots first.
Black tactical boots.
Unremarkable.
Then his left hand.
A thin white scar ran across the knuckle of his index finger.
My mind supplied the memory before I wanted it.
Marcus slicing his hand on a broken presentation board during the Carson pitch.
Three stitches.
He joked for months about being injured by brand strategy.
No.
The attacker bent.
His mask shifted.
I saw the edge of his jaw.
"Marcus?"
He stopped.
One second.
That was enough.
Rebecca kicked the compass toward me.
"Run."
The gunman turned toward her.
I launched myself forward and caught his wrist before he could fire.
We hit the floor.
His shoulder drove into my ribs.
Pain exploded along my side.
I grabbed the gun with both hands.
"Marcus!"
His masked face turned toward mine.
Then his knee slammed into my stomach.
Air left me.
He tore free.
The gun swung back.
A shot cracked.
Not his.
The weapon flew from Marcus's hand.
Federal agents poured through the front door.
"Down!"
Marcus moved toward the rear breach.
Another agent appeared there.
For a moment, Marcus stood trapped between them.
Then he raised his hands.
Slowly.
The mask came off.
Marcus Lee.
My assistant.
The man I'd trained.
The man who had sat in my office that morning and told me Nick deleted my message.
The man who knew where the Sovereign Key had come from because I showed it to him.
"Get on the ground," Vance ordered.
Marcus looked at me.
"Sebastian."
I couldn't answer.
"There's more happening than you understand."
I almost laughed.
That had become the slogan of my day.
He lowered himself.
Agents restrained him.
I crawled toward Rebecca.
Blood covered her blouse near the upper arm.
The bullet had passed through.
She was conscious.
"You shot her," I said.
Marcus closed his eyes.
"I wasn't aiming to kill her."
Rebecca laughed weakly.
"Comforting."
Paramedics entered.
One moved toward Eleanor.
Another toward Rebecca.
Eleanor refused treatment until Rebecca was examined.
"She was shot."
"So were you almost," the medic said.
"Check her first."
Rebecca glared.
"I don't need your concern."
Eleanor looked at her.
"I know."
Vance picked up the compass with gloved hands.
"Nobody touches this now."
I sat against the wall.
Clara appeared at the open storage door.
Vance swore.
"I told you to stay back."
She ignored him.
Her eyes found me.
She crossed the room quickly and crouched beside me.
"Are you hit?"
"No."
"You're bleeding."
"Not mine."
She checked anyway.
Only when satisfied did she turn toward Marcus.
Her expression became colder than I'd ever seen it.
"Marcus?"
He looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
She stood.
"You don't get to use that word."
He lowered his eyes.
Dad arrived next.
He saw Rebecca being treated.
Then Marcus in restraints.
Then the compass in an evidence bag.
"What happened?"
"Everything," I said.
It wasn't helpful.
It was accurate.
Vance questioned Marcus at the scene.
Not formally.
Not yet.
"Who sent you?"
Marcus remained silent.
"Who told you the wafer was inside the compass?"
Nothing.
"Why did you attack Rebecca?"
He finally answered.
"I didn't attack her."
Rebecca, seated on a stretcher, gave him a look.
"The bullet in my shoulder says otherwise."
"I fired because you were pointing a gun at Sebastian."
"You came through a wall."
"You had him hostage."
"He walked in."
"With a gun aimed at him."
I looked at Marcus.
"You followed us to the survey station."
"I was told to."
"By who?"
He said nothing.
"Nick?"
"No."
"Eleanor?"
"No."
"Arthur?"
His mouth tightened.
Rebecca watched him.
"Not Arthur."
Marcus glanced at her.
She smiled bitterly.
"I know your type."
"What type?"
"The kind who thinks working for the invisible person makes you invisible too."
Vance stepped closer.
"Who?"
Marcus looked away.
Rebecca spoke.
"Carter."
Marcus didn't react.
Too carefully.
I saw it.
So did Vance.
"Carter Holbrook," Vance said.
Marcus remained silent.
I stood despite the pain in my ribs.
"You worked for Carter."
"No."
"Then for who?"
"I worked for Vanguard."
"Don't."
His eyes met mine.
"I did."
"You brought a gun into a hostage scene."
"Because Carter's people were coming."
"How did you know?"
"Because I've been tracking them."
"Why not call Vance?"
"Because Vance's investigation is compromised."
The room went still.
Vance's expression changed by less than an inch.
"What did you say?"
Marcus looked directly at him.
"Someone in your task force has been feeding Carter."
Vance's face hardened.
"Names."
"I don't have one."
"Evidence."
"I have pattern."
"What pattern?"
"Every time Eleanor's team moved to secure records, Arthur or Carter got there first."
"That could be internal to Eleanor."
"Then explain your surface team tonight."
Vance said nothing.
Marcus continued.
"They were incapacitated within minutes of arriving."
"You did that?"
"No."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe you arrived independently, breached a storage wall, fired on a hostage-taker and tried to recover evidence because you were helping?"
"I was trying to keep the compass from Rebecca."
"Why?"
"Because she isn't trying to expose the trust."
Rebecca's face tightened.
Marcus looked toward her.
"She's trying to destroy every surviving beneficiary."
She laughed.
"That's absurd."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Tell them about Geneva."
Rebecca stopped.
Eleanor looked at her.
"Geneva?"
Marcus pressed.
"Tell Sebastian what happened in Geneva in 2021."
Rebecca's expression went flat.
"Nothing relevant."
"Three trust attorneys died."
I stared.
"What?"
"Hotel fire," Marcus said.
Rebecca looked at him.
"Accident."
"According to who?"
"According to the investigation."
"The same investigation that declared Helen Ward dead?"
That landed.
Rebecca's eyes narrowed.
Marcus continued.
"Tell him about Simon Mercer."
Rebecca looked away.
"Who is Simon Mercer?" I asked.
No answer.
"Rebecca."
Her shoulders lowered.
"My brother."
Dad stared.
"You have a brother?"
"Had."
"What happened?"
"Killed."
"When?"
"2018."
"By who?"
Rebecca's eyes shifted toward Eleanor.
"Sterling security."
Eleanor shook her head.
"I've never heard that name."
"You wouldn't."
"Who ordered it?"
"Arthur."
Marcus laughed softly.
"That's her answer to everything."
Rebecca turned on him.
"You want to defend Arthur?"
"No."
"Then shut up."
"I want Sebastian to understand that every death around you gets assigned to whichever Sterling is most useful."
I looked at Marcus.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Rebecca built the Mercer Archive into a weapon."
"Evidence is a weapon against guilty people."
"Not when you manufacture the chain."
Vance cut in.
"Enough."
His radio buzzed.
He listened.
Then looked at Marcus.
"Carter escaped transport."
Eleanor sat upright.
"When?"
"Thirty minutes ago."
"How?"
Vance's face tightened.
"Vehicle collision."
Marcus shook his head.
"Not a collision."
"You know something?"
"Carter had contingencies."
"So did Arthur."
"No."
Marcus looked at me.
"Arthur Sterling is brutal, entitled and dangerous."
He paused.
"But Carter built the modern network."
"What network?"
"The shell companies. private security. information brokers. Vanguard acquisition."
I thought of the boardroom.
Nick.
Apex.
Anchor Oak.
"Carter was using Arthur."
"Sometimes."
"And Arthur used Carter."
"Sometimes."
"Where does Rebecca fit?"
Marcus looked toward her.
"She inherited her mother's war."
Rebecca said nothing.
"Where do you fit?" Clara asked.
Marcus's face changed.
He looked at her first.
Then me.
"My father worked for Sterling Maritime."
Another family connection.
Of course.
"Who was he?"
"David Lee."
Eleanor inhaled.
She knew the name.
I looked at her.
"Tell me."
"David was an auditor."
Marcus stared at her.
"He found the altered beneficiary records."
Eleanor whispered, "Yes."
"What happened to him?"
Marcus answered.
"Suicide."
The room became very quiet.
"I was eleven."
He looked at Eleanor.
"You sent flowers."
Eleanor shut her eyes.
"I remember."
"Nice arrangement."
"Marcus—"
"You knew why he died."
"I knew what he found afterward."
"You knew before."
"No."
"You always say that."
His voice stayed controlled.
That made the pain beneath it worse.
"You never know until after. Margaret. David. Sebastian's grandfather. Everyone who gets crushed by this family somehow reaches you one day too late."
Eleanor accepted the words.
Maybe because she couldn't argue.
I looked at Marcus.
"So you took the job at Vanguard because of me?"
"Not initially."
"Again."
He gave a tired half smile.
"Apparently everyone says that."
"Why did you take it?"
"Vanguard serviced an old Sterling holding."
"Then you discovered me."
"Yes."
"Did you know who I was?"
"About three months after I started."
"Who told you?"
"Carter."
My stomach tightened.
"Carter recruited you."
"He tried."
"And?"
"I let him think he had."
"Why?"
"Because I needed access."
"To what?"
"The current trust transactions."
"So you've been spying inside Vanguard."
"Yes."
"For who?"
"Myself."
Vance stepped closer.
"Nobody conducts an operation this long alone."
Marcus looked at him.
"I had help."
"Who?"
He shook his head.
"I won't give them to a compromised task force."
Vance's face hardened.
"You're in federal custody."
"I know."
"You just fired a weapon in a hostage scene."
"I know."
"You don't have bargaining power."
Marcus looked at the compass.
"Yes, I do."
"What do you know?"
"The wafer isn't the registry."
Rebecca stiffened.
I saw it.
"So what is it?"
Marcus looked at me.
"It's an encryption token."
"For?"
"The real registry."
"Where?"
He glanced at Rebecca.
"She knows."
Rebecca's jaw tightened.
"Don't."
"Where is it?" I demanded.
She remained silent.
"People have been shot over this."
"People were being shot long before you arrived."
"Then stop making it easier."
Eleanor leaned forward.
"Rebecca."
"Don't."
"Your mother would not have wanted—"
"You don't know what my mother wanted."
"I knew her."
"You abandoned her."
"I failed her."
The distinction silenced Rebecca.
Eleanor continued.
"I cannot undo that."
Rebecca's eyes filled.
"But if the registry can prove what happened, let Sebastian know."
Rebecca looked at me.
Then at the compass.
"The real registry isn't a file."
"What is it?"
"A ledger."
"Paper?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
She hesitated.
"Mercer Point."
Dad whispered the name.
I looked at him.
"You know it?"
"Old survey parcel west of Georgetown."
Rebecca nodded.
"Your grandfather bought it under a trust."
"His trust?"
"Margaret's."
Vance asked, "Exact location?"
"I'll show you."
Marcus laughed once.
"That's what she wants."
Rebecca turned.
"What?"
"You can't access Mercer Point alone."
"Watch me."
"You need two lineage keys."
Her expression changed.
I looked at Marcus.
"Two what?"
"The original registry was protected by dual-family authentication."
"English."
"Two physical keys descended from two excluded branches."
My eyes moved toward the compass.
"Grandfather's."
"One."
"And the other?"
Marcus looked directly at Rebecca.
"Margaret's."
Rebecca's face hardened.
"I have it."
"Do you?"
Her hand moved instinctively toward her neck.
A thin chain disappeared beneath her blouse.
Marcus smiled.
"Thank you."
Vance saw the movement too.
Rebecca swore.
I stared.
All of this.
The shooting.
The hostage-taking.
The hidden archive.
Two pieces needed to reach the real ledger.
My grandfather's compass.
Margaret's key.
Rebecca looked at me.
"We go to Mercer Point."
Vance shook his head.
"No."
She ignored him.
"Before Carter does."
"Carter doesn't have either key."
Marcus spoke quietly.
"He has Arthur."
Eleanor stood despite the medic's protest.
"What?"
"Carter didn't escape alone."
Vance looked at his phone.
Another message arrived from his team.
His face changed.
"What?"
He looked at Eleanor.
"The armored transport carrying Arthur never reached the detention center."
My stomach tightened.
"Carter took him."
"Looks that way."
Rebecca swore.
I still didn't understand.
"If Carter doesn't have the lineage keys, why does Arthur matter?"
Eleanor answered.
"Because Arthur's bloodline was never removed."
"So?"
"He may not need a lineage key."
Rebecca went pale.
"He can override one side."
Marcus nodded.
"Exactly."
I looked at the compass in Vance's evidence bag.
"Then Carter only needs one of ours."
Rebecca's hand closed around the chain at her throat.
A loud boom struck the front wall.
Everyone ducked.
The storage facility lights died.
Outside, tires screamed.
Vance's radio erupted.
"Vehicle! East gate!"
Another agent shouted.
Rebecca grabbed her necklace.
I grabbed the compass bag from the floor.
Then the outer door burst open.
Not Carter.
Not Arthur.
Nick Sterling stumbled inside with blood on his shirt.
He hit the concrete on one knee.
"Don't go to Mercer Point."
I caught him before he fell.
"Nick?"
His face was gray.
He grabbed my collar.
"Carter already has Margaret's key."
Rebecca stared.
Her hand flew beneath her blouse.
She pulled out the chain.
Nothing hung from it.
Only a broken clasp.
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: Nick’s Warning Sent Us Racing Toward Mercer Point, Where Carter Used Arthur to Open a Vault My Grandfather Had Built to Stay Closed
The Woman Beside Route Six Knew My Name Before Her Heart Stopped, and Somehow My Boss Knew I Had Found Her
Part 10 of 20
