Chapter 7: The Woman They Came For
“Move!””
My father pulled me toward the rear corridor just as a shadow crossed the doorway.
Someone was coming.
Fast.
Malik grabbed Harold's hand.
The attorney shoved the metal door closed behind us.
A second later, something slammed against it.
Once.
Twice.
Then the steel groaned.
“They're trying to get in,” Malik said.
My father didn't answer.
He was already moving.
“Stay behind me.””
The emergency lights painted the corridor red.
Somewhere in the distance, people were shouting.
The fire alarm screamed overhead.
“Where are we going?”” I asked.
“Old loading dock.””
“Why?””
“Because the front entrances will be watched.””
Another impact shook the door behind us.
My father glanced over his shoulder.
“They know the archive.””
“Who?””
“Victor's men.””
“How many?””
“Enough.””
We ran.
My wedding dress was dragging through dust and water from a leaking pipe. The hem caught on a metal bracket.
I stumbled.
My father caught me.
“Don't stop.””
I tore part of the fabric free.
“I can't believe this is happening.””
He looked at me.
“You've been living inside this danger your entire life.””
“No.””
“Yes.””
His voice softened for a second.
“I just kept you from seeing it.””
We rounded a corner.
A service elevator stood ahead.
My father pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
“Power's out,” Malik said.
My father swore under his breath.
Then he looked at the staircase.
“Down.””
We started descending.
Harold was behind me.
She was breathing hard.
I reached back and caught her hand.
“Come on.””
She looked at me.
For a second, she looked almost surprised.
Then she squeezed my fingers.
“I am sorry.””
“Not now.””
“I need you to know—”
“Not now.””
We reached the basement.
A steel door blocked the path.
My father pulled a ring of keys from his coat.
He tried three.
The fourth worked.
The door opened.
We spilled into the loading dock.
Cold night air hit my face.
A black SUV waited near the curb.
The same kind of vehicle I'd seen outside the hotel.
My father stopped.
“Not ours.””
The attorney looked through the glass.
“No driver.””
Malik stepped forward.
“I'll check it.””
“No.””
My father held out an arm.
“Wait.””
A phone began ringing inside the vehicle.
Everyone froze.
The sound was loud in the silence.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Harold looked at my father.
“Don't answer it.””
Malik stared at the vehicle.
“Maybe someone wants us to.””
“That is exactly why we shouldn't.””
The phone stopped.
Then started again.
I heard another sound.
Footsteps.
Coming from the basement stairs.
My father looked around.
“Back inside.””
“What?”” Malik said.
“We're trapped.””
He pointed toward the opposite side of the dock.
A second door stood there.
“Through that.””
We ran.
The footsteps grew louder.
I could hear men shouting now.
“They're downstairs!””
“Check the loading dock!””
My father threw open the second door.
We entered an underground parking level.
Rows of concrete pillars stretched into darkness.
Harold suddenly stopped.
“What?””
She pointed.
A car.
An old blue sedan sat beneath a broken light.
My father smiled for the first time.
“Elias's.””
Malik frowned.
“My father's car?””
“He kept it here.””
“How?””
“Your mother.””
Harold took the keys from her pocket.
“You kept it?””
“For seventeen years.””
Malik stared at her.
“You knew he was alive.””
Harold didn't answer.
He opened the driver's door.
The engine started on the first try.
I climbed into the back.
Malik sat beside me.
The attorney took the passenger seat.
Harold sat in the middle.
My father drove.
The sedan shot out of the parking garage.
Behind us, two black SUVs burst onto the street.
“They found us,” Malik said.
My father looked in the mirror.
“I know.””
The city blurred outside.
My wedding dress filled the back seat.
The bouquet I'd carried all afternoon lay crushed against the floor.
It suddenly looked absurd.
A symbol of a life that had never really existed.
Malik looked at me.
“Ava.””
I turned.
“I need to tell you something.””
My father's eyes met his in the mirror.
“Not now.””
“It matters.””
“Everything matters right now.””
Malik ignored him.
“I didn't know about Victor.””
I stared ahead.
“But you knew about the debt.””
“Yes.””
“You knew you were using your mother's trust as a backup.””
“Yes.””
“You lied to me.””
His face tightened.
“Yes.””
“And you married me partly because you thought she would leave you money.””
“No.””
I turned toward him.
“Then why?””
He looked down.
“My company was collapsing.””
“That doesn't answer the question.””
He swallowed.
“I believed your family had money.””
I felt something break inside me.
“My family?””
“Your father had property. I found records.””
“You investigated me?””
“Before we got engaged.””
I stared at him.
“You investigated me?””
“I needed to know who you were.””
“Why?””
He hesitated.
“My mother warned me not to marry you.””
My head snapped toward Harold.
“What?””
Harold shook her head.
“Because of your father.””
“What does my father have to do with me?””
“He didn't.””
She looked at Malik.
“That was the problem.””
Malik's face went pale.
“Mom…”
Harold stared at me.
“I believed your father had left something for you.””
“He did.””
“The ledger?””
She nodded.
“But I didn't know where it was.””
Malik spoke softly.
“I did.””
I looked at him.
“How?””
He reached into his jacket.
“My father left me something too.””
He pulled out an old envelope.
My father glanced at it in the rearview mirror.
“Where did you get that?””
“My mother's apartment.””
Harold looked alarmed.
“You went through my things?””
“I needed answers.””
He handed me the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My father stood beside Elias.
Between them was a younger Harold.
But the thing that caught my attention was the fourth person in the picture.
Victor Raines.
And he wasn't standing beside them.
He was behind them.
Holding a document.
I turned the photo over.
There was writing.
*The fourth partner.*
My father's eyes met mine in the mirror.
“You weren't supposed to have that.””
“I didn't even know it existed.””
“Neither did Victor.””
“Then why was it in Mom's apartment?””
Harold looked at the photograph.
“Because I forgot it was there.””
Malik shook his head.
“What happened between these four?””
Harold answered.
“Victor wasn't your father's enemy at first.””
She looked at me.
“He was his lawyer.””
My chest tightened.
“The lawyer?””
“Yes.””
“The person who knew everything.””
“Everything.””
The attorney beside my father spoke.
“Then he would have known about the accounts.””
“Yes.””
“The hidden trust?””
“Yes.””
“The land transfer?””
“Yes.””
My father's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“And he knew about the ledger.””
I looked at him.
“Why didn't he just steal it?””
“He tried.””
“And failed.””
“Yes.””
“Then what changed?””
My father didn't answer.
Harold did.
“Victor found out the ledger wasn't the only evidence.””
I waited.
“What else is there?””
She looked at my necklace.
“The film.””
My fingers went to the pendant.
“What is on it?””
My father took a breath.
“The names of every person involved.””
“And Victor?””
“Yes.””
I stared at the tiny silver pendant.
“Then why did he let me live?””
My father slowed at an intersection.
“Because he didn't know you had it.””
“That doesn't make sense.””
“It will.””
He turned onto a narrow road lined with warehouses.
“We're going somewhere safe.””
“Where?””
“My house.””
I frowned.
“I thought you disappeared.””
“I did.””
“Then why do you have a house?””
“Because hiding isn't the same as being dead.””
We drove another mile.
Then my father suddenly slammed the brakes.
Everyone lurched forward.
“What happened?””
He pointed ahead.
A car blocked the road.
Black.
No plates.
Two men stepped out.
My father reversed.
Another vehicle came from behind.
We were boxed in.
Malik reached for the door.
“Stay inside,” my father ordered.
The men approached.
One held a handgun.
Harold whispered, “Victor.””
My father stared through the windshield.
“No.””
He looked toward the man standing in the road.
“That isn't Victor.””
The man lifted a flashlight.
Its beam hit my face.
Then he smiled.
He lowered the weapon.
And shouted,
“We found her.””
The passenger door of the black SUV opened.
A woman stepped out.
She wore a red coat.
A silver ring gleamed on her right hand.
My father went rigid.
Harold covered her mouth.
Malik whispered,
“Who is that?””
My father stared at the woman.
May you like
Then he said the one sentence that made the entire car go silent.
“That's your mother.””
