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Chapter 100

Eli didn't go home. He couldn't. Not yet. Not with the phone burning in his pocket and Adrian's face seared into his memory. Not with the truth still rattling around in his skull like a bullet that hadn't found its exit wound. So he drove. Aimlessly at first. Through the empty streets of the industrial district. Past the warehouses where he'd almost died. Past the docks where Nikolai had fallen. Past the church where his world had shattered. And then he found himself parked outside a diner. Small. Dirty. Open all night. The kind of place where nobody asked questions. He sat in a booth in the back. Ordered coffee he didn't drink. Stared at the phone Adrian had given him. Call me when you're ready. He wasn't ready. He wasn't sure he'd ever be ready. But he couldn't sit here forever. And he couldn't go back to Cove with nothing. He picked up the phone and dialed. Adrian answered on the first ring. "I was wondering when you'd call." "Where are you?" "Close." "That's not an answe

Chapter 101

Eli couldn't breathe. The words echoed in his head, bouncing off the walls of his skull like bullets. Your mother didn't die in the fire. She was murdered. By Victor Voss. He wanted to scream. He wanted to throw the table. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare and find himself back in the penthouse, in Cove's arms, with the collar warm against his throat and the world still making sense. But he wasn't waking up. And the world hadn't made sense for a long time. "That's not true," Eli said. His voice was hoarse. Broken. "My mother died in the fire. I was there. I saw it." Adrian shook his head slowly. "You saw a fire. You saw smoke. You saw chaos. But you didn't see her die." "I saw her body." "You saw a body. But was it hers?" Eli froze. The question hit him like a punch to the gut. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "I don't... I don't know." "No. You don't." Adrian reached into the folder and pulled out another document. A photograph. He slid it across the ta

Chapter 102

The penthouse was dark when Eli walked in. Not the kind of dark that came from turned-off lights. The kind that came from silence. From tension. From two people who had been waiting for each other and didn't know what to say. Cove was sitting on the couch. His hands were clasped in front of him. His eyes were red. He'd been crying. Eli could tell. The tracks were still there, faint and drying on his cheeks. "You're back," Cove said. Eli closed the door behind him. He didn't take off his jacket. He didn't sit down. He just stood there, a few feet away, staring at the man he loved. "I met him," Eli said. "I know." "You knew I would." "I hoped you wouldn't. But I knew." Eli's jaw tightened. "You knew a lot of things you didn't tell me." Cove flinched. "Eli..." "The second file." The words hung in the air between them like a blade. Cove's face went pale. His hands tightened. "What?" "The second file. Victor Voss kept it. You have it. And you've never told me." Cove stood up

Chapter 103

Eli didn't make it to the office. He made it three steps down the hallway before his legs gave out. He slid down the wall, his back against the cold marble, his hands shaking so badly he couldn't even ball them into fists. The words echoed in his head. Your mother was a spy. She was working with my father. She was an undercover operative. His mother. The woman who had tucked him in at night. The woman who had kissed his forehead and told him she loved him. The woman who had died in a fire that was meant to kill them all. She was a liar. A spy. A weapon. "Eli." Cove's voice came from behind him. Soft. Broken. Desperate. "Go away." "I can't." "Then stay there. But don't talk to me. Don't touch me. Don't..." His voice cracked. He couldn't finish. Cove didn't listen. He never did. He walked down the hallway and sat down next to Eli. His back against the same wall. His shoulder inches away but not touching. "I'm sorry," Cove said. "You keep saying that." "Because I mean it."

Chapter 104

The file was a dead end. Eli sat in his car outside the diner, the engine running, the heater blasting, the folder Adrian had given him spread across the passenger seat. He'd been through it three times. Every document. Every photo. Every scrap of paper. But there was nothing about Elena Vasquez. Nothing about Adrian's mother. Nothing about who she was or how she died. Just a name. A date of birth. A date of death. Elena Vasquez. Died 2019. Cause of death: suicide. Eli stared at the words. Suicide. The same word they'd used for his mother. The same lie. He picked up his phone and called Adrian. "Where are you?" Adrian answered on the first ring. "Doesn't matter. I need to see you." "That's not a good idea." "I don't care. I need to ask you something." Silence. Then, "Where?" Eli gave him the address of a park near the waterfront. Quiet. Empty. A place where no one would look twice at two men sitting on a bench in the middle of the night. Adrian was already there when Eli ar

Chapter 105

The list was three pages long. Eli sat at the small desk in his motel room, the lamp flickering overhead, the papers spread out in front of him like a puzzle he was terrified to solve. He had found it in the file. The second file. The one Cove had hidden behind the painting in his office. Eli had gone back. He had waited until Cove was asleep. He had crept through the penthouse like a thief and taken what he needed. And now he wished he hadn't. Three pages. Thirty seven names. All of them dead. All of them connected to Victor Voss. He read the first page. Business rivals. Political enemies. Journalists who had gotten too close. The second page. Whistleblowers. Defectors. Former allies who had turned against him. The third page. Women. So many women. And at the bottom, two names he knew. Elena Vasquez. Cause of death: suicide. Sarah Reyes. Cause of death: fire. His mother. Adrian's mother. The same monster. "What are you doing?" Eli looked up. Cove stood in the doorway. He w

Chapter 106

"Our father was murdered." The words hung in the air like smoke. Eli stood in the middle of the motel room, the autopsy report spread across the bed, his hands shaking. Adrian sat in the corner, watching him with those dark, knowing eyes. Cove stood by the door, arms crossed, jaw tight. "We don't know that," Cove said. "We do." Eli pointed at the papers. "Look at this. Heart attack. No prior history. No warning signs. He was forty two years old. Healthy. Active. And then one day he just drops dead?" "People die young. It happens." "Not like this." Eli picked up the report. "The coroner noted traces of an unknown substance in his blood. They couldn't identify it. They ruled it a heart attack because they didn't know what else to call it." Adrian leaned forward. "It was poison. A rare compound. Designed to mimic heart failure." Cove turned on him. "How do you know that?" "Because I've seen it before. Victor Voss used it on anyone who got too close. Including my mother." "That's

Chapter 107

Dr. Harold Finch was not what Eli expected. He was a small man. Frail. Hunched. His hands trembled as he poured tea into three chipped cups. His eyes darted around the room like a trapped animal. He looked like a man who had spent years looking over his shoulder. A man who had forgotten what it felt like to breathe. "I don't get many visitors," Finch said. His voice was thin. Reedy. "Not anymore." "We're not visitors," Adrian said. "We're here for answers." Finch set the teapot down. His hands were shaking so badly he almost dropped it. "I told you everything I know. Years ago. When you first found me." "Not everything." Adrian stepped closer. His voice was cold. "You held back. You always hold back." "I was scared." "You're still scared." "Of course I'm scared. Victor Voss may be dead, but his people are everywhere. They'll find me. They'll kill me. Just like they killed everyone else." Eli stepped forward. He put his hand on Adrian's arm. "Let me talk to him." Adrian looked

Chapter 108

"This list will destroy everything." Eli held the papers in his hands, his fingers trembling. The file Finch had given him was thick. Heavy. Filled with names. Dates. Photographs. Evidence of every life Victor Voss had taken. Every family he had destroyed. Every secret he had buried. And now it was all here. In Eli's hands. "What do you mean?" Cove asked. Eli looked up. His eyes were hollow. "Your father. He didn't just kill my family. He killed yours too." Cove froze. "What?" "The people on this list. They weren't just enemies. They were allies. Friends. People your father trusted." "That's not possible." "It's here. In black and white." Eli held up the papers. "Marcus Webb. Your father's oldest friend. Died of a heart attack. Poison. The Thorn family. Your father's business partners. Car accident. The brakes were cut. Your mother's cousin. Elizabeth. She disappeared. They found her body three months later." Cove staggered back. His face was pale. His hands were shaking. "No.

Chapter 109

She was expecting them. Eli saw it the moment he walked through the door. Dr. Elena Vasquez was standing behind her desk, her hands clasped in front of her, her face pale but steady. She wasn't surprised. She wasn't scared. She was waiting. "You found me," she said. "We did." Eli stepped inside. Cove followed. Adrian stayed by the door. "I knew you would. Eventually." She sat down slowly. Her hands were trembling. "I've been waiting for this day for years." "You knew my mother." "I did." "You were her friend." "I was her sister. Not by blood. By choice." Elena's voice cracked. "She was the best person I ever knew. And I failed her." "How?" "I was supposed to protect her. I was supposed to get her out. But Victor found out. He moved faster than I expected. By the time I got to the house, it was already burning." "You were there?" "I was there. I pulled you out. I carried you to the street. I watched the house collapse. I watched her die." Eli's breath caught. "You saved me.

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