CHAPTER 11 — THE MAN WHO PLANNED HIS OWN DEATH
The explosion didn't sound like an explosion.
It sounded like the entire world breaking.
The floor disappeared beneath my feet.
Dominic grabbed my waist.
I felt myself falling.
Then his body hit mine.
We crashed onto the stone floor as dust and broken concrete rained around us.
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything.
My ears rang.
My lungs burned.
I opened my eyes.
Darkness.
“Dominic?”
Nothing.
I reached beside me.
My fingers touched his hand.
He squeezed.
“I'm here.”
Relief hit me so hard it almost made me cry.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“You're bleeding.”
“So are you.”
I touched my forehead.
Warm blood covered my fingers.
“Where's Mom?”
Dominic looked toward the vault.
The room had partially collapsed.
My mother was gone.
I pushed myself up.
“Mom!”
Dominic grabbed my arm.
“Avery.”
“Let go.”
“The ceiling is unstable.”
“She was inside.”
“I know.”
“We have to find her.”
He pulled me toward an opening.
We crawled through broken stone.
The emergency lights flickered.
A siren screamed somewhere below.
Then I heard coughing.
“Mom?”
We moved toward the sound.
A hand emerged beneath a piece of concrete.
I dropped beside her.
“Mom.”
She opened her eyes.
“Avery.”
“I've got you.”
Dominic lifted the concrete.
I pulled her free.
Blood covered her side.
She was barely conscious.
“Stay with me.”
She looked at Dominic.
“Don't trust…”
Her eyes closed.
I panicked.
“Mom!”
Dominic checked her pulse.
“She's alive.”
“Then we need a hospital.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“If we take her to a hospital, they'll find her.”
“She needs surgery.”
“I know.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
He looked toward the destroyed vault.
“A doctor we can trust.”
Twenty-five minutes later, we were in a private clinic beneath an abandoned warehouse.
No signs.
No records.
No questions.
The doctor operating on my mother was someone Dominic had known for years.
Dr. Elena Maren.
She worked in silence.
When she finally came out, her face was exhausted.
“She lost a lot of blood.”
I stood.
“Is she going to live?”
“We stabilized her.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Elena looked directly at me.
“Yes.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Dominic caught my shoulder.
“Thank you.”
She nodded.
“She's unconscious. But there's something you should know.”
“What?”
“She wasn't shot with a standard round.”
Dominic frowned.
“What was it?”
“Ceramic.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“No metal.”
“So?”
“So whoever shot her didn't want the bullet traced.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“The Circle.”
Elena nodded.
“Probably.”
She walked away.
I turned toward Dominic.
“You knew my father.”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
He looked at me.
“How?”
“The letter.”
“What about it?”
“My father wrote that you weren't his biological son.”
“Yes.”
“He adopted you after Sofia died.”
“Yes.”
“Then how could he know you would destroy the Circle?”
Dominic looked away.
“I don't know.”
“That's not good enough.”
“I know.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you ever meet him?”
“As a child.”
“How many times?”
“Three.”
I stared.
“Only three?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he adopt you?”
“He said he owed my mother a debt.”
“What debt?”
Dominic's expression changed.
“My mother died because of him.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He was supposed to protect her.”
“But he failed.”
“Yes.”
“So he adopted you out of guilt.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at him.
“Then why did he write that I should fear you?”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don't have the answers.”
“Then let's find them.”
He nodded.
My mother woke at dawn.
Her first words were:
“Where's Dominic?”
I looked at him.
“He's here.”
She closed her eyes.
“I was afraid you'd bring him.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You know something.”
My mother looked at him.
“I know enough.”
“Then tell me.”
“You were never supposed to find the vault.”
“Why?”
“Because your father hid something there.”
“We found the evidence.”
“Not the real evidence.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
She looked at me.
“The vault was a decoy.”
Silence.
“What?”
“The files were real.”
“Then what's the decoy?”
“Everything you saw.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Where's the real vault?”
My mother whispered:
“Under the lake.”
I stared.
“Lake Forest?”
She shook her head.
“Michigan.”
Dominic stepped backward.
“My father had a property there.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“The original Circle ledger.”
“What does it contain?”
“Every name.”
I felt cold.
“Every member?”
“Every member.”
“Politicians?”
“Yes.”
“Judges?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Billionaires?”
“Yes.”
“And my father?”
My mother looked at me.
“Especially him.”
I swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
“He wasn't just collecting evidence.”
She hesitated.
“He was running the Circle.”
The room went silent.
Dominic stared at her.
“You said he wanted to destroy it.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because your father made me.”
I looked at my mother.
“Why would he want me to believe he was innocent?”
“Because he knew what you'd become if you learned the truth too early.”
“What would I become?”
She looked at me.
“Like him.”
I shook my head.
“I don't understand.”
“You were trained.”
“I trained in martial arts.”
“Not just martial arts.”
I froze.
“What else?”
“Surveillance.”
“What?”
“Counter-surveillance.”
My heart pounded.
“Lock picking.”
“Mom…”
“Reading people.”
“Stop.”
“Tracking.”
“Stop.”
“Interrogation.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because your father believed you were the only person he could trust with the Circle.”
I felt sick.
“You're saying my entire childhood was training?”
“No.”
She began crying.
“Your father wanted you to have a normal life.”
“Then why teach me?”
“Because he knew someone would eventually come for you.”
“Who?”
She looked at Dominic.
“The people who killed him.”
I stared.
“Who killed him?”
She whispered:
“Your father didn't die in an accident.”
“I know.”
“He was executed.”
My breath caught.
“By whom?”
“Three men.”
“Who?”
“Richard Whitmore.”
“Matteo Moretti.”
“And…”
She stopped.
“And who?”
My mother looked at Dominic.
“Dominic's father.”
Dominic's face went blank.
“My father was alive?”
“For years.”
“Then who was the man who died?”
“Your father killed the wrong man.”
Silence.
I couldn't breathe.
“Explain.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“The man you believe was Dominic's father was actually Elias.”
I stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“The third brother?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Dominic.
His face had lost all color.
“Then where is my real father?”
My mother whispered:
“Alive.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
“He disappeared.”
“Where?”
“He has been watching you.”
“Where?”
My mother looked toward the window.
“Closer than you think.”
A knock came from the hallway.
Everyone froze.
Dominic reached for his weapon.
The door opened.
A man entered.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Older than the photograph.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
My father's eyes.
My world stopped.
“Dad?”
The man looked at me.
“Avery.”
I couldn't move.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I had to be.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
I wanted to hit him.
Hug him.
Scream at him.
All at once.
Instead, I whispered:
“You let me think you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“For eight years.”
“Yes.”
“Mom knew.”
“Yes.”
“Dominic knew?”
“No.”
I turned toward Dominic.
He looked as shocked as I was.
My father walked closer.
“I am sorry.”
I laughed.
It wasn't a happy laugh.
“You're sorry?”
“Yes.”
“You abandoned us.”
“I saved you.”
“You let me watch Mom suffer.”
“I watched too.”
“You let me think you died in a factory.”
“I needed everyone to believe it.”
“Everyone?”
His eyes hardened.
“Especially the Circle.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because the person who killed me wasn't Richard.”
I felt cold.
“Who was it?”
My father looked at Dominic.
“The man standing beside you.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
I stepped between them.
“No.”
My father said quietly:
“He killed me once.”
Dominic's face twisted with confusion.
“I don't remember.”
“Of course you don't.”
My father smiled sadly.
“They erased that memory too.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded through the clinic.
My father fell.
I screamed.
Dominic pulled me down.
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
When the emergency lights came back...
My father was gone.
Only blood remained.
May you like
And on the wall someone had written:
ONE MORE MEMORY.
