CHAPTER 15 — THE CALL FROM MY FATHER WAS A TRAP
My phone kept ringing.
DAD.
I stared at the screen.
My hands went cold.
My father was supposed to be somewhere else.
Maybe captured.
Maybe hiding.
Maybe standing outside this house.
But the caller ID said his name.
“Answer it,” Dominic whispered.
I looked at him.
“You're sure?”
“No.”
That was enough to make me hesitate.
The phone rang again.
I pressed accept.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Uneven.
“Avery.”
My knees almost buckled.
It was him.
Again.
My father's voice.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Listen to me.”
His voice became urgent.
“Do not leave that house.”
I looked at Dominic.
“Why?”
“Because they want you to go to Blackwater.”
“Who?”
Silence.
“Dad?”
His voice returned.
“Your mother is lying to you.”
I turned toward Linda.
She had gone pale.
“What did you say?”
“She knows what happened to Isabella.”
Linda's eyes filled with tears.
“She knows where Isabella was taken.”
“Taken by who?”
My father's breathing became heavier.
“Don't trust anyone.”
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone.
Dominic immediately said:
“Give it to me.”
I handed it over.
He checked the number.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“This call didn't come from your father's phone.”
“Then how—”
“Voice relay.”
Linda closed her eyes.
“They're using him.”
I stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
The vehicles outside were still there.
No one had entered.
No one had fired.
They were waiting.
“They don't want to kill us,” he said.
“What do they want?”
“Me.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because the ledger opened.”
I understood.
The original Black Ledger wasn't just evidence.
It was leverage.
And Dominic and I had opened it together.
Which meant someone now needed both of us alive.
I looked at the black book sitting on the table.
“Then we use it.”
Dominic shook his head.
“How?”
“We give them what they want.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You're thinking about surrendering.”
“No.”
I smiled.
“I'm thinking about lying.”
Twenty minutes later, the lake house looked abandoned.
Every light was off.
The doors were unlocked.
The black ledger was gone.
And Dominic and I were nowhere to be seen.
At least, that's what the cameras would show.
We were beneath the house.
An old service tunnel connected the basement to the lake.
Linda stayed behind.
She refused to come.
“You can't protect me forever,” she said.
“I don't want to.”
She smiled sadly.
“You sound like your father.”
I hugged her.
Then whispered:
“Don't die.”
She held me tighter.
“I already survived the worst thing a mother can survive.”
“What?”
“Losing her daughter.”
I pulled back.
“You didn't lose me.”
“No.”
She touched my face.
“I got you back.”
Dominic and I reached the lake.
A small boat waited.
No driver.
No lights.
Just an envelope on the seat.
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Anthony Moretti.
Alive.
Tied to a chair.
Behind him stood Gabriel.
I stared.
“Gabriel survived.”
Dominic nodded.
“There was never any doubt.”
“What?”
“The bullet.”
He looked at me.
“It was a blood pack.”
I remembered.
Gabriel had fallen too perfectly.
The wound had looked terrible.
But there had been almost no blood on the tunnel floor.
“He staged it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted Richard to believe he was dead.”
I looked at the photograph.
“Then Gabriel is working with Isabella.”
“Probably.”
“Against Richard.”
“Probably.”
I frowned.
“You don't sound convinced.”
“Because Gabriel has lied to everyone.”
“Maybe he had to.”
Dominic looked at me.
“That's what your father said about everyone.”
He started the engine.
The boat moved across the black water.
We didn't speak for several minutes.
Then Dominic said:
“Avery.”
“What?”
“If we don't make it back…”
I turned.
“Don't.”
“I need you to hear me.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“If something happens to me, don't let them use you.”
I stared at him.
“You're not dying.”
“You don't know that.”
“Neither do you.”
A faint smile touched his face.
“That's the first optimistic thing you've said.”
I looked away.
The rain had stopped.
The city lights shimmered across the water.
For a moment, everything was quiet.
Then Dominic's hand found mine.
Not possessive.
Not demanding.
Just there.
I didn't pull away.
“I'm scared,” I admitted.
“So am I.”
I looked at him.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
He looked toward the darkness ahead.
“Losing the only person who makes me want to survive.”
My heart skipped.
I didn't answer.
Neither did he.
Because suddenly—
a red laser appeared across his chest.
I grabbed him.
“Down!”
A bullet tore through the windshield.
The boat swerved.
Another bullet.
Then another.
Dominic grabbed the controls.
“Someone's on the shore.”
I looked.
Three black SUVs.
Men with rifles.
And standing between them—
Vanessa.
She wasn't injured.
She wasn't afraid.
And she wasn't alone.
A man stood beside her.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Wearing a dark coat.
I recognized him immediately.
Richard Cole.
Dominic looked at me.
“They found us.”
“No.”
I stared at Richard.
“He wanted us to come here.”
The boat slowed.
A loudspeaker crackled.
Richard's voice carried across the water.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Dominic didn't answer.
Richard continued.
“Avery.”
I stood.
Dominic grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
Richard smiled.
“Your father is alive.”
I shouted:
“Where?”
Richard raised a hand.
A screen was lifted beside him.
Live video appeared.
My father.
Sitting in a dark room.
Alive.
But someone was standing behind him.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Older now.
Still beautiful.
Still unmistakable.
Isabella Moretti.
My biological mother.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then said:
“Avery.”
Her voice trembled.
“My daughter.”
I couldn't move.
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“I've waited twenty-seven years for you.”
The screen suddenly went black.
Richard smiled.
May you like
“Welcome home.”
Then the boat exploded.
