Chapter 17 — THE LAST PERSON I EXPECTED TO SAVE ME
Vincent's hand moved toward his weapon.
I grabbed his wrist.
"Wait."
His eyes stayed on the doorway.
"You said she's inside."
"I know."
"Then we need to move."
"No."
He looked at me.
"Emily."
I pointed toward the hallway.
"If she wanted us dead, we'd already be dead."
Vanessa slowly stood.
"She's playing with us."
"Exactly."
I looked at the last page of the blue file.
The name was still there.
MARGARET VOSS.
My mother's closest friend.
My father's former legal assistant.
The woman who had attended every birthday I could remember.
The woman who brought flowers when my mother was sick.
The woman who had hugged me after my father disappeared.
The woman who had once told me:
"Your father loved you more than anything."
My hands shook.
"How long?"
Vincent understood.
"How long has she been watching me?"
"I don't know."
"Guess."
He looked at the document.
"At least twenty years."
My stomach twisted.
Twenty years.
An entire lifetime.
Then we heard footsteps.
Slow.
Calm.
Approaching from the hallway.
Margaret appeared.
She wasn't holding a weapon.
She wore a beige coat.
Her silver hair was neatly arranged.
Her expression was almost maternal.
She looked at me.
And smiled.
"Emily."
I couldn't move.
"Don't."
Her smile disappeared.
"I know you're angry."
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You lied to my mother."
"Yes."
"You lied to my father."
She looked down.
"Yes."
Vincent stepped forward.
"Why?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Because your family started this."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
"My grandfather started it."
"Your grandfather built the machine."
She looked at me.
"Your father discovered how it worked."
"And you?"
"I was the person who understood what would happen if he exposed it."
I stared at her.
"So you helped him disappear."
"I did."
"Why?"
"Because they were going to kill him."
"You could have told me."
"You were seven."
"I deserved to know."
"You deserved to live."
I felt tears in my eyes.
"That doesn't give you the right to control my entire life."
"No."
Her voice softened.
"It doesn't."
For the first time, she looked old.
Not powerful.
Not dangerous.
Just exhausted.
"Your father believed the evidence would destroy the people responsible."
"It did."
"No."
She shook her head.
"It exposed some of them."
She looked toward Vincent.
"But the people who truly mattered were never in the blue file."
Vincent frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Margaret smiled sadly.
"Your father understood that the system wasn't controlled by money."
"Then by what?"
"Information."
Silence.
"Everyone had secrets."
She continued.
"Judges had secrets."
"Politicians had secrets."
"Police commanders had secrets."
"Businessmen had secrets."
"Even your grandfather had secrets."
I looked at the file.
"That's why the blue file was a map."
"Yes."
"Map to their secrets."
"Exactly."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"Then why did you keep Emily hidden?"
Margaret looked at her.
"Because someone else was looking for her."
"Who?"
"Elias."
I stared.
"But you said Elias wasn't the mastermind."
"He wasn't."
"Then who was?"
Margaret didn't answer.
Vincent's expression changed.
"Your father."
I looked at him.
"What?"
Margaret nodded.
"Your father created the entire operation."
My heart stopped.
"Why?"
"Because he knew he couldn't destroy the network from the outside."
She took a breath.
"So he built a trap inside it."
Vincent stared at her.
"Project Blue."
Margaret nodded.
"The trust wasn't designed to protect Emily's inheritance."
"It was designed to control the evidence."
I felt cold.
"Then why am I the beneficiary?"
"Because nobody would suspect a seven-year-old girl."
I looked at Vincent.
"And the DeLuca connection?"
Margaret's eyes moved between us.
"Your father needed someone powerful enough to protect the trust."
"Vincent."
"Yes."
"That's why Dad trusted him."
"Yes."
I swallowed.
"But why didn't Vincent know all of this?"
Margaret smiled.
"Because your father didn't trust anyone with the whole plan."
I looked at Vincent.
He seemed almost angry at himself.
"He divided the truth into pieces."
Margaret nodded.
"One piece with your mother."
"One with Vincent."
"One with Elias."
"One with me."
"And one with you."
I frowned.
"Me?"
She nodded.
"You were the final piece."
Before I could ask what she meant, the building shook.
A loud explosion came from below.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
"We have to go."
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
She reached inside her coat.
Vincent raised his weapon.
Margaret pulled out a small black box.
"Your father gave me this."
She handed it to me.
I stared.
There was an inscription on the lid.
FOR MY DAUGHTER — WHEN SHE IS READY.
My hands trembled.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
My mother.
And me.
But this photograph was different.
I was seven.
My father was kneeling beside me.
And behind us stood Vincent.
Much younger.
I looked at him.
"You were there."
Vincent nodded.
"That was the last day I saw your father."
I turned back to the photograph.
On the back was a message.
I read it aloud.
"Vincent, if you're reading this, I failed."
My throat tightened.
"If Emily is reading it, I succeeded."
I couldn't breathe.
The next line was shorter.
"She must choose you freely."
I looked at Vincent.
He didn't move.
My father's final sentence read:
"Never become her prison in the name of protecting her."
Tears rolled down my face.
Vincent looked away.
"I never understood that sentence."
"You do now."
"Yes."
Another explosion.
This time closer.
Margaret looked toward the ceiling.
"They found us."
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"The people your father spent twenty years running from."
Vincent grabbed my hand.
"We're leaving."
Margaret stopped him.
"No."
She reached into her coat again.
This time she pulled out a small USB drive.
"Take this."
Vincent stared.
"What's on it?"
"Everything I kept hidden."
"Why give it to us now?"
Margaret looked at me.
"Because I made a promise twenty years ago."
"What promise?"
"That when you were old enough to choose your own life..."
She smiled sadly.
"I would finally give it back to you."
I took the drive.
Then she turned toward the hallway.
"Where are you going?"
"To slow them down."
"No."
She looked back.
"Emily."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I spent twenty years protecting you from the consequences of other people's sins."
She opened the door.
"Now it's time someone protected you from mine."
She stepped outside.
The door slammed.
Vincent grabbed my hand.
We ran.
Three minutes later, we reached the street.
Sirens filled the air.
Vanessa was already waiting beside a car.
I climbed inside.
Vincent followed.
As we drove away, I looked at the USB drive in my palm.
"What's on it?"
Vanessa glanced at me.
"The answer."
"What answer?"
She hesitated.
"The location of your father."
My heart stopped.
"He's alive?"
Vanessa nodded.
"Your father is alive."
I closed my eyes.
For twenty years, I had believed he was dead.
For seven years, Vincent had searched for him.
Tonight, I finally had a location.
But before I could ask where...
my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Emily."
My father's voice.
I stopped breathing.
"Dad?"
"I'm sorry."
"Where are you?"
"Don't come alone."
"I won't."
"Don't bring Vincent."
My heart sank.
"Why?"
A long silence.
Then:
"Because the man who has been protecting you for seven years is finally going to learn what I never had the courage to tell him."
The call ended.
I looked at Vincent.
He had heard every word.
His face was pale.
"What did he say?"
I whispered:
"He said not to bring you."
Vincent looked out the window.
May you like
Then quietly said:
"Then we're definitely going."
