Chapter 4 - THE LOCKBOX
Ivy left Blackwood House before midnight.
Ronan tried to stop her.
She ignored him.
“You are not safe alone.”
“I’ve been alone for twelve years.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“It’s exactly what I mean.”
Rain hammered the front steps.
Ronan stood beneath the stone entrance while Ivy pulled on her coat.
“You just found out your father was murdered.”
“From a man whose family apparently knew the entire time.”
His face tightened.
“I was twenty-one.”
“And old enough to talk.”
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“My name didn’t change.”
“That isn’t the whole story.”
“I’m done with stories tonight.”
She walked into the rain.
Ronan followed.
Ivy turned.
“Do not follow me.”
“I’m not letting you walk home.”
“I have a bus pass.”
“You also have a man with a gun carrying your picture.”
She glared at him.
“Then call me a cab.”
Ronan looked offended.
“You think I’m putting you in a cab?”
“Yes.”
“I own twelve armored vehicles.”
“Congratulations.”
For the first time that night, Ronan Blackwood actually laughed.
It was short.
Unexpected.
Human.
Then his face turned serious.
“Get in the car, Ivy.”
She stared at him.
“You really hate the word please, don’t you?”
“Please.”
She blinked.
Marcus, standing near the car, looked stunned.
Ivy got in.
Her apartment was small but warm, filled with books, plants, and photographs of family.
Ronan entered and immediately noticed the broken lock.
“You didn’t tell me it was forced.”
“I thought the screw was loose.”
“It was drilled.”
That shut her up.
Marcus searched the rooms while Ivy pulled an old metal box from beneath her bed.
The brass key fit.
Her hands shook.
“My dad said never to open this unless someone came looking.”
Ronan stared at her.
“You had the key?”
“A copy. The one in Pike’s car was my father’s original.”
The box clicked open.
Inside sat three things.
A photograph.
A cassette tape.
And a sealed envelope.
Ivy picked up the photograph.
Her father stood beside a much younger Ronan.
Between them was another man.
Ronan’s father.
Michael Blackwood.
On the back, in Daniel Lancaster’s handwriting, were five words:
Trust the son, not the father.
Ivy slowly looked at Ronan.
He had gone pale.
“What?”
Ronan took the photograph.
“My father told me Daniel betrayed us.”
Ivy opened the envelope.
Inside was one page.
The first line read:
If I am dead, Michael Blackwood ordered it.
Ronan stared at the words.
Ivy’s voice cracked.
“Your father killed mine.”
Ronan said nothing.
Then every light in the apartment went out.
Marcus cursed.
A window shattered.
Ronan grabbed Ivy and threw them both behind the kitchen counter.
Three gunshots tore through the room.
Emily screamed from the hallway.
Ivy’s blood turned to ice.
She had forgotten Emily was still waiting outside with one of Ronan’s drivers.
“Emily!”
Ronan pulled a handgun from beneath his coat.
“Stay down.”
Another shot.
Then a man’s voice came from the dark hallway.
“Give us the box, Blackwood.”
May you like
Ronan looked at Ivy.
And Ivy realized the past had just come to kill them both.
