Chapter 6 - MARCUS REED’S FIRST MISTAKE
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Friend?”
Adrian said nothing.
“You really think friendship survives men like us?”
“It survived fifteen years.”
“No.”
“It survived as long as our interests matched.”
Adrian looked toward Thomas.
“You ordered the ambush.”
Marcus did not deny it.
Instead he asked, “Do you have Lily?”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Say her name again.”
Marcus laughed once.
“There he is.”
“The Adrian Vale everyone remembers.”
“You know what Evelyn hated about you?”
“She thought she could change that.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Then remembered Evelyn’s recording.
Break the rules.
He opened them again.
“You want Grace.”
Marcus paused.
“She has something that belongs to me.”
“What?”
“Bring her to North Harbor tomorrow.”
“Come alone.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I start removing everyone who helped hide your daughter.”
The line ended.
Thomas stared at Adrian.
“He wants the second card.”
“No.”
Grace shook her head.
“He didn’t know about the rabbit.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Then what does he think you have?”
Grace went silent.
She searched her memory.
Then her eyes widened.
“The necklace.”
“What necklace?”
“Evelyn’s.”
Adrian stared.
“She was wearing a silver necklace at the crash.”
Grace nodded.
“The one they recovered.”
“No.”
Grace slowly shook her head.
“They recovered one.”
“The chain Thomas gave me was different.”
Thomas turned.
“What?”
Grace looked at him.
“When I found you, you had Evelyn’s necklace in your pocket.”
“You told me to hide it.”
Thomas stared at her.
“I don’t remember that.”
“You were barely conscious.”
Grace continued.
“I put it inside a box at my aunt’s house.”
Adrian remembered the funeral report.
Evelyn had been identified partly through her necklace.
That meant someone had placed another one on her body.
Marcus had staged even the smallest details.
Adrian asked, “Where is the original?”
Grace swallowed.
“Still at the yellow house.”
Elias checked the property.
The house had been searched.
Furniture overturned.
Drawers emptied.
But the box remained hidden beneath a loose floorboard in the nursery.
Inside was Evelyn’s real necklace.
A small silver lily hung from the chain.
Adrian held it in his palm.
Thomas inspected the pendant.
“There.”
A tiny slot ran along the edge.
Inside was a miniature storage chip.
Adrian almost laughed.
“Evelyn backed up everything.”
Grace nodded.
“She didn’t trust one hiding place.”
The chip contained one final file.
An audio recording.
Marcus speaking with Victor Sloane.
The date was forty-eight hours before the attack.
Victor asked, “And the infant?”
Marcus answered, “No heirs.”
Victor hesitated.
“What about Adrian?”
“Not yet.”
“He needs to survive.”
“He needs to believe Mercer did it.”
“He’ll go to war.”
“And when both sides are weak, we inherit what’s left.”
The room went silent.
Thomas whispered, “That’s it.”
Adrian looked at Elias.
“Make copies.”
“How many?”
“Twenty.”
“Where are they going?”
“Federal prosecutors.”
“State police.”
“Three judges Marcus doesn’t own.”
“Two journalists.”
Thomas looked surprised.
“You’re giving this outside?”
“Yes.”
“Everything?”
Adrian looked toward Lily.
“Everything that doesn’t expose innocent people.”
Elias understood what that meant.
Adrian was not planning a private execution.
He was planning something Marcus had never expected.
Accountability.
That afternoon, Adrian called a meeting of every senior captain and business partner at Vale Tower.
Marcus entered five minutes early.
He wore a charcoal suit.
Calm expression.
Perfect tie.
He looked exactly like the man Adrian had trusted for fifteen years.
Adrian watched him take his usual seat.
At Adrian’s right hand.
The wolf still sits at his right hand.
Adrian entered.
Twelve men stood.
Marcus remained seated.
He smiled.
“Long night?”
Adrian sat at the head of the table.
“Very.”
The meeting began.
Adrian announced that all illegal operations connected to Vale companies were shutting down.
The room erupted.
Men argued.
Some cursed.
Marcus remained quiet.
Finally, he leaned forward.
“You’re emotional.”
Adrian looked at him.
“No.”
“You found your daughter.”
“You’re trying to become Evelyn’s idea of you overnight.”
Several men glanced between them.
Adrian remained calm.
Marcus smiled.
“Give it a week.”
“Then we talk like adults.”
Adrian placed Evelyn’s necklace on the table.
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
There.
The fear again.
Adrian saw it.
So did Thomas, watching through a hidden camera from another room.
Marcus stared at the pendant.
Then at Adrian.
“Where did you get that?”
Adrian leaned back.
“Why?”
“You recognize it?”
Marcus stood.
The room fell silent.
Adrian’s voice stayed low.
“Sit down.”
Marcus did not move.
Adrian repeated it.
“Sit.”
Slowly, Marcus sat.
Adrian looked around the table.
“For fifteen years, Marcus Reed sat at my right hand.”
“Today, that seat is empty.”
Marcus laughed.
“No one here believes you.”
Adrian pressed a button.
The wall screens turned on.
Marcus’s voice filled the room.
“No heirs.”
Every man froze.
The recording continued.
“He needs to believe Mercer did it.”
“He’ll go to war.”
Marcus rose again.
This time, his face was white.
Adrian looked directly at him.
“You made one mistake.”
Marcus stared back.
Adrian pointed toward the screen.
“You thought grief made me stupid.”
Marcus slowly smiled.
“No.”
He reached into his jacket.
May you like
“You made the mistake.”
“And behind Adrian, one of his own captains raised a gun.
