Chapter 10 - THE MAN IN THE MIRROR|
Adrian led them through the service stairs and into a garage beneath the building. A dark sedan waited beside a concrete pillar, its engine already running.
Dominic followed his brother without lowering his guard.
“You’ve had years to contact me.”
“I contacted you twice.”
“I received nothing.”
“Because Edward intercepted the messages.”
“Convenient.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You think I enjoyed watching you build an empire on top of a graveyard?”
“I think you enjoyed staying alive.”
“That was the point.”
Lena climbed into the back seat, keeping the folder close. The brothers argued in low voices as Adrian drove toward the harbor.
“You knew about the money transfers,” Dominic said.
“I knew Edward was using them to fund a private operation.”
“An operation that killed my men.”
“And my friends.”
“You could have told me.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You were the heir. You were the person Edward trained to take his place. Every time I tried to tell you something, you defended him.”
Dominic had no answer.
They reached the dock shortly after sunrise. It was smaller than Lena remembered, with weather-beaten boards and a rusted ladder descending into gray water. The old reading center had been demolished. Only the boathouse remained.
Adrian unlocked it.
Inside stood a metal cabinet containing medical records, shipping photographs, and several sealed envelopes. He placed one on the workbench.
“This is the original report from the night David Voss died.”
Lena opened it.
The report had been typed by a private investigator. It described a planned roadblock, a vehicle forced off the road, and a second car waiting near the drainage slope.
Her father and brother had not died in an accident.
They had been hunted.
The final page contained a signature authorizing payment to the men who carried out the operation.
Dominic read the name.
“Elias Shaw.”
Adrian nodded.
“Elias arranged it. Edward approved it. Solin supplied the men.”
“Why?” Lena asked.
“Because David discovered the hidden trust and found out that the foundation was being used to pay off officials, intimidate witnesses, and move money between criminal operations. He also discovered that Edward planned to remove me permanently.”
“Why would Edward want you dead?”
Adrian looked at his brother.
“Because I refused to inherit the business.”
Dominic’s expression tightened.
“And he believed I would?”
“He knew you would. You were loyal to him.”
The accusation landed hard because it was not entirely wrong.
Lena studied the report.
“Why was my brother involved?”
Adrian looked away.
“He helped me escape the first time. He had a vehicle ready. When the ambush began, he doubled back to find me. He never made it out.”
“Did he die trying to save you?”
“Yes.”
Lena’s face crumpled for one brief moment before she forced herself to look at the evidence again.
“And my father?”
“He stayed behind to draw the men away from you. He knew you were nearby.”
The truth did not bring relief. It gave her grief a new shape.
Dominic placed the report on the table.
“We have enough to expose Edward’s operation.”
“No,” Adrian said. “You have enough to start a war.”
“Edward is dead.”
“His network isn’t. Solin controls the people who carried out the murders. Elias controls the legal records. And somebody inside your organization has been keeping the whole structure alive.”
Lena looked at him.
“Who?”
Adrian hesitated.
Then he reached into the cabinet and removed a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Dominic standing beside a woman at a charity gala.
The woman was Vivienne.
The date was stamped eight years earlier.
On the back, in Edward’s handwriting, was a single sentence:
She will make sure the heir never learns the truth.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“Vivienne was recruited before we married.”
Adrian nodded.
“She was never just your wife.”
A sound came from outside.
Tires on gravel.
Adrian turned toward the door.
“They found us.”
Lena slid the report into her bag.
Dominic drew his weapon.
But before either brother could move, a voice called from the other side of the boathouse door.
“Dominic? It’s Elias.”
A pause followed.
Then the attorney spoke again.
“I brought the one thing you still need.”
May you like
He lowered his voice.
“Proof that your father wasn’t the only Reeve who ordered a murder.”
