Chapter 14 - What Marcus Had Been Hiding|
Peter Reed was found in an abandoned vehicle near the river.
The police confirmed his identity and began examining the scene. Marcus was devastated, but he did not ask to return to his position. He came to the estate voluntarily and gave a full statement about his relationship with his brother.
Declan met him in the study.
“You should have told me everything three years ago.”
Marcus nodded.
“I should have.”
“What happened on October 17?”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“Peter and I were assigned to protect a shipment. We discovered that someone had changed the route without authorization. The convoy was ambushed. Two men were injured, and one never came home.”
“Who changed the route?”
“I suspected Peter. I found messages on his phone suggesting he'd been paid to provide information. But I couldn't prove who had paid him.”
“So you confronted him.”
“Yes. He admitted he had taken money, but he claimed he thought the information would be used to steal a shipment, not attack the convoy.”
Declan's voice hardened.
“And you let him walk away?”
“I gave him a chance to surrender. He ran.”
“Why didn't you report the messages?”
“I did. The records disappeared before the investigation could be completed. My brother vanished, and I thought he had left the country.”
Sophia listened from a chair near the window.
“Did Peter tell you who paid him?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No. He said the person used a company name, not a real name.”
“Did he mention a symbol?”
Marcus looked up sharply.
“The wolf.”
Declan leaned forward.
“What did he say about it?”
“That the ring was a sign of membership in the North Circle. But Peter said the person who hired him didn't wear it. He said the ring belonged to someone else.”
Sophia felt a chill.
“Someone who wanted the ring to be seen.”
Marcus nodded.
“I think Peter was being used to create a trail that pointed toward Kessler.”
Declan was silent.
For years, he had trusted Marcus to see dangers he couldn't see himself. Now he realized that Marcus had been carrying a private burden, trying to protect his brother's memory while concealing a failure that had cost another man his life.
“You should have trusted me with the truth,” Declan said.
“I know.”
“That's not something you can fix by saying it.”
Marcus looked at him.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Help the police find the person who killed your brother. After that, we'll decide whether you return to work.”
Marcus nodded.
He left the study, and Sophia turned toward Declan.
“You're handling this differently.”
“How?”
“You're angry, but you're not destroying everything around you.”
He gave a weary smile.
“Perhaps I'm learning that people can fail without becoming useless.”
“That's a very generous way to describe it.”
“Don't tell anyone.”
Sophia laughed softly.
Later that evening, the police contacted them with an update. Peter's phone had been recovered, and investigators found a deleted message sent shortly before his death.
It contained a location and a name.
The location was a private club in downtown Chicago.
The name was Victor Sloane.
Declan looked at the message.
“He knew Peter.”
“Or Peter wanted someone to think he did,” Sophia replied.
The police arranged surveillance at the club. Declan stayed away as instructed, but he watched the reports arrive through his attorney.
At 11:30 p.m., Victor Sloane entered the building.
At 12:05 a.m., he left through a rear exit.
A camera captured him stopping beside a black sedan. The driver opened the door, and Victor leaned inside.
The footage showed a hand reaching out from the back seat.
A silver ring glinted beneath the streetlight.
A black wolf was engraved on it.
But when investigators enhanced the image, they discovered that the ring was not on Victor's hand.
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It belonged to the passenger.
And the passenger was someone everyone had believed was dead.
