Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER LEFTHer name was Margaret Ellis.
For twenty-two years, she had worked as the mansion's head housekeeper, managing the staff, maintaining the household, and keeping every room in immaculate condition.
She had known Declan since he was a boy.
She had attended his father's funeral and stayed beside him through the first brutal year of his leadership.
If anyone had earned his trust, it was Margaret.
Declan found her in the laundry room, folding white tablecloths.
“Margaret, I need to ask you something.”
She looked up.
“Of course, Mr. Knox.”
“Did you know my father kept a private archive beneath the library?”
Her hands stopped moving.
Only for a second.
Then she folded the cloth again.
“No.”
“Did you know Arthur had access to it?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Declan placed the photograph on the table.
Margaret stared at it.
Her face changed so dramatically that Clary stepped closer.
“Who's the third man?” Declan asked.
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“You shouldn't have opened that archive.”
“Why?”
“Because some truths destroy more than lies.”
Declan leaned forward.
“My father is dead. Arthur is missing. Someone is threatening Clary's brother. I'm done protecting people from the truth.”
Margaret looked at Clary.
“Is this about the debt?”
“Yes,” Clary answered.
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I told them this would happen.”
“Who?” Declan demanded.
She slowly sat down.
“Your father wasn't killed because of a business disagreement. He discovered that someone inside the organization was selling information to a rival family.”
“Who was it?”
“Victor Sloane.”
Declan's expression hardened.
“Why didn't my father expose him?”
“Because Victor had proof that your father had authorized certain illegal operations that could have destroyed the entire family. He threatened to release the records unless your father surrendered control.”
“My father would never surrender the empire.”
“He tried to negotiate.”
Margaret's voice trembled.
“Arthur arranged the meeting. Victor arrived with armed men. Your father never came home.”
Declan felt an old memory rise to the surface: a black car pulling into the driveway, a driver refusing to meet his eyes, Arthur kneeling in front of him and saying his father would never return.
“Did Arthur know Victor intended to kill him?”
Margaret looked down.
“I don't know.”
“That's not good enough.”
She flinched.
Clary stepped between them.
“She's frightened. Give her a moment.”
Declan turned toward Clary, surprised by her courage.
Margaret took a shaky breath.
“Arthur came back that night with blood on his shirt. He told me your father was dead and said the truth would destroy you if anyone discovered it.”
“Why did you stay silent?”
“Because I was afraid. I had a daughter. Arthur knew where she lived.”
Margaret's eyes filled again.
“He threatened to kill her if I spoke.”
“Where is your daughter now?”
“Boston. She has a family of her own. She doesn't know any of this.”
Declan lowered his voice.
“Did you ever see the records Victor used to blackmail my father?”
Margaret nodded.
“He kept copies in a private office at the old waterfront warehouse.”
Tommy, who had been standing near the doorway, suddenly stiffened.
“Which warehouse?”
Margaret gave him the address.
Tommy looked at Declan.
“That was where Mercer took me after my arm was broken.”
“What?”
“He told me he wanted to discuss the debt privately. I saw a locked office upstairs. There were photographs of you on the walls.”
Declan's face hardened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought he'd kill Clary if I did.”
Margaret rose and walked toward an old storage cabinet.
She removed a small brass key from a tin box.
“I kept this because I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.”
Declan accepted it.
“What does it open?”
“The desk in Victor's old warehouse office.”
He studied the key.
“Why didn't you destroy it?”
Margaret looked at him sadly.
“Because your father asked me to keep it safe.”
She paused.
“He said one day his son might need proof that the people closest to him were lying.”
Declan closed his fingers around the key.
For the first time, the past seemed within reach.
Then Clary's phone rang.
An unknown number appeared on the screen.
She answered cautiously.
A man's voice whispered, “If you want your brother alive, come to the waterfront warehouse alone.”
The call ended.
Tommy looked at his sister.
“No.”
Clary's face had gone white.
“They know we're here.”
Declan took the phone from her.
He called his security chief.
“Find the signal. Prepare the cars.”
Clary grabbed his arm.
“Don't go there because of me.”
Declan met her eyes.
“I'm going because someone believes they can use the people I care about to control me.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Clary asked the question he feared most.
“Do you care about me, Declan?”
He could have lied.
Instead, he said, “More than is wise.”
She looked away, visibly shaken.
Before either could say another word, Tommy's phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
It showed the three of them standing in the mansion's corridor.
May you like
Taken less than a minute earlier.
Someone was watching them from inside the house.
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