Chapter 5 - MY MOTHER’S LIE
We took the flash drive to a secure room beneath Cain Tower.
The room had no windows, no wireless connection, and no doors that could be opened from outside. Tristan’s security team searched every inch of it before allowing us inside.
I sat across from Tristan while a technician connected the drive to an isolated computer.
Marcus stood near the door.
He had not spoken to me since we found the photograph.
I noticed.
“What?” I asked.
He looked away.
“You know something.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“I know many things.”
“About my father.”
“I knew him.”
“Was he murdered?”
The room went quiet.
Tristan turned toward Marcus.
“Answer her.”
The older man’s jaw clenched.
“Daniel Hart died in an explosion.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Marcus looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
The word landed like a blow.
I felt as though the room had tilted.
“My father was murdered?”
“We never proved it.”
“But you believed it.”
“Your father discovered financial irregularities inside the company. He was preparing to report them.”
“To whom?”
“Alexander Cain.”
Tristan stared at him.
“You never told me this.”
“You were seventeen. Your father had just died. Alexander told me to keep you away from the investigation.”
“My father was investigating someone at Cain Global?”
Marcus nodded.
“Someone was diverting construction funds through shell companies. The money disappeared overseas.”
“Who?”
“We never identified the final owner.”
The computer chimed.
The drive had opened.
A folder appeared on the screen.
Inside were dozens of encrypted files, each marked with a date. The first file had been created twelve years earlier. The most recent had been created three weeks ago.
Three weeks ago.
The same week I started working for Tristan.
I leaned forward.
“Why would my father have files from this month?”
Tristan frowned.
“Maybe someone continued his work.”
The technician opened the first video file.
Alexander Cain appeared on the screen.
He looked older than in the photograph, tired and frightened. Behind him was the same office we stood in now.
“If you’re watching this,” he said, “then I was unable to protect the people who trusted me.”
Tristan stopped breathing.
His father continued.
“The corruption inside Cain Global is larger than any financial crime. It involves illegal surveillance contracts, political donations, and the assassination of anyone who gets too close.”
I covered my mouth.
Tristan’s face became rigid.
The video flickered.
Alexander looked toward the door.
“I believe my own board has been compromised. Marcus Vale is the only person I trust completely. Daniel Hart has discovered the account structure, but he does not know how deep it goes.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
I glanced at him.
The video continued.
“If I die, Daniel must hide the final ledger. It contains the names of every person involved. The ledger must never be placed inside the company’s network.”
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
I turned to Tristan.
“My father had the ledger?”
“We don’t know.”
“Your father said he trusted him.”
“Maybe he hid it before he died.”
“Maybe my mother knows where it is.”
My phone rang.
The hospital.
I answered immediately.
“Hello?”
A nurse spoke in a hurried voice.
“Miss Hart, your mother is awake. She asked for you.”
“I’m coming.”
“Wait,” Tristan said.
I covered the phone.
“What?”
He took the device and put it on speaker.
The nurse continued.
“Your mother says she remembers where your father hid the ledger.”
My blood ran cold.
Tristan exchanged a look with Marcus.
“What is her room number?” he asked.
The nurse gave it.
Then the line disconnected.
Tristan’s face changed.
“That wasn’t the hospital.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your mother’s room number is not accessible from the public directory.”
The fake nurse had known it.
A second message arrived on my phone.
COME TO THE OLD CAIN FOUNDry ALONE, OR YOUR MOTHER WILL NEVER WAKE UP.
I stared at the words.
Tristan took the phone from me.
“No.”
“My mother is in danger.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Then we set our own trap.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Mr. Cain, the old foundry has been abandoned for years.”
“Which is why they chose it.”
“I can take a tactical team.”
“No. If they see a convoy, they’ll move your mother.”
I stood.
“I’m going.”
Tristan looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“They want you alone.”
“They want me frightened.”
“They want you dead.”
“Then they should have picked someone easier to control.”
A strange silence filled the room.
Tristan studied me for a long moment.
Then he opened a drawer and pulled out a small black earpiece.
“Put this on.”
“What is it?”
“A secure transmitter.”
“You said I had to go alone.”
“You’ll go inside alone. I’ll be close enough to hear everything.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“It’s the only option.”
Marcus objected.
“Mr. Cain—”
Tristan cut him off.
“You’ll take six men and secure the perimeter. No lights, no sirens. Detective Ortiz gets the location.”
Marcus nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on me.
As we prepared to leave, my mother called from the hospital.
This time, it was her real number.
I answered.
“Mom?”
Her voice was weak.
“Emma, listen to me. Your father did not die in an accident.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t understand. He trusted Alexander Cain, but Alexander betrayed him.”
I looked at Tristan.
“What do you mean?”
“He gave your father’s name to the men who killed him.”
Tristan went still.
My mother began coughing.
“Mom, who killed Dad?”
“I don’t know. But there was a ledger. Your father hid it somewhere only you could find.”
“Where?”
She whispered a single sentence.
“Where your childhood ended.”
The call dropped.
I looked at Tristan.
“What does that mean?”
He had no answer.
Then the lights inside the secure room flickered.
The computer screen changed.
A live video appeared.
My mother was lying in her hospital bed.
A man in a silver serpent ring stood behind her.
He pressed a knife against her throat.
“Come to the foundry,” he said.
May you like
Then he smiled at me.
“And bring Tristan Cain.”
