Chapter 9 - The Brother Who Came Back
Roman reached the federal holding facility before noon.
Sophia stayed with Gabriel under court protection after the judge postponed the guardianship decision for forty-eight hours.
Roman entered the interview room alone.
Vincent sat on the opposite side of the glass.
Eleven years separated the brother Roman remembered from the man sitting before him.
There were lines around Vincent’s eyes.
A pale scar ran beneath his chin.
His hair was shorter.
But when he looked up, Roman saw the same younger brother who had stolen his motorcycle at sixteen and crashed it into a fountain.
Neither man spoke.
Then Roman picked up the phone.
Vincent did the same.
“You look terrible.”
Roman almost laughed.
“You’ve been dead eleven years and that’s your opening line?”
Vincent’s mouth moved slightly.
“I had time to work on it.”
Roman’s anger returned.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“Because Father told me he would destroy you if I came back.”
“Father is dead.”
“Silas isn’t.”
Roman leaned closer.
“Jonah Vale was in your coffin.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did Father?”
Vincent looked at Roman.
“Yes.”
Roman sat back.
Vincent explained.
Jonah had discovered Silas laundering money through the foundation.
He brought the evidence to Dominic.
Dominic initially promised to help.
Instead, he confronted Silas privately and tried to contain the scandal.
Jonah threatened to go to federal authorities.
The confrontation at the warehouse became physical.
Dominic pushed Jonah away.
Jonah fell from the loading platform and struck the concrete below.
Vincent had witnessed everything.
Dominic panicked.
Silas proposed the cover-up.
They placed Jonah’s body inside Vincent’s sports car.
Vincent was ordered to disappear for a few weeks while Silas created a story about Jonah fleeing the country.
But Dominic changed the plan.
“He realized my death solved another problem.”
Vincent’s voice was bitter.
“I knew too much.”
“So they declared you dead.”
“Yes.”
“And you allowed it.”
“I was twenty-seven.”
“Father told me Silas had documents proving I killed Jonah.”
“He showed me photographs.”
“He threatened to have you arrested as an accessory if I came home.”
Roman stared at him.
“You believed him?”
“I watched our father put a dead man in my car.”
“What exactly was I supposed to believe?”
Roman could not answer.
Vincent continued.
“For years, I moved between cities.”
“I worked under different names.”
“I collected proof.”
“Then I met Sophia.”
His voice softened when he said her name.
Roman noticed.
“You left her.”
“I saw one of Silas’s men outside her apartment.”
“I thought I had exposed her.”
“So you disappeared.”
“I planned to come back.”
“Then she got pregnant.”
Vincent looked at the table.
“I learned from a medical contact.”
“I knew the baby would trigger the trust.”
“So I created the deposit box and sent her to you.”
Roman’s anger sharpened.
“You sent a frightened pregnant woman toward a brother she had never met instead of standing beside her.”
Vincent accepted the blow.
“Yes.”
“That was cowardly.”
“Yes.”
Roman had expected an argument.
The admission left him with nowhere to put his anger.
“Why were your fingerprints in the Kessler Building?”
“I installed the first camera.”
Roman stared.
Vincent explained that he had been watching Roman’s tower to make sure Sophia arrived safely.
He discovered someone else had entered after him and replaced part of the surveillance setup.
Silas’s people had hijacked Vincent’s plan.
“Why did you call last night?”
“I saw men entering Roman’s building.”
“And Silas found you.”
“Yes.”
“How did you escape?”
Vincent looked toward the mirrored wall.
“I didn’t.”
Roman understood.
Silas had intentionally allowed him to reach the airport.
“Why?”
Vincent leaned closer.
“Because he needs me alive for the next part.”
Roman’s pulse slowed.
“What next part?”
Vincent looked directly at him.
“Silas has Jonah’s original blood-stained shirt.”
“He has the weapon from the warehouse.”
“He has my fingerprints on both.”
Roman said nothing.
Vincent continued.
“He is going to tell the world I killed Jonah.”
“And if he succeeds, Sophia’s son becomes the child of a murderer who spent eleven years running from justice.”
Roman understood the legal strategy.
Silas did not merely intend to control Gabriel.
He intended to destroy the credibility of every person standing between himself and the trust.
Vincent lowered his voice.
“There’s one thing Silas doesn’t know.”
“What?”
“Jonah recorded the argument.”
Roman stopped.
“Where is the recording?”
Vincent looked toward the observation mirror.
“Inside the Callaway Foundation headquarters.”
Roman almost laughed from disbelief.
“The building Silas controls?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Vincent gave him the answer.
“Behind our father’s portrait in the chairman’s office.”
Then the door behind Vincent opened.
Two federal agents entered.
One placed handcuffs on him.
Roman stood.
“What happened?”
The agent looked through the glass.
“Vincent Callaway is being arrested in connection with the death of Jonah Vale.”
From the hallway behind Roman, someone began clapping slowly.
May you like
Silas stepped into view.
“Welcome home, Vincent.”
