Chapter 9 - THE CLUB OF DEAD MEN
Adrian Ward had been twenty-seven when he disappeared in the Swiss Alps.
Search teams found his backpack near a ravine.
His body was never recovered.
Elena’s family accepted his death after months of searching.
Now Adrian had appeared inside Jonathan’s home and warned Victor to stop looking for Marcel.
Elena struggled to breathe.
“My brother is alive.”
Victor understood her shock.
The dead were returning faster than the living could explain them.
Mateo traced the final location of Jonathan’s phone.
The signal moved toward a private airfield.
Local police reached the house twenty minutes later.
Jonathan was gone.
There was no sign of serious injury.
A broken chair and blood on the floor suggested he had not left willingly.
Adrian’s face appeared briefly on a neighboring security camera.
He looked older but unmistakable.
He entered a vehicle registered to Meridian Recovery Group.
Victor searched the company.
Meridian specialized in extracting executives from dangerous countries, creating new identities and hiding protected witnesses.
Marcel had used it after his disappearance.
So had Adrian.
The company’s director was listed as Roman Kael.
No verified photograph existed.
Victor accessed the old contingency system.
The unnamed fourth beneficiary used an account connected to Meridian Recovery Group.
The hidden person behind Camilla’s plan was not Celia.
It was Roman Kael.
“Roman may be my father,” Victor said.
Elena shook her head.
“Or Adrian.”
“Or someone controlling both.”
The ninety-million-dollar fund had not moved.
Its four beneficiary sections remained locked.
Camilla, Laurent and Celia had revealed themselves.
The fourth beneficiary remained hidden because the system had not completed the identity scan aboard the yacht.
Victor reviewed the master authorization logs.
Someone had used his token six months before the pier.
The user created a secret instruction.
If Victor survived the contingency event, the fund would transfer into a secondary trust controlled by Roman Kael.
The system had been altered before Victor discovered Camilla’s messages.
The murder plot existed inside a larger plan.
Camilla believed she was killing Victor for money.
Laurent believed he was taking control of the company.
Isabelle believed Victor’s death would protect family secrets.
Roman Kael planned to profit regardless of whether Victor lived or died.
A message appeared on Victor’s secure server.
No sender.
No traceable route.
A single video file was attached.
Victor opened it.
Jonathan Ward sat in a dim room.
His hands were free.
He did not appear injured.
Adrian stood behind him.
Another man entered from the shadows.
He had gray hair and a scar across his chin.
Victor recognized him from old family photographs.
Marcel Moreau looked directly into the camera.
“Victor.”
“If you are watching this, then Camilla failed.”
Victor felt his chest tighten.
His father continued.
“You need to stop the police from investigating the contingency fund.”
“Roman Kael must remain hidden.”
“The ninety million is not an inheritance.”
“It is payment.”
“For what?” Victor whispered.
May you like
Marcel answered as though he heard him.
“For your death.”
