Chapter 12 - THE FOURTH MEMBER
The paramedics had been distracted by the sudden chaos.
Robert was gone.
His IV line lay across the floor.
A smear of blood led toward the servants’ corridor.
Marcus deployed security immediately.
Dad tried to follow.
I stopped him.
“You’re staying with police.”
“Robert is my brother.”
“And somebody already attacked him once.”
He looked ready to argue.
Then Detective Bennett stepped beside me.
“She’s right.”
Dad gave me a tired look.
“I hate when everyone agrees with you.”
For the first time that night, I almost smiled.
Almost.
Rachel stayed beside me while Marcus searched.
Phones continued vibrating throughout the ballroom.
Nathan’s files were spreading.
Within minutes, social media erupted.
News alerts appeared.
HARRINGTON FOUNDATION FINANCIAL SCANDAL.
ARDEN GLOBAL INTERNAL RECORDS LEAKED.
SENATOR HARRINGTON NAMED IN SECRET TRANSFERS.
NATHAN ARDEN DEATH REEXAMINED.
The world outside the estate was changing.
Inside, we still had a missing man.
Nathan’s phone chimed.
ROBERT IS SAFE.
I stared at it.
“Where?”
No answer.
Then.
HE CHOSE TO LEAVE.
Dad shook his head.
“Not possible.”
Rachel looked toward the service corridor.
“Unless North helped him.”
Another message.
CORRECT.
I typed quickly.
WHY?
The response appeared.
BECAUSE ROBERT IS NOT A VICTIM.
Dad read it.
His face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
A file opened automatically.
Bank transfers.
Six years of payments.
Not to Harrington.
To Robert.
From an encrypted corporate entity called Northstar Advisory.
Rachel examined the dates.
“These continued after Nathan died.”
Dad looked crushed.
“Robert told us he joined Nathan’s network afterward.”
Nathan’s phone chimed.
HE DID.
Then.
AND HE BETRAYED IT.
My stomach turned.
Robert had not simply hidden Nathan’s phone.
He had been using North.
Feeding it partial information.
Selling other information.
Playing both sides.
Marcus contacted us.
“We found the blood trail.”
“Where?”
“Old wine cellar.”
We followed police downstairs.
The cellar door stood open.
Inside, one wall panel had been removed.
Behind it was a tunnel.
Dad stared.
“I didn’t know this existed.”
Marcus looked at the old construction.
“It predates the security renovation.”
The passage led beneath the estate toward an abandoned carriage house outside the main perimeter.
Robert had escaped the lockdown.
But he had left something behind.
A laptop.
Rachel opened it.
One document was already visible.
NORTH MEMBERS.
Seven names should have appeared.
Only one did.
RACHEL MONROE.
The others were blank.
Then the laptop screen changed.
A live video appeared.
Robert.
He was sitting in a moving vehicle.
His face looked pale but alert.
Dad stepped toward the screen.
“Robert.”
My uncle smiled sadly.
“Jonathan.”
“Come back.”
“I can’t.”
“You need medical care.”
“I need distance.”
“From what?”
Robert laughed.
“From your daughter.”
I stared at him.
“Why me?”
“Because Emily is about to discover what Nathan left her.”
“What?”
Robert’s smile faded.
“Control.”
Dad frowned.
“Control of what?”
“The network.”
I stared at the screen.
Robert continued.
“Nathan never intended North to survive forever.”
“Then why build it?”
“To collect enough evidence.”
“Evidence for what?”
Robert leaned closer.
“To destroy both families.”
Dad whispered.
“Both?”
Robert nodded.
“The Harringtons.”
Then he looked directly into the camera.
May you like
“And the Ardens.”
The video cut.
