Chapter 18 - MARCUS
Dad stepped in front of me.
Marcus almost looked offended.
“Jonathan, if I wanted to hurt Emily, I had hundreds of opportunities.”
Dad did not move.
“That is not comforting.”
Marcus nodded.
“Fair.”
I held Nathan’s phone.
“You were North Four.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Eight years.”
“Before Nathan died.”
“Yes.”
“You helped him create it.”
“I helped him secure communications.”
Dad stared at his oldest friend.
“You knew Nathan believed he was in danger.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“Nathan ordered me not to.”
“He was my son.”
“And you were one of the people he feared would stop him.”
Dad absorbed that silently.
Marcus continued.
“Nathan loved you.”
His voice softened.
“But he understood you.”
Dad looked away.
I stepped around him.
“Did you send the messages during the gala?”
“Some.”
“Which?”
“The warnings about the walls.”
“The files?”
“Automated.”
“The message on Rachel’s flash drive?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then who wrote HELLO, LITTLE SISTER?”
Marcus looked at Nathan’s phone.
“Nathan.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“He prepared labels years ago.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
Marcus walked toward Nathan’s desk.
“He believed eventually you would become involved.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew Robert.”
“He knew Robert would betray the network?”
“He suspected.”
Dad shook his head.
“Nathan predicted all of this?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at him.
“He prepared for possibilities.”
That sounded exactly like my brother.
I sat down.
“Why reveal yourself now?”
“Because North is finished.”
“You agree?”
Marcus nodded.
“I have for years.”
“Then why stay?”
“To keep the others from becoming worse.”
Rachel frowned.
“That sounds convenient.”
“It is also true.”
Marcus placed a small drive on the desk.
“Every operation.”
“Every member.”
“Every payment.”
“Every mistake.”
I stared at it.
“You’re giving me everything?”
“No.”
He looked toward the window.
“I’m giving it to federal investigators.”
That mattered.
No family control.
No private archive.
Marcus understood Nathan’s final instruction too.
Dad approached him.
“Will you be charged?”
“Possibly.”
“Did you break laws?”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“Probably.”
Dad sighed.
“Wonderful.”
Marcus almost laughed.
Then his expression became serious.
“There is one thing you should know.”
I waited.
“The lockdown at the gala was not Nathan’s plan.”
“I know.”
“It was yours.”
“Yes.”
Marcus nodded.
“And it saved evidence.”
I thought about the barriers slamming down.
The terrified guests.
Preston’s face.
Marcus continued.
“But don’t become dependent on that feeling.”
“What feeling?”
“Being the person who controls the doors.”
Nathan’s warning again.
Power could become addictive even when used correctly.
I nodded.
“I understand.”
Marcus picked up the old phone.
“Then this belongs to the past.”
He held it out.
I took it.
The screen displayed Nathan’s photograph.
I powered it off.
For the first time in six years, my brother’s voice was silent.
Not erased.
Finished.
Dad touched my shoulder.
“Emily.”
“Yes?”
“The board wants to meet you tomorrow.”
“For the chair position?”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That they should ask you.”
I smiled slightly.
Progress.
“What are you going to say?”
I looked around Nathan’s room.
“No.”
Dad blinked.
“You don’t want the company?”
“Not like this.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if Arden Global wants me, the company changes first.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“How much?”
I stood.
“Enough that half the current board will probably hate me.”
May you like
Dad finally smiled.
“Now you definitely sound like Nathan.”
