Chapter 16 - THE LAST TRAITOR
Every weapon shifted.
Derek looked at Thomas.
Thomas looked at Derek.
Julian looked at both.
Maya stood between them.
“Stop.”
Gabriel laughed from the floor.
“This is beautiful.”
Julian’s eyes remained on Thomas.
“You knew my father’s routes.”
“So did Derek’s father.”
Derek’s expression hardened.
“My father died before Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t use him.”
Thomas lifted his hands.
“I didn’t give Gabriel anything.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Someone did.”
Maya looked down at him.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel’s eyes met hers.
“You spent your life around lies, Maya.”
He smiled.
“Interesting that you still think you recognize them.”
Julian crouched.
“Name the traitor.”
Gabriel laughed.
“No.”
Julian grabbed his injured hand.
Gabriel screamed.
Maya flinched.
Julian released him immediately.
His face showed disgust at himself.
Gabriel noticed.
“She changed you.”
Julian stood.
“Yes.”
Gabriel looked surprised.
Julian continued.
“That is not weakness.”
His eyes hardened.
“It is the first thing in my life that made me understand how weak men like you actually are.”
Gabriel’s smile faded.
Julian stepped closer.
“You spent thirty years manipulating people because you are terrified of facing anyone who gets to choose.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father chose against you.”
Julian’s voice remained calm.
“Daniel chose against you.”
He looked at Maya.
“Maya chose against you.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“And every time someone chooses something you cannot control, you punish them.”
Julian leaned closer.
“That is not power.”
“It is panic.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
For the first time, Julian had reached him.
Federal agents arrived twenty minutes later.
Independent teams.
No Kell loyalists.
Gabriel was taken away.
Daniel survived surgery.
Barely.
The bullet missed his heart by less than an inch.
Maya sat beside his bed the next morning.
He opened his eyes.
“You look terrible.”
She laughed through tears.
“You were shot.”
“And yet I remain handsome.”
“You definitely are my father.”
Daniel smiled.
Rosa entered.
“You’ve been awake thirty seconds and already lying.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Hello, Rosa.”
She kissed his forehead.
Then slapped his arm.
“Ow.”
“That was for twenty years.”
“I expected worse.”
“You will get worse later.”
Maya smiled.
For the first time, they looked like a family.
Broken.
Angry.
Complicated.
But real.
Julian waited outside.
Maya joined him.
“You didn’t come in.”
“That moment wasn’t mine.”
Her expression softened.
“You’re learning.”
“Slowly.”
“Very slowly.”
They walked toward the elevator.
Maya looked at him.
“What did Gabriel mean?”
“About the traitor?”
“Yes.”
Julian sighed.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I believe he enjoys chaos.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I believe someone provided my parents’ route.”
Maya stopped.
“So you’re going to investigate Thomas.”
“And everyone else.”
“Derek?”
Julian’s face tightened.
“If necessary.”
Maya hated that.
Derek had been loyal.
But she also understood why Julian could not ignore it.
“Can I help?”
Julian looked at her.
“No.”
She glared.
He sighed.
“I mean yes.”
“Better.”
They returned to the penthouse.
Julian finally slept for four hours.
Maya did not.
She sat in the kitchen reading Adrian’s archive.
At 3:12 AM, she found something strange.
A travel record.
The night Adrian and Catherine died, their route had changed unexpectedly.
Only four people received the update.
Adrian.
Catherine.
Thomas.
And someone marked DC.
Maya frowned.
Derek Croft?
No.
Derek’s surname was Vance.
She searched.
DC appeared hundreds of times.
Then she found the personnel index.
DC — DAVID CROFT.
Maya stared.
“Julian.”
He appeared in the kitchen half awake.
“What?”
“Who is David Croft?”
Every trace of sleep vanished.
“What?”
She turned the laptop.
“David Croft.”
Julian stared at the initials.
“My grandfather.”
Maya frowned.
“I thought he died before your parents.”
“He did.”
“When?”
“Six months before.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“Are you sure?”
Julian stared at her.
“Apparently I should stop answering yes to that question.”
They searched records.
David Croft officially died of a stroke.
No autopsy.
Closed funeral.
Private burial.
Maya laughed bitterly.
“Your family really needs open-casket policies.”
Julian almost smiled.
Then Derek entered.
He heard the name.
His face changed.
Maya noticed.
“You know something.”
Derek stopped.
Julian turned.
“What?”
Derek looked between them.
“My father told me a story before he died.”
“What story?”
“About David.”
Julian’s eyes hardened.
“What?”
Derek hesitated.
“He said David did not die naturally.”
Silence.
Julian stepped closer.
“Who killed him?”
Derek swallowed.
“Adrian.”
Julian froze.
“My father killed his own father?”
“According to mine.”
“Why?”
“David wanted Black Harbor.”
Maya stared.
Derek continued.
“Gabriel learned trafficking from him.”
Julian sat slowly.
Everything shifted again.
David Croft had built the foundation.
Gabriel had expanded it.
Adrian tried to stop them both.
“What does that have to do with the bombing route?”
Derek looked at the screen.
“I don’t know.”
Maya searched David’s death records.
Then she found a photograph taken after his supposed burial.
David Croft entering a private clinic in Switzerland.
Four months later.
Julian stared.
“He survived.”
Maya whispered.
“Another fake death.”
Derek cursed.
“What is wrong with this family?”
Julian looked at him.
“You work here voluntarily.”
“Regrettably.”
Maya searched further.
David disappeared after that photograph.
No financial activity.
No travel.
Nothing.
Then an old voicemail archive appeared among Adrian’s files.
One message had been recorded the morning of the bombing.
Julian clicked play.
A distorted male voice spoke.
Adrian.
Turn back.
You are being watched.
Do not take Catherine to the meeting.
Julian froze.
Maya looked at him.
The voice continued.
Gabriel knows your route.
I tried to stop him.
Forgive me.
Julian whispered.
“David.”
Derek frowned.
“How can you know?”
Julian stared at the speaker.
“I remember his voice.”
The message ended.
Maya slowly exhaled.
“So David warned Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“Then he wasn’t the traitor.”
“No.”
Julian replayed the message.
This time Maya heard something in the background.
A train horn.
Then a woman’s voice.
Very faint.
“David, we have to go.”
Julian paused the audio.
Maya stared.
“Who was that?”
Derek enhanced it.
The woman repeated the sentence.
Julian’s face drained.
Maya looked at him.
“You know her.”
He nodded.
“Who?”
Julian whispered.
“My mother.”
Silence.
Maya felt cold.
“That recording was made the morning she supposedly died.”
“Yes.”
“But she was with David.”
Julian stopped breathing.
Derek stared.
Maya looked toward the dark window.
If Catherine Croft had been with David before the bombing, then the woman killed in Adrian’s car might not have been Julian’s mother.
Julian had spent fifteen years grieving both parents.
Gabriel had admitted building the bomb.
Kell had admitted Catherine was not supposed to be in the car.
Maybe she had not been.
Maya reached for Julian’s hand.
He looked at her.
May you like
For the third time in days, his entire understanding of his family shattered.
Because Catherine Croft might still be alive.
