Chapter 13 - THE FATHER SHE NEVER KNEW
Z
Aliyah punched Mark Voss.
Nobody stopped her.
Later, she would blame the adrenaline.
Jasmine called it “an understandable editorial response.”
Victor said nothing.
He simply looked at Mark with such quiet fury that two federal agents moved closer.
Mark wiped blood from his lip.
“Truth hurts.”
Aliyah’s hand throbbed.
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Anton.”
That was the problem.
Anton refused to answer his phone.
Within an hour, federal agents discovered his safe house empty.
Victor drove Aliyah home after the ruined wedding reception.
She sat beside him still wearing her wedding dress.
Neither spoke.
Finally Aliyah said, “My mother told me my father’s name was Michael.”
Victor stared forward.
“Michael Vance could have been an alias.”
“You believe him?”
“I believe we should verify it.”
“That means yes.”
“No. It means I have learned not to dismiss ugly possibilities because I dislike them.”
Aliyah looked out the window.
Caleb Vance.
The man who had watched her.
Used her.
Stolen her identity.
Threatened Victor.
Possibly ordered her mother’s death.
Her father.
“No.”
Victor reached toward her hand, then stopped.
Aliyah noticed.
“Why did you stop?”
“You may not want to be touched.”
Her throat tightened.
She took his hand herself.
They drove the rest of the way like that.
The next morning, Nikolai found Anton.
He was sitting inside the Red Lion.
Alone.
Victor entered first.
Aliyah followed.
Anton did not look surprised.
“You know.”
Aliyah walked toward him.
“You have approximately ten seconds to start talking.”
Anton sighed.
“Caleb and Denise met when she was twenty-one.”
Aliyah’s knees weakened.
Victor pulled out a chair.
She refused to sit.
Anton continued.
“Caleb was different then.”
“They always are in stories like this.”
“He was ambitious. Manipulative. But not yet what he became.”
“My mother loved him?”
“Yes.”
Aliyah’s eyes burned.
“Did he love her?”
Anton hesitated.
“Yes.”
Somehow that answer hurt worse.
“What happened?”
“Denise became pregnant.”
Anton looked at Victor.
“Caleb was beginning work with Gabriel’s network. He knew family could become leverage.”
Aliyah laughed bitterly.
“So he left.”
“Denise left him.”
That stopped her.
“She discovered what he was doing. Money laundering. Smuggling. Bribery.”
Anton leaned forward.
“She told Caleb she would rather raise you alone than let you grow up believing men like him were normal.”
Aliyah could almost hear her mother saying it.
“She changed hospitals. Used her mother’s surname in some records. Caleb stayed away.”
“Until Saint Agnes.”
“Yes.”
“When Mom treated Elena.”
Anton nodded.
“That night reconnected everything.”
Victor frowned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Caleb would have killed me.”
“You had twelve years.”
“I had twelve years of cowardice.”
Victor had no response to that.
Aliyah finally sat.
“Did Caleb order Mom’s death?”
Anton’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know Reed did it.”
“On whose order?”
“Gabriel told Reed to silence her. Caleb…”
Anton stopped.
“What?”
“Caleb argued against it.”
Aliyah stared.
“He tried to save her?”
“I said he argued.”
Anton’s voice hardened.
“He did not warn Denise. He did not protect her. He chose his organization over your mother.”
Aliyah looked down.
“So he didn’t pull the trigger.”
“No.”
“He just let it happen.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Victor stood behind her.
Not touching.
Present.
Aliyah whispered, “Why watch me afterward?”
“Guilt. Paranoia. Control.”
Anton shrugged sadly.
“Probably all three.”
Victor’s phone vibrated.
A message.
Caleb.
COME ALONE WITH ALIYAH.
NO WEAPONS.
OLD SAINT AGNES.
MIDNIGHT.
Aliyah looked over his shoulder.
“The hospital.”
Saint Agnes had closed six years earlier.
The building awaited demolition.
Victor immediately said, “No.”
Aliyah stood.
“Of course we’re going.”
“He may be your father.”
“He’s also the reason someone shot at our wedding.”
“That strengthens my argument.”
“We need answers.”
“I need you alive.”
She stared at him.
Victor sighed.
“I heard it.”
“Heard what?”
“My vows.”
Aliyah’s anger softened.
Victor looked miserable.
“I promised not to decide for you.”
“Yes.”
“I already hate marriage.”
She laughed despite herself.
“Good.”
At eleven fifty that night, they entered Saint Agnes.
Nikolai and federal agents remained several blocks away.
Victor was technically unarmed.
Technically.
Aliyah refused to ask how many knives were hidden beneath his coat.
The abandoned emergency department smelled of dust and old plaster.
Caleb waited inside trauma room four.
He looked nothing like Aliyah imagined her father.
No warmth rushed through her.
No recognition.
He was simply the man from photographs.
Silver hair.
Dark coat.
Cold eyes.
But when he saw Aliyah, something shifted.
“Denise’s eyes.”
Aliyah felt sick.
“Don’t.”
Caleb nodded.
“You have every right to hate me.”
“I didn’t come for permission.”
Victor remained beside her.
Caleb looked at their joined hands.
“So you married him.”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“What do you want?”
Caleb’s gaze returned to Aliyah.
“To finish what Denise started.”
He placed a folder on an old hospital bed.
Inside were financial documents.
Names.
Dates.
Accounts.
“Evidence against yourself?” Victor asked.
“Yes.”
Aliyah frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I’m dying.”
Silence.
Caleb smiled faintly.
“Pancreatic cancer.”
Victor showed no reaction.
Aliyah did.
Not grief.
Shock.
Caleb continued.
“I have months.”
“And that magically gave you a conscience?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You did.”
Aliyah laughed bitterly.
“You stole eight million dollars in my name.”
“To draw Victor toward the evidence.”
“You could have mailed it.”
“I needed to know whether he would protect the foundation or you.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“You engineered a criminal investigation to test me?”
“Yes.”
“You are insane,” Aliyah said.
Caleb nodded.
“Probably.”
He pushed the folder toward her.
“Everything is there. Every surviving member of Gabriel’s network.”
“Why me?”
“Because Victor might use it to punish.”
Caleb looked at her.
“You might use it to end things.”
Aliyah stared at the papers.
Then at the man responsible for so much damage.
“You don’t get redemption because you’re dying.”
Caleb’s face tightened.
“I know.”
“You don’t get to be my father now.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get forgiveness.”
His eyes lowered.
“I know.”
That answer stole some of her anger.
Not enough.
Never enough.
Then footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Victor turned.
Caleb’s face changed.
“I didn’t bring anyone.”
Gunfire erupted.
Victor pushed Aliyah behind the hospital bed.
Caleb reached inside his coat.
Aliyah stared.
“You said no weapons!”
Victor pulled a knife.
“So did he.”
Men entered through both doors.
Not Caleb’s.
Anton appeared behind them.
Holding a gun.
Victor froze.
Anton looked at Caleb.
May you like
“Sorry, brother.”
Then aimed directly at Aliyah.
