Chapter 3 - My Mother Was Taken Because of a Secret She Had Hidden for Twenty Years
We found my mother twelve hours later.
She had been abandoned beside an old roadside motel.
She was frightened but alive.
When I reached her, I fell to my knees.
“Mom.”
She grabbed me.
“Emily.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I was afraid they would kill you too.”
Gabriel stood several feet away.
My mother looked at him.
“You look like your father.”
He stiffened.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“My father knew yours.”
“He did.”
Gabriel's voice became quiet.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I made your father a promise.”
“What promise?”
“To keep Emily away from your world.”
I frowned.
“My world?”
“The Reyes world.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father wanted out,” my mother continued.
“Your father did too.”
“Why?”
“They discovered that the organization wasn't controlled by one family.”
“What does that mean?”
“There was another man.”
“Who?”
“Silas Kane.”
Gabriel went still.
I had heard that name in whispers.
A businessman.
A billionaire.
A man who had no official criminal record.
My mother continued.
“Silas funded both sides.”
“Why?”
“Because conflict made him rich.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“He used your father.”
“Yes.”
“And mine?”
“Yes.”
“Then who killed them?”
My mother looked at us.
“I don't know.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“You do.”
She shook her head.
“I know who gave the order.”
“Who?”
She closed her eyes.
“Your father's brother.”
Gabriel froze.
“My uncle?”
She nodded.
“Victor.”
I had seen that name in the documents.
Victor Reyes.
Gabriel's uncle.
His father's closest adviser.
He had supposedly died years ago.
“He's alive,” my mother whispered.
Gabriel turned pale.
“He has been controlling things from the shadows.”
“How do you know?”
“He contacted me once.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he threatened Emily.”
I stared at her.
“Me?”
“He said if I spoke, you'd die.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“Where is Victor now?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at me.
“But I know what he wants.”
“The ledger.”
“Yes.”
“What ledger?”
“The Black Rose Ledger.”
My mother described it.
A collection of records detailing every illegal financial arrangement, every hidden partnership and every betrayal connected to the Reyes organization.
It wasn't just evidence.
It was leverage.
Whoever controlled it could expose people powerful enough to destroy governments and companies.
“My father hid it,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“And you know where?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then why are they after me?”
“Because your father left a clue only you can understand.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“What clue?”
My mother touched my wrist.
“The bracelet.”
I looked down.
The old silver bracelet my father had given me when I was four.
I'd worn it almost every day of my life.
I had never thought it was anything more than sentimental.
Gabriel examined it.
“There are numbers engraved inside.”
I stared.
I had never noticed.
Five numbers.
“What are they?”
“My father told me never to tell anyone.”
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“You're old enough now.”
“What do they mean?”
She smiled sadly.
“The day your father died.”
I felt tears rise.
03/2/17.
A date.
But it wasn't the date he disappeared.
It was the date something else happened.
Gabriel pulled out his phone.
“My father died March 2.”
I looked at him.
“Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
They died the same day.
Not months apart.
The same day.
My father's death had been reported differently.
Gabriel's father had supposedly died in a car accident.
Two families had been given two different stories.
But perhaps there had only been one event.
“Where were they?”
My mother whispered,
“Warehouse seventeen.”
Gabriel stood.
“That warehouse no longer exists.”
“Not the building,” my mother said.
“The account.”
My eyes widened.
“There are seventeen hidden accounts.”
“Yes.”
“And account three?”
“Your father had access.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“Then we have our first lead.”
That night, we found the account.
It had been untouched for twenty years.
No deposits.
No withdrawals.
But the account contained a message.
A single video.
My father appeared on screen.
I nearly broke down.
“Emily.”
He looked older than I remembered.
“If you're seeing this, then the people I feared have finally found you.”
He paused.
“I need you to understand something.”
His voice trembled.
“I didn't leave you.”
Tears ran down my face.
“I loved you.”
The recording continued.
“I hid the Black Rose Ledger because whoever controls it can destroy the people who murdered your family.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“But the ledger isn't in the bank.”
I leaned closer.
“It is where your life began.”
The video ended.
Gabriel looked at me.
“Where was that?”
May you like
I whispered,
“My grandmother's house.”
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