Chapter 8 — My Father's Voice
Chapter 8 — My Father's Voice
My father's voice was the last thing I heard before the system went dark.
Not his face.
Not his hands.
Not even the sound of his breathing.
Only his voice.
A broken whisper coming through a hospital phone.
"The original creator is alive."
Then silence.
I stood in the middle of Northstar's hidden control room, staring at the black screens.
Every monitor that had displayed the network had gone dark.
Richard stood frozen near the doorway.
Celeste was crying silently.
Victoria looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath her.
I looked at them one by one.
"What does 'original creator active' mean?"
Nobody answered.
I turned toward Richard.
"You know."
He swallowed.
"I suspected."
"Don't."
My voice surprised even me.
It was calm.
Almost cold.
"I am done accepting answers that begin with 'I suspected.'"
Richard looked away.
"Your grandfather created Meridian."
"You told me that."
"But you misunderstood."
"Then explain it."
Richard took a breath.
"Meridian wasn't supposed to survive him."
I frowned.
"What happened?"
"Your grandfather built the organization to protect the Blackwell family from financial attacks. It began as a private intelligence network."
"Then?"
"It expanded."
"Into crime."
"Into influence."
"Into corruption."
Richard nodded.
"Eventually, people stopped working for the Blackwells."
"They worked for Meridian."
"Yes."
"And my grandfather lost control?"
Richard hesitated.
"No."
I stared at him.
"He never lost control."
The words made my skin crawl.
"Then who's the man in the hospital?"
Richard looked at me.
"His name is Adrian Cross."
I froze.
I knew that name.
Everyone in my family knew it.
Adrian Cross had been my grandfather's closest friend.
His business partner.
His attorney.
His shadow.
He had been photographed beside my grandfather at nearly every major Blackwell event.
And according to the records...
he had died fifteen years ago.
"What happened to him?"
Richard's voice dropped.
"He disappeared."
"That's not the same as dying."
"No."
"Who said he was dead?"
Richard didn't answer.
I already knew.
"Evelyn."
He nodded.
I turned toward Celeste.
"You knew?"
She wiped her eyes.
"My mother told me he was dead."
"Did you believe her?"
"I did."
"Until when?"
"Until tonight."
I looked at Victoria.
"And you?"
She shook her head.
"I never knew Adrian survived."
"Then why did my father know?"
Victoria looked toward the hospital.
"Because your father spent twenty-three years looking for him."
We drove to the hospital without speaking.
The city passed outside the windows in streaks of light.
I couldn't stop thinking about the system.
I had accepted control.
For the first time, the Blackwell network belonged to me.
Or so I thought.
But the warning remained in my mind.
ORIGINAL CREATOR ACTIVE.
My grandfather had created Meridian.
Adrian had apparently survived.
And my father knew.
Which meant my father had spent decades preparing me for a war he had never been allowed to fight openly.
When we reached the hospital, the security guard at the entrance stopped us.
"Identification."
Victoria showed hers.
The guard shook his head.
"Not you."
He looked at me.
"Miss Blackwell."
"Yes."
"You need to come with me."
Victoria stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No."
The guard's hand moved toward his radio.
"Mr. Blackwell gave instructions."
My heart stopped.
"My father?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"Operating recovery."
"Is he stable?"
The guard hesitated.
"He's awake."
Relief rushed through me.
Then he added:
"But he wants to see you alone."
Victoria objected.
"No."
I raised my hand.
"It's okay."
She looked at me.
"Emma."
"If something happens, call the police."
Richard laughed softly.
I turned.
"What?"
"Police?"
He shook his head.
"That's the one institution you should never trust with this."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because half of them are already on Meridian's payroll."
I didn't know whether to believe him.
Then I remembered the ledger.
Judges.
Police.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Maybe he was telling the truth.
Maybe that was the worst part.
My father's room was dim.
Machines beeped softly.
A single lamp illuminated his face.
He looked older than he had an hour earlier.
Much older.
There was a bandage across his chest.
A monitor traced his heartbeat.
He turned his head when I entered.
"Emma."
I closed the door.
"Dad."
He smiled.
"Come here."
I walked toward him.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I sat beside his bed.
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You abandoned me."
"Yes."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"Yes."
"You let my aunt raise me."
His eyes closed.
"Yes."
I waited for an explanation.
None came.
"Why?"
He opened his eyes.
"Because I failed."
"At what?"
"Protecting you."
I shook my head.
"You didn't even try."
He looked hurt.
But I didn't care.
"You could have found me."
"I did."
"What?"
"I watched you."
My breath caught.
"What?"
"From a distance."
"When?"
"Your first day of school."
I stared at him.
"I was there."
"You?"
He nodded.
"Across the street."
I remembered that day.
A man standing beside a black car.
I had forgotten his face.
I remembered the umbrella.
My mother had held my hand.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because there were two men watching your school."
"Who?"
"Meridian."
I looked away.
He continued.
"I wanted to run to you."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because your mother stopped me."
"She told you not to?"
"She said if I approached you, they would follow me."
I felt tears forming.
"Did she love me?"
His expression softened.
"More than anything."
"Then why did she leave me?"
"She didn't."
I looked at him.
"She was forced."
"By Evelyn?"
"Partly."
"By Adrian?"
He nodded.
I went still.
"So Adrian Cross was behind it."
"Not alone."
"Who else?"
My father hesitated.
"Your grandfather."
I stared.
"He's dead."
"Yes."
"Then how?"
"He left instructions."
I didn't understand.
My father reached toward the bedside drawer.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
The same type my mother had used.
He handed it to me.
"Listen."
I pressed play.
Static.
Then my grandfather's voice.
Deep.
Measured.
Cold.
"Daniel, if you're listening to this, then I am dead."
I froze.
My father looked away.
The recording continued.
"Do not trust Evelyn."
My father's jaw tightened.
"Do not trust Adrian."
I looked at him.
"Most importantly, do not trust the trust."
I stopped the recording.
"What does that mean?"
My father looked at me.
"The trust isn't what you think."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
I pressed play again.
My grandfather continued.
"The Blackwell Trust was designed to conceal ownership."
"Ownership of what?"
"The real Blackwell fortune."
I frowned.
"Not the company?"
"No."
"Then what?"
The recording crackled.
"Something older."
I looked at my father.
"Older than the company?"
He nodded.
My grandfather's voice continued.
"Gold."
I stopped.
"Gold?"
My father nodded.
"Your family fortune began before Hale & Hart."
"How?"
"Your great-grandfather acquired mines."
"Where?"
"South America."
I stared.
"What does that have to do with Meridian?"
"Everything."
The recording continued.
"The mines produced more than gold."
I felt a chill.
"What else?"
My grandfather's voice dropped.
"Documents."
I frowned.
"Documents?"
"Records of every transaction. Every government. Every person paid. Every shipment."
I looked at my father.
"The ledger."
"Yes."
"But the ledger was in the chapel."
"That was one ledger."
My stomach dropped.
"How many?"
My father answered.
"Seven."
I stared.
"Seven?"
"Seven original ledgers."
"Where are they?"
"Hidden."
"Where?"
"Your grandfather divided them."
"Why?"
"Because he knew one person could never be trusted with all of them."
I thought about Adrian.
Evelyn.
Richard.
Nathan.
"Who has them?"
My father looked at me.
"That's why I needed you to activate the trust."
I leaned closer.
"The trust locates the ledgers?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"It identifies the people who possess them."
I stared.
Suddenly the system made sense.
Meridian wasn't simply an organization.
It was a map.
A network.
A way of tracking every person connected to the Blackwell fortune.
And I had just activated it.
"How many people does it identify?"
"Seven."
"Who?"
My father looked at me.
"The first is Adrian."
"Where?"
"New York."
"Second?"
"Unknown."
"Third?"
"Unknown."
"Then how do we find them?"
My father smiled weakly.
"You don't."
I frowned.
"They find you."
A knock came at the door.
My father immediately stiffened.
"Who?"
No answer.
The door opened.
A nurse entered.
"Mr. Blackwell, you have a visitor."
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"Your mother."
I stood.
"Mom?"
The nurse nodded.
"She said it's urgent."
I opened the door.
My mother was standing in the hallway.
She looked terrified.
Not worried.
Terrified.
"Emma."
"What happened?"
She grabbed my arm.
"We need to leave."
"Why?"
"Now."
"Why?"
She looked into the room.
Then whispered:
"Because your father isn't safe here."
My father shouted:
"Get out!"
My mother turned.
"What?"
His face had gone pale.
"Emma, get your mother out."
A gunshot cracked through the hallway.
The nurse dropped.
My mother screamed.
I pulled her to the floor.
Another shot shattered the glass door.
My father tried to get out of bed.
"Stay down!"
Three men entered the hallway.
Black suits.
Silenced weapons.
My mother grabbed my hand.
"Run!"
We moved through the side corridor.
Victoria met us.
"What happened?"
"Attack."
She didn't ask questions.
We ran.
Behind us, alarms began screaming.
The hospital lights flickered.
Then every screen in the corridor turned on.
A man's face appeared.
Adrian Cross.
Older.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then spoke.
"Emma."
I stopped.
My mother pulled me.
"Don't listen."
But I couldn't move.
Adrian smiled.
"Your father told you about the ledgers."
My heart pounded.
"He's lying."
Adrian continued.
"He has always lied to you."
I stared at the screen.
"Why?"
"Because he wants you to become the owner of Meridian."
My mother whispered:
"He's manipulating you."
Adrian smiled.
"Ask your father why he killed your grandfather."
My blood froze.
My mother looked at me.
"Don't believe him."
Adrian continued.
"Ask him why he left your mother."
"Ask him why he married her."
"Ask him why the Blackwell Trust was created."
Then his face changed.
The smile disappeared.
"And ask him what happened to your brother."
I stopped breathing.
My brother.
I didn't have a brother.
I had always been an only child.
At least, that's what I had been told.
My mother grabbed me.
"Emma, don't."
I looked at her.
"Did I have a brother?"
She began to cry.
"Yes."
My world tilted.
"What was his name?"
She couldn't answer.
My father appeared at the end of the hallway.
Blood on his hospital gown.
He looked at my mother.
She looked at him.
Then he said:
"His name was Samuel."
I stared.
"Where is he?"
Silence.
My father looked at the screen.
Adrian's face was still there.
Then Adrian spoke.
"He's alive."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
Adrian smiled.
"Come find him."
The screen went black.
I looked at my parents.
Neither spoke.
Finally, my father whispered:
"We thought he was dead."
My mother shook her head.
"No."
My father looked at her.
She whispered:
"I knew."
I felt something inside me break.
"You knew my brother was alive?"
My mother covered her mouth.
"I found out six years ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
She looked at my father.
"Afraid of what Samuel had become."
We escaped through the underground parking garage.
No police.
No reporters.
No sirens.
Only darkness.
Victoria drove.
My mother sat beside me.
My father remained in the back, pale and bleeding.
I couldn't stop thinking about Samuel.
A brother I had never known.
A person who had apparently been erased from my life.
A person Adrian claimed was alive.
I looked at my father through the rearview mirror.
"Tell me everything."
He closed his eyes.
"Samuel was born two years before you."
My heart tightened.
"My brother."
"Yes."
"Why did you hide him?"
"Because Meridian wanted him."
"Why?"
"Because he was the first beneficiary."
I stared.
"What?"
"The trust originally belonged to Samuel."
My mother looked at me.
"Until the accident."
"What accident?"
My father's voice cracked.
"The night Samuel disappeared."
I looked at him.
"And after he disappeared?"
"The trust transferred to you."
I understood.
"That's why my grandfather created the trust."
"No."
My father shook his head.
"That's why your grandfather created the succession clause."
"What happened to Samuel?"
He looked at my mother.
She whispered:
"He was taken."
"By whom?"
Neither answered.
I demanded:
"By whom?"
My father finally said:
"Adrian."
Silence.
Then he added:
"But Samuel wasn't his prisoner for long."
"Why?"
My father looked at me.
"Because Samuel chose to stay."
I stared.
"Why would he do that?"
My father closed his eyes.
"Because he believed Meridian was his birthright."
I felt cold.
My mother took my hand.
"Emma..."
I pulled away.
"No."
She looked at me.
"You lied about my father."
"You lied about my mother."
"You lied about Samuel."
She started crying.
"And now you want me to trust you?"
My father whispered:
"Don't."
I looked at him.
"Don't what?"
"Don't trust either of us."
My heart stopped.
He looked directly at me.
"Your mother and I made the same mistake."
"What mistake?"
"We thought we could control the Blackwells."
He looked toward the dark road.
"We were wrong."
I stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
His voice became barely audible.
"Samuel isn't working for Adrian."
I waited.
"Adrian is working for Samuel."
The car went silent.
Victoria looked at us through the mirror.
My mother covered her face.
And I finally understood why my father had sounded afraid when he told me the truth.
The man who was supposed to be dead wasn't Adrian.
It wasn't my father.
It wasn't my mother.
It was my brother.
Samuel Blackwell.
And somewhere in New York, the first heir to the Blackwell Trust was alive.
Watching me.
Waiting for me to take everything that had once belonged to him.
My phone vibrated.
One new message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
A young man standing in front of the Blackwell estate.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A scar across his cheek.
I stared at the face.
I didn't know him.
But something inside me did.
The message beneath the photograph contained only four words:
Hello, little sister.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
You have something that belongs to me.
