Chapter 10 — The Trap They Set for Connor
Chapter 10 — The Trap They Set for Connor
The message arrived at 4:17 in the morning.
Your father is alive.
I read it three times.
Then another message appeared.
If you want to see him, come to Pier 44. Alone.
Amy woke when I stood.
"Connor?"
I turned toward her.
She saw my face and immediately understood that something had happened.
"What is it?"
I handed her the phone.
She read the messages.
Then she looked at me.
"You're not going."
"I have to."
"No."
"Amy—"
"We've spent the last two days discovering that every person who told you they were protecting you was lying."
She stood.
"And now a stranger sends you a message telling you your father is alive and wants you to come alone?"
"I don't believe it."
"Then why are you going?"
"Because if there's even a chance..."
She stopped me.
"Then we go together."
I looked at her.
"The message said alone."
"And that's exactly why I'm coming."
I almost smiled.
My wife had never been afraid of my family.
She had been afraid of losing me to them.
There was a difference.
"All right."
She took my hand.
"But we're not walking into that place blind."
Victor didn't like the plan.
When I showed him the messages, he immediately called the number.
It was disconnected.
"Trap," he said.
"I know."
"Then don't go."
"I have to."
Victor looked at Amy.
She nodded.
"He's going."
Victor sighed.
"Then at least take this."
He handed me a small recorder.
"Your father used these."
"What is it?"
"A device that records continuously."
I put it in my coat.
Victor lowered his voice.
"Whatever happens at Pier 44, don't trust anyone who claims they came to help you."
"Even if it's my father?"
"Especially then."
At six in the morning, we drove toward the waterfront.
The snow had stopped.
The sky was gray.
Pier 44 had been abandoned for years.
The old warehouses still stood along the river, their windows broken, their walls blackened by the fire that had supposedly killed my father.
I stopped the car.
Amy looked out the window.
"This is where it happened?"
"Yes."
She took my hand.
"Then let's find out what really happened."
We entered through a side door.
The warehouse smelled of wet wood and rust.
Every step echoed.
I called out.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Then a voice came from somewhere above us.
"Connor."
I froze.
I knew that voice.
My father's voice.
My heart stopped.
"Who is that?"
A light switched on.
A man stood on the second-floor walkway.
Older.
Thinner.
His hair almost completely gray.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
My father's eyes.
I couldn't breathe.
"Connor."
I whispered:
"Dad?"
The man looked at me.
Then he said:
"Don't come any closer."
Amy grabbed my arm.
My father looked at her.
"Who's she?"
"My wife."
He stared at me.
"You got married?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Three years ago."
His expression changed.
He looked almost heartbroken.
"I missed everything."
I took one step forward.
"You were alive."
"Yes."
"All these years?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked toward the warehouse floor.
"Because I had no choice."
"You could have contacted me."
"I tried."
"When?"
"Twice."
"I never got anything."
"Because Daniel intercepted them."
I felt anger rise.
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
My father laughed bitterly.
"Because I was the police."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Not literally."
He came down the stairs.
"Your grandfather built this family through legitimate businesses."
He paused.
"Then people started asking for favors."
"And Dad?"
"I tried to undo it."
"That's why Daniel came in."
"Yes."
"And the fire?"
My father's expression hardened.
"Daniel wanted the ledger."
"Did he start the fire?"
"Yes."
"Did he kill anyone?"
He looked away.
"Not that night."
I felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
My father looked directly at me.
"Someone else was there."
"Who?"
Before he could answer, the warehouse doors slammed shut.
Amy turned.
"We're locked in."
My father looked toward the ceiling.
His face changed.
"Get down."
A gunshot exploded.
Glass shattered above us.
I pulled Amy behind a concrete pillar.
My father disappeared into the shadows.
Then the lights came on.
Daniel stood on the opposite walkway.
He was holding a gun.
"You should have stayed home."
I stared at him.
"You set this up."
"Of course."
I looked at my father.
"You knew?"
My father shook his head.
"No."
Daniel laughed.
"Thomas doesn't know anything."
He looked at me.
"But you do."
"What?"
"You know where the ledger is."
I realized the truth.
He hadn't brought me here to kill me.
He wanted information.
The safe.
The documents.
The ledger.
Everything.
"You don't have the ledger."
Daniel smiled.
"No."
He pointed at my father.
"But he does."
My father's face went pale.
Daniel continued.
"Your father hid it before the fire."
"Where?"
Silence.
Daniel looked at me.
"That's what we're going to find out."
The warehouse doors opened.
Several men entered.
They surrounded us.
One of them grabbed Amy.
I moved forward.
"Touch her and—"
Daniel laughed.
"You still think you're in control."
He looked at Amy.
"She's the leverage."
My father stepped forward.
"Leave her alone."
Daniel smiled.
"Now I know exactly where your weakness is."
My father looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
Then he moved.
Fast.
He grabbed the nearest man's wrist.
A fight broke out.
I tackled another man.
Amy kicked the person holding her.
For several seconds, the warehouse exploded into chaos.
Then a gunshot.
Everyone stopped.
My father stood frozen.
Blood spread across his shirt.
"NO!"
I ran toward him.
He fell into my arms.
Daniel had disappeared.
My father looked at me.
"Don't trust..."
His eyes closed.
"Dad!"
Amy ran toward us.
She pressed her hands against the wound.
"We need an ambulance."
I pulled out my phone.
No signal.
Of course.
It had been a trap from the beginning.
The messages.
The location.
The blocked signal.
Everything.
Daniel hadn't wanted to kill my father.
He wanted us trapped.
And now he had gotten exactly what he wanted.
We found a back exit.
Amy helped my father walk.
I carried him when he couldn't.
We reached the road.
A car was waiting.
Victor.
He had followed us.
"Get in!"
We loaded my father into the back seat.
Victor drove.
Amy applied pressure to the wound.
My father opened his eyes.
"Connor."
"I'm here."
"The ledger..."
"Forget the ledger."
"No."
He grabbed my wrist.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"The ledger isn't the real evidence."
I stared at him.
"What is?"
He looked at Amy.
Then at me.
"Your mother."
I froze.
"What about her?"
"She has the original recording."
"What recording?"
"The night of the fire."
My heart stopped.
"She recorded everything."
My father coughed.
"She thinks Daniel destroyed it."
"Did he?"
"No."
"Where is it?"
My father closed his eyes.
"With the woman you call your mother."
We reached the hospital.
Doctors took my father immediately.
Amy stood beside me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then my phone rang.
Teresa.
I answered.
Her voice was shaking.
"Connor."
"Mom."
"I know what happened."
"How?"
"Daniel called me."
My jaw tightened.
"What did he say?"
"He said you found your father."
"Yes."
"Then you have to leave."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel isn't trying to kill you."
I frowned.
"What?"
"He's trying to make you commit a crime."
Silence.
"He's already sent the police."
My stomach dropped.
"For what?"
"He filed a complaint."
"Against me?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
She started crying.
"Financial fraud."
I looked at Amy.
"What?"
"He claims you stole money from the family foundation."
My mind raced.
"That's impossible."
"I know."
"Then why would he—"
"Because he has documents."
"What documents?"
"Signed agreements."
My blood went cold.
"The forged documents?"
"No."
Her voice broke.
"Your signature is real."
I couldn't speak.
"How?"
"Because he had access to your old contracts."
I looked at Victor.
He was listening.
"Mom, what did Daniel do?"
She whispered:
"He created a debt."
"How much?"
"Twenty-three million dollars."
My heart stopped.
"And he put your name on it."
Victor took the phone from my hand.
"Teresa, listen carefully."
She sounded frightened.
"Who is this?"
"Victor Hale."
Silence.
Then:
"Victor."
"Where is the original contract?"
"I don't know."
"Teresa."
"I swear."
Victor looked at me.
"He needs to know."
She started crying.
"Daniel has it."
"Where?"
"The family office."
"Which one?"
"The old Bradley office."
Victor's expression changed.
"That building was demolished."
"No."
Teresa whispered:
"It was never demolished."
I looked at Victor.
"What does that mean?"
He lowered the phone.
"The old office still exists."
"Where?"
"Under the construction site."
I stared at him.
"Why would Daniel keep it?"
"Because that's where your father stored the original financial records."
I understood.
The trap at Pier 44 had never been about the ledger.
It had been about forcing me to reveal what I knew.
And while I was there, Daniel had been moving the final pieces.
The forged debt.
The stolen accounts.
The hidden contracts.
He wanted to make me look like the criminal.
And he had almost succeeded.
Then the hospital doors opened.
A police officer walked toward us.
"Connor Bradley?"
I stood.
"Yes."
He showed me a document.
"We need you to come with us."
Amy stepped forward.
"Why?"
The officer looked at me.
"You're being investigated for financial fraud and embezzlement."
I stared at the papers.
There it was.
My name.
My signature.
Twenty-three million dollars.
And Daniel's fingerprints were nowhere on the document.
Victor whispered:
"Don't say anything."
I looked at him.
Then at Amy.
She reached for my hand.
I squeezed it.
The officer said:
"Mr. Bradley, you're coming with us."
I nodded.
But before I walked away, my phone vibrated.
One final message.
Daniel thinks the trap is closed.
Then another.
He's wrong.
I looked at the sender.
The number was hidden.
But the name attached to it was visible.
Thomas Bradley.
My father.
And the last message said:
I know who really ordered the fire.
I stopped walking.
Because suddenly, the question wasn't whether Daniel had set the fire.
May you like
It was who had ordered him to do it.
And the answer was someone none of us had suspected.
