Chapter 13 — The Fire at Pier 44
Chapter 13 — The Fire at Pier 44
The clock changed.
12:00 A.M.
The day of my wedding had arrived.
Victor was bleeding on the floor.
Celeste was gone.
And somewhere in Chicago, the people who had spent twenty-seven years manipulating my family were waiting for me to make the one mistake they had planned for.
I looked at the note again.
IF YOU WANT CELESTE ALIVE, COME TO THE WEDDING.
Ewan pressed a towel against Victor's wound.
"He's alive."
"How bad?"
"Bad."
Victor grabbed my sleeve.
His eyes opened.
"Don't go."
I looked down at him.
"They have Celeste."
"That's what they want."
"I know."
"Then don't give them what they want."
I stared at the blood on his shirt.
"Where would they take her?"
Victor's breathing became shallow.
"Pier 44."
The words seemed to stop the room.
Ewan looked at him.
"You're sure?"
Victor nodded.
"That's where everything started."
I looked toward the window.
Snow covered the city.
Six years ago, Ewan had disappeared there.
Six years ago, Victor had supposedly died.
Six years ago, a fire had erased evidence.
And tonight...
they had taken Celeste there.
I picked up my coat.
Ewan stood.
"I'm coming."
"No."
He stared at me.
"You've said that too many times."
"I need you here."
"For Victor?"
"For the family."
Ewan shook his head.
"You still think there is something left to protect."
I looked at him.
"There is."
He frowned.
"You."
The Drive
We drove through Chicago without headlights.
Ewan took side streets.
No police.
No cameras.
No major roads.
Every few minutes, he checked the mirror.
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
"We haven't been followed."
"That's good."
"No."
He looked at me.
"It's too easy."
I understood.
They wanted us to reach Pier 44.
They wanted us to believe we were getting there unnoticed.
The entire route was a corridor they had prepared.
Ewan's phone vibrated.
A message.
He read it.
Then handed me the phone.
A photograph.
Celeste.
She was sitting in a chair inside an abandoned warehouse.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
But she was alive.
Underneath the photograph was another message.
BRING THE ORIGINAL TRUST.
I looked at Ewan.
"What original trust?"
He stared at me.
"The one inside your DNA."
I shook my head.
"That isn't something I can carry."
"Maybe they don't need you to."
He looked at the photograph again.
"Maybe they need you to die."
Pier 44
The warehouse appeared through the snow.
Dark.
Abandoned.
Silent.
The exact place where Ewan had supposedly died.
I parked fifty yards away.
We walked the rest.
The smell reached us first.
Burned wood.
Oil.
Ash.
Even after six years, the place smelled like fire.
Ewan stopped.
"I remember."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Everything."
He closed his eyes.
"I remember the night."
I waited.
He opened them.
"I wasn't supposed to survive."
Six Years Earlier
Ewan had arrived at Pier 44 at 11:13 p.m.
Victor was waiting.
Anthony was already there.
And Elena was standing near the loading doors.
Ewan had believed she was his mother.
He had believed Victor had brought her there to protect him.
He was wrong.
Anthony walked toward him.
"You found the ledger."
Ewan nodded.
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"Safe."
Anthony smiled.
"Nothing is safe."
He raised his hand.
Two men grabbed Ewan.
Victor stepped forward.
"Let him go."
Anthony laughed.
"You still think you can order me around?"
Victor's face hardened.
"This ends tonight."
"No."
Anthony looked toward Elena.
"Tonight begins."
She stepped forward.
Her hands were shaking.
Ewan looked at her.
"Mom?"
She couldn't meet his eyes.
Anthony smiled.
"Tell him."
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Ewan froze.
Anthony turned toward Victor.
"You wanted the boy alive."
Victor nodded.
"Then you'll have to sacrifice something."
"What?"
"Your son."
Victor's expression changed.
Anthony pointed toward the gasoline barrels.
"Choose."
The Fire
I looked at Ewan.
"What happened next?"
He stared into the darkness.
"Mom lit the match."
I stopped.
"Elena?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Anthony had a gun against your head."
I felt sick.
"What?"
Ewan looked at me.
"Anthony had men watching you from the street."
"He threatened to kill me?"
"He said he'd do it immediately if she refused."
I remembered the years of unexplained danger.
The cars.
The strangers.
The calls.
I had thought they were enemies.
They were leverage.
Against her.
Against Ewan.
Against Victor.
Against all of us.
Ewan continued.
"She dropped the match."
The flames spread.
"Victor attacked Anthony."
The warehouse erupted.
"People started running."
Ewan looked down.
"And then someone locked the doors."
"Who?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
The Man in the Fire
We entered the warehouse.
The floor was blackened.
Broken machinery covered the walls.
Ewan walked slowly.
"Here."
He stopped.
"This is where I fell."
I looked down.
A small metal object was embedded in the floor.
Ewan picked it up.
A key.
Stamped with a single letter.
G.
"Gabriel?"
He nodded.
"My father."
"Why would his key be here?"
"Because he was here."
I stared.
"You saw him?"
"No."
"But you remember the key."
"I remember someone pulling me from the fire."
"Who?"
Ewan's expression changed.
"I thought it was Victor."
"Wasn't it?"
"No."
"Then who?"
He looked toward the far end of the warehouse.
"Gabriel."
The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
A voice came from the darkness.
"Finally."
We turned.
A man stepped into the light.
Older.
Gray-haired.
A scar across his cheek.
But unmistakable.
Gabriel Mercer.
My father.
My real father.
I couldn't speak.
Ewan raised his weapon.
Gabriel smiled.
"Put it down."
Ewan didn't move.
"You're dead."
"I've been called worse."
I stared at him.
"You left me."
Gabriel's expression broke.
"No."
"You disappeared."
"I was forced to."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I needed you to believe it."
"Why?"
"Because the people who wanted you dead were watching."
I stepped toward him.
"Who?"
Gabriel looked at Ewan.
"Your grandfather."
"Evelyn?"
He shook his head.
"Not Evelyn."
"Then who?"
Gabriel looked toward the burning remains of the warehouse.
"The man who built the first trust."
I frowned.
"Anthony?"
"No."
"Victor?"
"No."
Gabriel whispered:
"Your mother's father."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"He's dead."
Gabriel smiled sadly.
"That's what everyone believes."
Celeste
A gun clicked behind me.
"Don't move."
I recognized the voice.
Nathaniel.
I turned slowly.
He stood above the stairs.
Celeste was beside him.
Her wrists were bound.
Her face was bruised.
Nathaniel pressed a gun against her head.
"Bring me the trust."
I looked at him.
"I don't have it."
"You do."
"Where?"
"Inside your blood."
He smiled.
"Your father was clever."
Gabriel stepped forward.
Nathaniel pointed the weapon at him.
"Stay back."
Gabriel stopped.
Nathaniel looked at me.
"Do you know why your father disappeared?"
"Tell me."
"Because he discovered what you really are."
I said nothing.
"You're not simply the heir."
"What am I?"
Nathaniel smiled.
"The key."
The Original Trust
Nathaniel explained.
Twenty-seven years earlier, Evelyn had created a trust designed to survive every member of the family.
No single person could control it.
No single signature could transfer it.
No forged document could destroy it.
It required three things.
The blood of the heir.
The testimony of the protector.
And the destruction of the false lineage.
I understood.
"The protector is Celeste."
Nathaniel nodded.
"The blood is me."
"Yes."
"The false lineage..."
He smiled.
"Your family."
I looked at Gabriel.
"Then who is the real heir?"
Gabriel answered.
"You."
Nathaniel laughed.
"Not quite."
He pointed at Celeste.
"The heir is the child."
I froze.
"What child?"
Nathaniel smiled.
"Julian."
The Child
My mind raced.
Julian.
The four-year-old child Delia had hidden.
The child whose DNA had been used to create an heir.
The child everyone wanted.
I looked at Gabriel.
"Is he mine?"
Gabriel nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why did you say I wasn't the heir?"
"Because the trust changed."
"When?"
"Four years ago."
"Why?"
"Because you became a father."
Everything became clear.
The trust wasn't designed to pass to me.
It was designed to pass through me.
To Julian.
Nathaniel wanted the child because whoever controlled Julian would control everything.
Mara.
The empire.
The trust.
Chicago.
All of it.
Celeste's Betrayal
I looked at Celeste.
She was crying.
"Nathaniel told me Julian was dead."
I stared.
"What?"
"He told me the child had died."
"Did you believe him?"
"I had no reason not to."
She looked at Gabriel.
"Until tonight."
Gabriel nodded.
Celeste turned toward me.
"I wasn't trying to marry you for money."
"I know."
"I was trying to get close enough to protect Julian."
My throat tightened.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know who was listening."
Nathaniel smiled.
"She knew enough."
Celeste looked at him.
"You lied to me."
"I protected you."
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"You used me."
Nathaniel raised the gun.
"Just like everyone else."
The Second Fire
Suddenly, gasoline began pouring from the ceiling.
I looked up.
Pipes.
Old fuel lines.
Nathaniel stepped backward.
Gabriel shouted:
"Run!"
Flames erupted near the entrance.
The warehouse caught fire.
Again.
Just like six years ago.
Ewan grabbed Celeste.
I grabbed Gabriel.
Nathaniel disappeared through the smoke.
"Where's Julian?" I shouted.
Gabriel looked at me.
"With Delia."
"Where?"
"At the hotel."
I turned.
"We have to go."
But Celeste grabbed my arm.
"No."
"What?"
"Look."
She pointed toward the center of the warehouse.
A steel box sat beneath the floor.
The fire was spreading around it.
I recognized the symbol.
The same symbol from the trust.
I ran toward it.
Ewan shouted:
"Connor!"
I pulled the box free.
It was locked.
I tried the key from the floor.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the fingerprint scanner.
I pressed my hand against it.
Green light.
The box opened.
Inside was a single document.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed my mother.
Holding me as a newborn.
Beside her stood Gabriel.
And behind them...
Evelyn.
But there was another person.
A man whose face had been burned away from the photograph.
On the back was written:
THE FOURTH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY.
I stared.
"Who is that?"
Gabriel looked at it.
His face changed.
"That's impossible."
"Who?"
He whispered:
"Your uncle."
I looked at him.
"I don't have an uncle."
Gabriel shook his head.
"That's what they told you."
The Man Behind Everything
A loudspeaker suddenly crackled.
Anthony's voice filled the warehouse.
"You're getting close, Connor."
I turned.
"Where are you?"
His laughter echoed.
"Six years ago, I watched Ewan burn."
Ewan looked toward the ceiling.
"You locked the doors."
"Yes."
"You tried to kill me."
"I needed everyone to believe you were dead."
"Why?"
Anthony's voice became colder.
"Because you discovered the fourth name."
I stared at the photograph.
The burned face.
"Who is he?"
Anthony answered:
"Your uncle."
"Name."
Silence.
Then:
"Adrian."
Gabriel whispered:
"No."
Anthony continued.
"Adrian Mercer."
My blood ran cold.
Gabriel's brother.
Evelyn's son.
The man who had supposedly died before I was born.
The man whose identity had been erased from every record.
"Where is he?"
Anthony laughed.
"You're standing on his grave."
The floor beneath us exploded.
Gabriel threw himself at me.
We hit the ground.
The photograph flew from my hand.
Smoke swallowed the room.
And through the flames...
I saw a figure walking toward us.
A man.
Tall.
Calm.
Untouched by the fire.
He stopped beside the steel box.
He picked up the photograph.
Then he looked directly at me.
His face was almost identical to Gabriel's.
He smiled.
"Hello, nephew."
I couldn't move.
Gabriel whispered:
"Adrian."
The man smiled.
"Your father told you I was dead."
He looked at Gabriel.
"Your father lied."
Then he turned toward me.
"And tomorrow, at your wedding..."
He held up the original trust.
"...Chicago becomes mine."
The fire roared between us.
And somewhere outside the warehouse, sirens began screaming toward Pier 44.
But Adrian didn't run.
He simply smiled.
Because he knew something we didn't.
May you like
The wedding wasn't a trap for me anymore.
It was a trap for everyone.
