The words seemed to drain the air from the room.
Mara looked at Thomas.
Then at Peter.
Then at Samuel.
No one corrected him.
That was worse than confirmation.
"You said he was my father's attorney," Mara whispered.
Peter's expression softened.
"I was."
"And Thomas?"
"Your uncle."
Mara's eyes narrowed.
"Both of you."
"Yes."
She looked at Samuel.
"How many lies are there in this family?"
Samuel's answer came quietly.
"Enough to fill every cabinet in this room."
Peter stepped inside.
Rivera raised his weapon again.
Peter glanced at him.
"You won't fire."
"You don't know that."
"I know you."
Peter's gaze settled on Rivera's badge.
"Your father taught you never to shoot a man until you understand what he is protecting."
Rivera's hand tightened.
"My father never met you."
Peter smiled.
"That's where you're wrong."
Thomas moved toward Peter.
"Stay away from her."
Peter looked amused.
"You still think you're protecting Daniel's daughter."
"I am."
"No. You're protecting his mistake."
Mara stepped between them.
"What did my father do?"
Peter's expression became serious.
"He tried to expose the system without understanding why it existed."
"The system stole homes."
"It prevented wars."
Mara stared at him.
"You're calling what you did necessary?"
"I'm saying the world is not divided into innocent people and villains."
Thomas laughed bitterly.
"That's convenient."
Peter looked at him.
"You were willing to become one of the villains to destroy me."
"And I failed."
"Not entirely."
Peter looked at Mara.
"You brought her here."
Thomas's face hardened.
"She came on her own."
"No," Peter said. "Daniel brought her here eleven years ago."
Mara felt a chill.
"My father brought me?"
Peter nodded.
"The warehouse wasn't an accident. He knew the network was watching him. He wanted them to see you."
"Why?"
"Because he needed them to believe you were the final beneficiary."
Mara shook her head.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does if you understand the trust."
Peter walked to Cabinet One.
He did not touch it.
"Your father believed the trust could be used to destroy the network. Every property tied to the twelve children contained a fragment of the evidence. Not paper evidence. Legal evidence. Ownership records, signatures, court transfers, sealed testimony."
Mara understood.
"The properties themselves were the evidence."
"Exactly."
Thomas said, "And Peter used the network to keep them scattered."
"I maintained the separation."
"You buried the truth."
"I prevented the wrong people from finding it."
Mara looked at Peter.
"Who are the wrong people?"
Peter met her eyes.
"People who would use the truth to take control."
"Like you?"
"Especially me."
The answer surprised her.
Peter continued.
"I know what I am."
That honesty unsettled her more than denial would have.
"Then why wait for me?"
"Because the trust could not be opened until you reached the age of control."
Mara stared at him.
"I reached that age years ago."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you come for me?"
"Because Daniel hid the final condition."
Thomas looked at Mara.
"Your father trusted you to find it."
Mara looked at the watch.
"The command."
Peter nodded.
"Not the watch itself."
"What is the command?"
Peter smiled.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a command. It would be an instruction."
Mara felt anger rising.
"You've spent my entire life speaking in riddles."
"Because direct answers get people killed."
"My father died."
"Yes."
"You let him."
Peter's face became still.
"I did not kill Daniel."
Mara stepped closer.
"Then who did?"
Peter looked at Samuel.
Samuel looked away.
Then Peter said, "Ask him."
Mara turned.
"Grandfather."
Samuel's shoulders sagged.
"I told you I didn't kill him."
"Then tell me who did."
Samuel looked at Thomas.
Thomas shook his head.
Peter remained silent.
Finally Samuel said, "Daniel was dying when I saw him."
Mara's voice cracked.
"When?"
"The ninth day."
Her father's recording had said he survived nine days after the hospital.
Samuel continued.
"He was conscious. Weak, but conscious."
"Who was with him?"
Samuel closed his eyes.
"Your mother."
Helen stepped forward.
"I didn't kill him."
"I know," Mara said.
Samuel shook his head.
"You don't know what happened."
"Then tell me."
"The room was locked."
"By whom?"
"Daniel."
Mara frowned.
"Why would he lock himself in?"
"Because someone had already tried to enter."
Peter spoke softly.
"And Daniel knew that person."
Mara turned toward him.
Peter's eyes were fixed on Helen.
"Your father knew his killer."
Helen began to shake.
Mara looked at her.
"Mom."
Helen whispered, "I saw him."
"Who?"
"I saw him leave."
"Who?"
Helen looked toward Peter.
Peter did not react.
Helen's eyes filled with tears.
"It was someone Daniel trusted."
Mara felt her chest tighten.
"Who?"
Helen looked at Samuel.
Then Thomas.
Then Peter.
"No."
Her voice broke.
"It wasn't any of them."
A sudden explosion shook the house.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Rivera grabbed Mara and pulled her behind the cabinets.
Another blast followed.
Peter looked toward the ceiling.
"They've started."
"Who?" Mara asked.
"The people above me."
Mara stared.
"You said you were one of the architects."
Peter nodded.
"I was."
"And there are others."
"Two."
Thomas stepped closer.
"Names."
Peter's eyes moved to the watch.
"One is Malcolm Raye."
Mara's stomach dropped.
"The judge."
"Former judge."
"And the other?"
Peter hesitated.
For the first time since Mara had seen him, he looked afraid.
"Gabriel Mercer."
Mara stared at the photograph.
"The door."
Peter nodded.
"The man who designed the trust."
Another explosion shook the room.
The lights died completely.
Peter reached into his coat.
Thomas raised his weapon.
Peter pulled out a small brass object.
A key.
It bore the same black symbol.
Mara's watch began ticking loudly.
Not normally.
The hands started moving backward.
Everyone noticed.
Peter looked at it.
"Oh."
"What?" Mara asked.
His expression changed.
"Daniel didn't hide the command in the watch."
He looked at Mara.
"He hid it in you."
The watch snapped open by itself.
A tiny compartment beneath the mechanism revealed a strip of paper.
Mara took it.
Only four words were written there.
TRUST THE SECOND SON.
She looked at Thomas.
Peter stared at the message.
Then Peter whispered:
"Daniel knew."
Mara looked between the brothers.
"Knew what?"
Peter's answer was barely audible.
"That Thomas was never the second son."
The corridor outside filled with footsteps.
Thomas grabbed Mara's hand.
"We have to go."
Peter did not stop them.
He only looked at Mara.
"Now you understand why your father was afraid."
Click here to continue reading: PART 16: The Name Beneath the Name
The Arrest Was Supposed to End in Minutes, Until the Woman Asked One Question That Changed Everything
Part 15 of 20
