Chapter 12 - The Sin Adrian Inherited
Adrian did not defend his father.
"I didn't know about the bomb."
Daniel looked at him.
"I believe you."
Nora did not know whether that made anything better.
Vincent Vale had died four years earlier.
Cancer had ended a man the law never managed to convict.
But his organization did not die with him.
Pike and Elias had divided the old network.
Adrian inherited the public businesses and spent years cutting illegal operations away.
Elias took the hidden routes.
Pike took the money channels.
Daniel's return threatened all of it.
"Where is the drive?" Nora asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"Elias has it."
Adrian swore.
"How do you know?"
"He showed me a photo this morning."
Daniel handed over his phone.
The image showed Adrian's black drive beside that day's newspaper.
Text below:
BRING THE KEY TO PIER 19 AT MIDNIGHT OR EVELYN DIES.
Nora looked at her aunt.
"You're here."
Evelyn gave a tired smile.
"He doesn't know I escaped."
She had gone to Pike for information, been taken by Elias's men, then escaped during a transfer.
The threat was now useless.
But the meeting could still draw Elias out.
Federal agents wanted to run the operation.
Adrian wanted Nora nowhere near it.
Daniel agreed.
That united them for exactly five seconds.
Nora stood.
"No."
Both men spoke at once.
"Nora -"
She held up a hand.
"I am done being the person everyone protects by lying to her."
Daniel looked ashamed.
Adrian looked furious.
"This isn't about lying."
"Then tell me the truth. Do you need me?"
Silence.
Dominic answered.
"Elias expects the key. You are the person he believes has it."
Nora nodded.
"Then I'm going."
At 11:58 p.m., she stepped onto Pier 19 with the brass key around her neck.
Fog covered the water.
A figure appeared at the far end.
Elias Ward.
He smiled.
"You look like your mother."
Then Nora heard a gun cock behind her.
May you like
Daniel whispered, "I'm sorry."
And raised a pistol toward Adrian.
