Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Died TwiceAt 7:11 a.m., Marcus ordered the gates sealed.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
He called his private investigator, Daniel Cross, a former FBI financial crimes specialist who had worked for Marcus for nearly a decade.
Daniel arrived twenty minutes later.
He walked into the study carrying a leather case.
"What happened?"
Marcus handed him the photograph.
Daniel studied it.
Then his face changed.
"You recognize the watch?"
"Yes."
"Whose?"
"My brother's."
Daniel looked up.
"Ethan?"
Marcus nodded.
Daniel sat down.
"That's impossible."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because Ethan died."
"You were the one who investigated the accident."
"I did."
"Then tell me exactly what happened."
Daniel hesitated.
Marcus's voice hardened.
"Everything."
Daniel opened his case.
He removed an old file.
"The accident happened at 11:42 p.m. Six years ago. Ethan's boat was found drifting near Seal Rock."
"His body?"
"Recovered two days later."
Marcus stared at him.
"You identified it."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
Marcus's expression changed.
"What?"
"I never personally identified the body."
"Then who did?"
"The medical examiner."
"Based on what?"
"Fingerprints."
Marcus stood.
"Could fingerprints be falsified?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Yes."
The room went silent.
Marcus walked to the window.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I had no reason to suspect fraud."
"Now you do."
Daniel nodded.
"Now I do."
He opened his laptop.
"I've already started checking."
Minutes passed.
Then Daniel stopped typing.
"What?"
"I found something."
He turned the screen around.
An international banking record.
A dormant account had been opened under the name E. Blackwell six years ago.
Marcus stared.
"That's Ethan."
"Maybe."
"The account was opened three weeks after his death."
Daniel nodded.
"And someone has been depositing money into it every month."
"How much?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Between five hundred thousand and two million dollars."
Marcus felt his stomach tighten.
"Where is the money coming from?"
Daniel clicked another file.
"Your companies."
Marcus stared at him.
"What?"
"Someone has been siphoning money from your corporations for years."
"How much?"
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Seventy-three million dollars."
Marcus didn't speak.
Seventy-three million.
For six years.
That meant someone had been stealing from him almost immediately after Ethan's supposed death.
Victoria's gambling debts suddenly seemed insignificant.
She had not been the architect.
She had merely been desperate enough to become involved.
Marcus sat down.
"How did Victoria know about the trust?"
Daniel answered quietly.
"She probably didn't."
"Then who told her?"
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Maybe your brother."
Marcus's phone vibrated.
A message.
No number.
Just six words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT VICTORIA ALONE.
Marcus stared at it.
Then another message appeared.
NOW THEY KNOW YOU'RE LOOKING.
Daniel stood.
"Who are they?"
Before Marcus could answer, the mansion's alarm system screamed.
Every light turned red.
Thorne rushed into the study.
"Movement at the east gate!"
Marcus grabbed his jacket.
"How many?"
"Unknown."
A gunshot cracked through the morning.
Then another.
Glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
Thorne pushed Marcus behind the desk.
"Stay down!"
Security personnel flooded the hallway.
Marcus heard shouting.
Footsteps.
Another gunshot.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Thorne looked toward the corridor.
"I'll handle it."
Marcus stopped him.
"No."
"Sir?"
Marcus grabbed the photograph.
"They're not here for the house."
He looked toward the children's room.
"They're here for Mia."
Marcus ran.
The hallway seemed endless.
He reached the nursery.
The door was open.
The crib was empty.
Marcus's heart stopped.
"No."
He rushed inside.
The room was destroyed.
A chair overturned.
Curtains ripped down.
The window shattered.
Mia's stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
Marcus dropped to his knees.
"No, no, no..."
Thorne entered behind him.
"Sir!"
Marcus turned.
"Find them!"
Security teams spread through the mansion.
Then Marcus heard something.
A faint sound.
Crying.
Not from the nursery.
From inside the wall.
He stared at the fireplace.
A hidden door stood open.
Behind it was a narrow service passage.
Marcus stepped inside.
"Mia!"
No answer.
Then a tiny voice.
"Daddy!"
Marcus ran.
At the end of the passage, Mia stood holding the newborn.
She was terrified.
But alive.
And beside her stood a man.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Silver watch.
Marcus stopped.
The man slowly turned.
For six years, Marcus had imagined his brother's face only in photographs.
Now he saw it alive.
Older.
Harder.
Scarred across one cheek.
Ethan stared at him.
"Hello, Marcus."
Marcus couldn't breathe.
His brother smiled without warmth.
"You finally found me."
Marcus's hand tightened into a fist.
"You died."
Ethan looked toward Mia.
"No."
He looked back at Marcus.
"I disappeared."
Then the mansion lights went out.
And somewhere outside, a vehicle engine roared to life.
Ethan grabbed Mia's hand.
"You're coming with me."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Let her go."
Ethan's eyes hardened.
"If you want your children alive, you will listen."
Marcus stared at the man who had haunted his dreams for six years.
His dead brother.
His living enemy.
And possibly the only person who knew the truth about their father's secret.
Then Ethan whispered:
"Victoria wasn't trying to steal your money."
May you like
Marcus froze.
"She was trying to warn you."
