Chapter 5 - The Betrayal Inside the Harrington Family
Kai moved differently when danger became real.
Everything about him sharpened.
His expression.
His breathing.
The way he positioned himself between me and the tunnel entrance.
Victor drew his weapon.
Another guard covered the rear passage.
Lily was at the Harrington estate with Maria, thank God.
That was the only reason I could think clearly.
Footsteps approached.
Kai held up three fingers.
Two.
One.
The first man entering the chamber never got a clear shot.
Victor knocked his weapon aside.
Kai slammed him against the brick wall.
The second attacker fired.
The bullet hit a metal box.
Documents exploded across the floor.
I ducked.
The fight lasted maybe twenty seconds.
It felt like twenty minutes.
When it ended, one attacker was unconscious.
The other had fled.
Victor’s shoulder was bleeding.
Kai had a cut across his cheek.
I was shaking so badly I could not stand.
Kai came toward me.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Maya.”
“I said no.”
He checked anyway.
Hands on my shoulders.
My arms.
My face.
Then he exhaled.
For one second his forehead touched mine.
Not romantic.
Not exactly.
Just relief.
Then Victor spoke.
“Kai.”
We turned.
The unconscious attacker had a Harrington security badge.
I stared.
“That’s one of yours?”
Kai’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
The man’s name was Owen Blake.
He had worked for Kai for six years.
Which meant the enemy wasn’t outside.
It was already inside the estate.
Kai immediately ordered a complete lockdown.
But when he called the house, nobody answered.
Again.
Nothing.
My heart stopped.
“Lily.”
We ran.
The drive back took seven minutes.
The front gates were open.
Two guards lay on the driveway.
Alive.
Drugged.
Kai burst into the house.
“Lily!”
I ran upstairs.
“Lily!”
Her guest room was empty.
Blankets on the floor.
Window closed.
No blood.
No sign of struggle.
Then I heard laughter downstairs.
Lily’s laughter.
I followed it into the kitchen.
She sat at the island eating ice cream.
Maria stood beside her.
And across from them stood an older woman.
Dark hair streaked with gray.
Green eyes.
Kai entered behind me.
He stopped.
The woman slowly turned.
“Kai.”
His face collapsed.
“Katherine.”
Fifteen years disappeared.
Kai crossed the room.
Then stopped again two feet from her.
Neither moved.
Katherine touched his cheek.
“You got old.”
Kai laughed once through tears.
“So did you.”
Then he pulled her into his arms.
It was not graceful.
It was desperate.
He held her like he was afraid she might vanish again.
Katherine cried into his shoulder.
Lily watched while eating ice cream.
I cried too.
Eventually Kai stepped back.
“You knew someone was inside my security.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Katherine’s expression changed.
“Victor.”
I spun.
“No.”
Kai stared.
“He was shot.”
“Conveniently.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I hope so.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“She isn’t.”
Victor stood there.
His injured shoulder wrapped.
Weapon lowered.
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
Victor looked exhausted.
“I’ve been feeding Katherine information for eight years.”
Kai froze.
“What?”
“She contacted me after your father died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she made me swear.”
Kai stepped toward him.
“My sister was alive.”
“I know.”
“You watched me visit her grave.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
“You watched me drink myself unconscious every anniversary.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“I was protecting her.”
Kai grabbed him by the jacket.
“From me?”
Katherine stepped between them.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed whatever anger had been holding Kai upright.
He released Victor.
Katherine looked at her brother.
“I didn’t know who you had become.”
Kai stared at her.
“I became exactly what you feared.”
“No.”
“You didn’t call.”
“I watched.”
“That’s worse.”
“I watched you push Vincent’s people out. I watched you shut down trafficking routes. I watched you replace your father’s captains.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“You were monitoring me?”
“For years.”
“And still didn’t call?”
Katherine’s voice broke.
“Because Vincent was still alive.”
She explained.
Vincent survived a shooting eleven years earlier and staged his death.
He moved through Europe under false identities.
His network remained active.
Katherine discovered he planned to return when the old Harrington structure weakened.
“So why now?” I asked.
She looked at Lily.
“Because of the locket.”
Katherine had given it to Evelyn shortly after disappearing.
Evelyn later gave it to me without knowing the storage device inside had become the last uncorrupted copy of evidence against Vincent.
“Why give it to a child?” I demanded.
“She didn’t.”
Katherine looked ashamed.
“I gave it to Evelyn to hide. I never expected her to pass it to you.”
“Why did she?”
“Because she was dying.”
The words softened my anger.
“She wanted you to have something from your past.”
I touched the locket now lying on the kitchen counter.
Lily had taken it off.
Kai asked the question none of us wanted answered.
“Where is Vincent?”
Katherine looked toward the window.
“Closer than you think.”
“How close?”
“Harrington County.”
My blood chilled.
“He came back two months ago.”
Kai’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“To recover the evidence and kill anyone who knows he’s alive.”
“Then why hasn’t he killed you?”
“He needs me.”
“For what?”
Katherine looked at me.
“For Maya.”
I stared.
“What does he want from me?”
“You are his only child.”
“No.”
“Biologically.”
“He murdered my mother.”
“Yes.”
“He tried to erase me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would he care now?”
Katherine swallowed.
“Because Vincent has cancer.”
The room fell silent.
“He needs a bone marrow donor.”
I actually laughed.
The cruelty of it seemed too absurd.
“He thinks I’ll save him?”
“He thinks blood creates obligation.”
“He’s wrong.”
“Yes.”
Kai’s expression turned murderous.
“He won’t get near her.”
Katherine continued.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“Vincent’s money is locked inside a trust Richard created years ago. After Vincent’s legal death, control transferred through bloodline clauses.”
“To whom?”
She looked directly at me.
“You.”
I stared.
“How much?”
“Approximately ninety million dollars.”
I almost dropped the glass in my hand.
“No.”
“Most of it is dirty.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Vincent does.”
Kai paced.
“So he needs Maya alive long enough to access the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And Lily?”
Katherine’s expression darkened.
“Leverage.”
My whole body went cold.
Kai turned to me.
“He won’t get her.”
Katherine stepped closer.
“Vincent knows how you think, Kai.”
“No.”
“He learned from your father.”
“So did I.”
“That’s why he expects you to protect the estate.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
Katherine continued.
“He won’t attack here.”
“Then where?”
She looked at Lily.
“School.”
My heart stopped.
Lily frowned.
“But I don’t have school tomorrow.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“What?” I asked.
“Teacher day.”
I almost laughed with relief.
Then Lily added,
“But I have my dentist appointment.”
I froze.
The appointment.
Ten in the morning.
Hartford.
Made months earlier.
Kai looked at me.
“Who knows?”
“The office.”
“Anyone else?”
“I wrote it on the family calendar.”
We all turned toward the wall beside the refrigerator.
The calendar was gone.
The paper had been ripped down.
Someone inside the estate had taken it.
Kai immediately ordered every vehicle checked.
Every phone traced.
Every employee questioned.
And at 2:13 a.m., security found the missing page.
On Owen Blake.
Along with a photograph.
The picture showed Lily entering the dentist’s building three months earlier.
On the back were four handwritten words.
TOMORROW. TEN A.M. TAKE HER.
Kai looked at me.
“We cancel.”
Katherine shook her head.
“No.”
I stared.
“You want me to take my daughter into a kidnapping?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We make Vincent believe she’ll be there.”
Kai understood first.
A trap.
For the first time, we had a chance to stop running.
May you like
But traps only work if everyone inside them can be trusted.
And by sunrise, we discovered someone else had already warned Vincent.
