Chapter 13 - WHAT SARAH KNEWThomas Marsh had a brother.
His name was Jonathan Marsh.
He had been dead for seventeen years.
At least according to the records.
Lily sat at the kitchen table of the Michigan house while Clara searched through old databases on her laptop.
Adrian stood by the window.
Sarah sat opposite Lily.
Evelyn remained near the door.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Clara looked up.
"Jonathan Marsh existed."
Lily waited.
"Born in 1958. Same parents as Thomas."
"Where did he live?"
"Several places."
"Occupation?"
"Officially? Accountant."
Lily laughed without humor.
"Of course."
Clara looked at Adrian.
"But there's something strange."
"What?"
"His death certificate is real."
"Then he's dead."
"Yes."
"What's strange?"
Clara turned the laptop around.
"The signature."
Lily looked.
"What's wrong with it?"
"The doctor who signed the death certificate died nine years before Jonathan."
Silence.
Adrian walked over.
"Forgery."
"Looks like it."
Sarah closed her eyes.
"I knew."
Lily turned toward her.
"You knew?"
Sarah nodded.
"I suspected."
"You said he was dead."
"I believed he was."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
Sarah looked at Lily.
"I was afraid."
"Of him?"
"Of what he knew."
Lily stood.
"My father lied about having a brother."
Sarah nodded.
"Why?"
"Because Jonathan was involved before Thomas was."
"Involved with Rook?"
"Before Rook."
Lily stared at her.
Sarah continued.
"Jonathan was one of the people who helped build the system."
Adrian's face hardened.
"So Thomas discovered his own brother was part of it."
"Yes."
"And that's why he disappeared?"
"No."
Sarah's answer came too quickly.
Adrian noticed.
"Then why?"
Sarah looked at him.
"Because Jonathan discovered Thomas was trying to destroy it."
Lily felt cold.
"What happened?"
Sarah hesitated.
"Thomas came to me."
"When?"
"The night before he disappeared."
Lily's voice shook.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"At his house."
"Why?"
"He gave me something."
"What?"
"A ledger."
"The Last Account?"
"No."
Sarah reached into her bag.
She placed an old notebook on the table.
Lily opened it.
Inside were names.
Hundreds.
But unlike the digital files, these names were accompanied by notes.
Fears.
Debts.
Secrets.
Weaknesses.
Lily looked at Sarah.
"Why keep this?"
"Because Thomas told me that one day I might need it."
"For what?"
"To know who was safe."
Lily turned the pages.
Then stopped.
One name.
Adrian Voss.
Beside it:
Protect.
Another note beneath:
If necessary, lie to him.
Lily looked up.
Adrian had seen it.
His face was unreadable.
"You lied to me."
Sarah nodded.
"For twenty-four years."
He looked away.
Lily stood.
"Why?"
Sarah's eyes filled.
"Because if you knew the truth, you would have gone after Jonathan."
"And?"
"He wanted you dead."
Adrian laughed once.
"That's hardly new."
Sarah shook her head.
"No. You don't understand."
She pointed to the notebook.
"Jonathan wasn't working for Rook."
Everyone became still.
"He was above him."
Adrian's face changed.
Sarah continued.
"Rook was a front."
Lily whispered:
"For Jonathan?"
"For a group."
Evelyn nodded slowly.
"The people behind the network."
Sarah looked at her.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"You should have told me."
"You weren't ready."
Sarah laughed bitterly.
"Nobody is ever ready."
Lily slammed the notebook shut.
"I'm tired of hearing that."
Everyone looked at her.
"I'm tired of being told people lied to me because they were protecting me."
Her voice shook.
"My father lied."
"Adrian lied."
"Sarah lied."
"Everyone decided I was too fragile to know the truth."
Adrian stepped toward her.
"Lily—"
"No."
She held up a hand.
"I'm not blaming you for surviving."
Sarah lowered her eyes.
"I'm blaming you for deciding that survival meant I had to remain ignorant."
The room was silent.
Then Adrian said:
"She's right."
Sarah looked at him.
"Adrian..."
"She's right."
He turned to Lily.
"I did the same thing."
She stared at him.
"I thought if I carried everything, you wouldn't have to."
"And?"
"I was wrong."
She nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian moved closer.
"I don't want to make that mistake again."
Lily's eyes softened.
"I know."
He reached for her.
This time she let him.
She rested her forehead against his chest.
For several seconds, they simply stood there.
Then Evelyn spoke.
"We need to find Jonathan."
Lily lifted her head.
Clara nodded.
"I've found something."
She turned the laptop around.
A recent financial transaction.
A dormant account.
Opened seventeen years ago.
Active again yesterday.
The beneficiary name was:
J. MARSH
Lily stared.
"He's alive."
Clara nodded.
"Probably."
"Where?"
Clara pointed to the screen.
"New York."
Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
"Yes."
A pause.
His expression changed.
"How long?"
Another pause.
"Understood."
He hung up.
"What?"
"Police are outside."
Everyone froze.
"Why?"
"They received an anonymous report."
"About what?"
"The Michigan house."
Lily's stomach tightened.
"Who called?"
Adrian looked at her.
"The caller said the house contained evidence of multiple murders."
Evelyn swore.
Clara shut the laptop.
"We need to leave."
Adrian nodded.
They moved quickly.
But before Lily reached the stairs, she stopped.
There was a sound upstairs.
A floorboard.
Someone was inside.
Adrian raised a hand.
Everyone froze.
He moved silently toward the stairs.
Lily followed.
He looked back at her.
She understood.
Stay behind.
She almost smiled.
Old Adrian would have ordered her to leave.
Now he simply looked at her.
A choice.
She stayed.
Adrian climbed the stairs.
Nothing.
Then a shadow moved across the hallway.
A man stepped from the kitchen.
Older.
Gray hair.
Thin.
A scar across his cheek.
Adrian stopped.
The man smiled.
"Hello, boy."
Lily felt Adrian's entire body go rigid.
"Jonathan."
The man looked at Lily.
"Thomas's daughter."
Lily stepped forward.
"You knew my father."
"I knew him better than anyone."
"Then why did he hate you?"
Jonathan smiled.
"He didn't."
Lily frowned.
"He told me you were dead."
"He told you what you needed to believe."
"Why?"
"Because your father was a coward."
Adrian moved.
Jonathan laughed.
"Still protective."
"You have five seconds."
"Five seconds for what?"
"To explain."
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
"Your father didn't disappear because of Rook."
He looked at Lily.
"He disappeared because of you."
Lily froze.
"What?"
Jonathan continued.
"Thomas discovered the network was preparing to use you."
"Use me for what?"
"Leverage."
Lily's heart pounded.
Jonathan looked at Adrian.
"And Thomas knew exactly who they would use to reach you."
Adrian's voice was low.
"Me."
Jonathan nodded.
"Exactly."
He reached into his coat.
Adrian moved instantly.
But Jonathan didn't pull a weapon.
He pulled out an old photograph.
He threw it onto the table.
Lily picked it up.
It showed her father.
And herself.
At twelve years old.
Standing outside a hospital.
Behind them stood a young Adrian.
And behind Adrian—
Jonathan.
Lily's breath caught.
She remembered that day.
Her father had said Adrian was a stranger.
He had lied.
They had known each other.
For years.
Before the logging road.
Before Daniel.
Before everything.
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"I don't remember this."
"You weren't supposed to."
Jonathan smiled.
"Thomas erased you from her life."
"Why?"
"Because he knew Rook would use you."
Lily looked at Adrian.
"You knew me?"
"No."
Jonathan answered for him.
"Adrian knew of you."
Adrian stared at Jonathan.
"I was told she was Thomas's daughter."
"And?"
"And nothing."
Jonathan smiled.
"That's why Thomas trusted you."
Lily looked at the photograph again.
Something was written on the back.
A date.
And a sentence.
If he ever comes back, she must choose for herself.
Lily whispered:
"My father knew."
Jonathan nodded.
"He always knew you would have to make the final choice."
"What choice?"
Jonathan looked directly at her.
"Whether to destroy the Last Account."
"Or use it."
Lily stared.
Jonathan stepped backward.
Police sirens grew louder outside.
"You have until midnight."
"Until midnight for what?"
Jonathan smiled.
"To decide who you want to become."
Then he disappeared through the back door.
Adrian ran after him.
But by the time he reached the porch, Jonathan was gone.
Only snow remained.
Lily stood inside the house.
The photograph was still in her hand.
She looked at the words on the back.
Her father's handwriting.
She read them again.
She must choose for herself.
For the first time, Lily understood.
The entire story had never really been about the Last Account.
It had been about choice.
Her father's.
Sarah's.
May you like
Adrian's.
And now hers.
