Chapter 6 – If You're Watching This, Evelyn…
Chapter 6 – If You're Watching This, Evelyn…
The courtyard was silent once again.
Emily felt as though the world had stopped spinning.
A message...
Recorded by her biological father.
Twenty-two years ago.
One hour before he vanished.
She looked at Agent Harris.
"I want to see it."
Harris hesitated.
"It hasn't been processed."
"I don't care."
"It's part of an active federal investigation."
Emily's voice trembled.
"It's my father."
No one argued after that.
Thirty minutes later...
The graduation ceremony had been canceled.
News helicopters circled overhead.
Richard Bennett, Margaret Bennett, and Ethan Bennett had been transported to federal custody under heavy FBI escort.
Every major news network was broadcasting the story live.
Emily left campus inside an armored FBI SUV.
Benjamin Lawson sat beside her.
Professor Caroline Hughes had insisted on coming as a witness.
The convoy sped toward the Chicago FBI Field Office.
No one spoke during the drive.
Emily stared out the window.
Only that single sentence echoed in her mind.
If you're watching this, Evelyn... it means I failed to save you.
Inside the FBI headquarters...
Emily was escorted into a secure digital forensics laboratory.
The room was brightly lit.
Rows of computers lined the walls.
Evidence technicians worked quietly behind reinforced glass.
A large monitor had already been prepared.
Agent Harris stood beside it.
"The original tape was found inside a fireproof safe beneath the Carter estate."
He placed a small memory card onto the table.
"It survived because your father sealed it inside a military-grade waterproof capsule."
Emily looked at the tiny card.
Twenty-two years...
Hidden beneath her childhood home.
Waiting for her.
A technician inserted the memory card.
The screen flickered.
Static.
A timestamp appeared.
October 14 – 22 Years Earlier
Then the image stabilized.
A man sat alone in a dimly lit office.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
A day's worth of stubble.
Behind him hung family photographs.
One showed him holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.
Emily instantly knew.
That baby was her.
Daniel Carter looked directly into the camera.
For several seconds, he simply smiled.
A father's smile.
Gentle.
Proud.
Then he spoke.
"If you're watching this..."
"...hello, Peanut."
Emily's eyes widened.
"Peanut?"
Lawson smiled sadly.
"He used to call you that."
Tears rolled silently down Emily's cheeks.
No one in twenty-two years had ever called her by a nickname.
Daniel laughed softly.
"You probably hate that nickname by now."
"But I promised your mother I'd never stop using it."
His smile slowly faded.
"If you're watching this..."
"...I failed."
Emily covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
"I hoped this recording would never be necessary."
"I hoped I'd get to show it to you myself when you were older."
"But if someone else found this..."
"...then Rebecca and I couldn't protect you."
He took a slow breath.
"I need you to know something before anyone tells you another version."
"I never abandoned you."
"I never stopped looking."
"And if I disappeared..."
"It wasn't by choice."
The room was completely silent.
Even the technicians had stopped working.
Daniel opened a folder sitting on his desk.
Inside were several photographs.
He held the first one toward the camera.
Richard Bennett.
Smiling.
Standing beside Daniel.
"My best friend."
Daniel lowered the picture.
"I trusted him with my family."
"I trusted him with my company."
"I trusted him with my life."
His eyes filled with disappointment.
"I was wrong."
Agent Harris quietly looked away.
He had known Daniel personally.
Hearing these words after twenty-two years was painful.
Daniel continued.
"If Richard betrayed me..."
"...he didn't act alone."
Emily leaned closer.
There it was again.
The same warning Richard had given before his arrest.
He wasn't alone.
Daniel reached beneath his desk.
He removed a leather notebook.
Across the cover, embossed in gold letters:
PHOENIX
Emily's breathing became shallow.
The Phoenix Consortium.
Daniel opened the notebook.
Every page contained names.
Addresses.
Bank accounts.
Photographs.
Corporate structures.
He looked into the camera.
"This..."
"...is the real reason they're coming after us."
He carefully turned another page.
At the center was a diagram.
Twelve circles connected by red lines.
Eleven circles contained names.
The twelfth circle was empty.
Daniel pointed at it.
"If you're seeing this..."
"...the twelfth seat still exists."
Emily frowned.
"The twelfth seat?"
Daniel nodded.
"The Phoenix Consortium is governed by twelve families."
"They control governments."
"They manipulate financial markets."
"They buy judges."
"They own media companies."
"They erase people."
He paused.
"But every family has one heir."
He tapped the empty circle.
"And one chair has remained empty for twenty-two years."
Emily whispered,
"The Twelfth Heir..."
Lawson looked at her.
"The letter..."
She nodded.
It suddenly made sense.
Daniel continued.
"Your grandfather founded the Consortium."
Emily froze.
"What?"
Professor Hughes gasped.
"Your grandfather?"
Daniel nodded.
"Before he died..."
"...he realized what the Consortium had become."
"He wanted to destroy it."
"So he left control to someone who hadn't been corrupted."
Daniel smiled softly.
"You."
Emily's knees nearly gave out.
"No..."
Lawson caught her arm.
"It's okay."
She shook her head.
"This can't be real."
On the screen...
Daniel's expression darkened.
"If anything happens to me..."
"...they'll tell you your inheritance was money."
"It isn't."
"It's evidence."
He held up another flash drive.
"Everything you need..."
"...is hidden where only one person would ever think to look."
Emily leaned closer.
"Where?"
Daniel smiled.
"If I tell you now..."
"...they'll know too."
Instead...
He looked directly into the camera.
"Evelyn..."
"Remember your music box."
Emily frowned.
"Music box?"
She had never owned one.
Or...
Had she?
Suddenly—
The video glitched.
The image froze.
The technicians frowned.
"What happened?"
Static filled the screen.
Then Daniel returned.
Only now...
His face was different.
Terrified.
He looked over his shoulder.
Someone was outside his office.
There was a knock.
Three slow knocks.
Daniel whispered,
"They're here."
He looked back at the camera one final time.
"If I don't make it..."
"...don't trust—"
The video cut to black.
Everyone stared at the monitor.
"He was about to say a name."
One technician tried recovering the damaged frames.
Nothing.
The final second had been corrupted.
Emily wiped away her tears.
"He tried to warn me."
Agent Harris nodded.
"Yes."
"But about whom?"
Nobody knew.
Just then, another technician rushed into the room.
"Sir!"
Harris turned.
"What is it?"
"We finished scanning the hidden archive."
"And?"
"We found over two thousand encrypted files."
Emily looked hopeful.
"So there are answers."
The technician swallowed.
"Yes..."
"But there's also something else."
He projected a scanned document onto the large screen.
At the top, in bold black letters:
SUCCESSION PROTOCOL
Below it...
A single sentence.
Upon confirmation that Evelyn Grace Carter is alive, the Twelfth Seat shall immediately become active.
The room fell silent.
The technician scrolled farther.
Another line appeared.
All surviving members must assemble within seventy-two hours.
Agent Harris's expression changed instantly.
"What day is today?"
The technician answered quietly.
"The first day."
Emily looked around the room.
"What happens in seventy-two hours?"
No one answered.
Because every person in the room was thinking the same terrifying possibility.
The Phoenix Consortium...
Was coming out of the shadows.
May you like
And they were coming for The Twelfth Heir.
End of Chapter 6
