Chapter 14 - Uncle David
“Where are you?”
Elena asked.
The man laughed softly.
“You sound like Evelyn.”
“People keep telling me that.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.”
“Then we’re already making progress.”
Margaret stood several feet away, visibly shaking.
Elena watched her.
“You’re David.”
“That was my name once.”
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“So was your mother, depending on which photograph you believe.”
Elena tightened her grip on the receiver.
“What do you want?”
“What Evelyn took.”
“Be specific.”
“The archive.”
“You already stole Helix.”
“Helix is a decoy.”
Robert nodded from the floor.
David continued.
“I want the Atlas ledger.”
Elena looked toward Margaret.
She mouthed, I don’t know.
“What is Atlas?”
David laughed again.
“If you truly don’t know, then Evelyn protected you better than I thought.”
“You killed her.”
Silence.
Then David spoke calmly.
“No.”
Elena’s anger sharpened.
“Who did?”
“Ask Graham.”
“He says he helped her.”
“He did.”
“Then?”
“Ask Margaret.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Elena’s patience ended.
“I’m not playing this game.”
“You already are.”
David’s voice hardened for the first time.
“You signed the succession order.”
“You opened the vault.”
“You exposed Helix.”
“You activated me.”
Elena frowned.
“Activated you?”
“Evelyn created an automated alert.”
“If succession ever transferred permanently to you, a message would reach me.”
“Why would she do that?”
“So I would come out of hiding.”
Elena understood.
Her mother had built a trap that might take decades to close.
David was not hunting Elena.
Evelyn had used Elena as bait.
The realization hurt.
“You sound disappointed.”
David said.
“I’m impressed.”
Elena replied.
“By what?”
“My mother is still controlling you from the grave.”
The line went quiet.
Good.
She had hit him.
“Where’s Damian?”
“Alive.”
“For now?”
“For as long as he remains useful.”
“He isn’t useful.”
“To you.”
David paused.
“To me, he’s insurance.”
“Against what?”
“You.”
Elena smiled coldly.
“You watched Damian lose everything.”
“I did.”
“And you still think threatening him controls me?”
“No.”
David’s tone softened.
“I think showing you what he knows might.”
A television turned on by itself across the study.
Damian appeared on screen.
Bruised.
Exhausted.
Alive.
Someone placed a folder in front of him.
David spoke through the phone.
“Open it.”
Damian obeyed.
His face changed as he read.
He looked directly toward the camera.
“Elena.”
His voice shook.
“You need to see this.”
“What is it?”
Damian swallowed.
“Your mother’s death certificate.”
Elena almost laughed.
“I’ve seen it.”
“No.”
He lifted another page.
“This is the real one.”
The screen zoomed in.
Evelyn Voss had not died on the date Elena remembered.
According to the document, Evelyn died seven weeks later.
Elena looked at Margaret.
“What happened during those seven weeks?”
Margaret whispered.
“I don’t know.”
David answered through the phone.
“She disappeared.”
Elena stared at the screen.
“Where?”
“That is what Atlas records.”
“So you don’t know.”
“I know enough.”
“What do you know?”
David’s voice became quiet.
“Your mother spent her final seven weeks dismantling Meridian from the inside.”
“Then she discovered who created it.”
Elena’s breathing slowed.
“Who?”
David said nothing.
“David.”
“The person who created Meridian was someone Evelyn loved.”
The television went black.
The landline disconnected.
Margaret slowly sat down.
Elena looked toward her.
“You know who he means.”
Margaret shook her head.
But Elena saw the truth.
“Aunt Margaret.”
Tears filled Margaret’s eyes.
“Elena.”
“Say the name.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
May you like
Then finally whispered it.
“Your grandfather.”
