Chapter 12: The Enemy of My Enemy
Chapter 12: The Enemy of My Enemy
Grant didn't call the police.
He knew they wouldn't believe him.
Or worse—they would.
He stood alone in the silent dining room, staring at the black envelope.
You failed.
Two words.
No signature.
Yet he knew exactly who had sent them.
Not because he recognized the handwriting.
Because he recognized the message.
For the first time in his life, he was on the receiving end of the fear his family had used to control others.
Across the city, Benjamin Ross hadn't left the federal building.
Edward Holloway's confession had answered dozens of questions.
It had also created a hundred more.
Daniel Mercer entered carrying a fresh cup of coffee.
"You've been here all night."
Benjamin nodded.
"I keep thinking about something."
"What?"
"Richard."
Daniel pulled up a chair.
"He spent twelve years chasing Blackwood."
Benjamin looked at the wall covered in evidence.
"And in all that time..."
"...he never once wrote down the names of the twelve families."
Daniel frowned.
"Maybe he never learned them."
Benjamin slowly shook his head.
"No."
"If Richard knew he was dying..."
"...he would have left us something."
Meanwhile, Hannah returned to her therapist for the first time in over a year.
The office overlooked Lake Michigan.
Sunlight spilled across the hardwood floor.
Dr. Rebecca Lawson greeted her warmly.
"You came."
"I almost didn't."
"What changed?"
Hannah smiled faintly.
"My mother."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Dr. Lawson asked gently,
"What scares you the most now?"
Hannah looked out the window.
"That I'll always be the woman Grant broke."
The therapist shook her head.
"No."
"You're the woman who survived him."
Hannah closed her eyes.
For the first time, she believed those words might someday become true.
At Holloway Select Markets headquarters...
Chaos ruled every floor.
Employees packed boxes.
Executives argued in hallways.
Investors demanded emergency meetings.
The company's interim CEO tried desperately to calm the board.
Then the receptionist received an unexpected visitor.
A man in a charcoal-gray suit.
No appointment.
No business card.
He simply handed her a sealed envelope.
"For the board."
Minutes later, the directors gathered around the conference table.
The envelope contained only one page.
Blackwood Holdings has assumed controlling interest.
Cooperate.
Or be replaced.
No signature.
No explanation.
Every director looked at the others.
One finally whispered,
"They've never done this before."
At the federal detention center...
Benjamin returned to Edward's cell.
Edward looked tired.
Older.
Defeated.
Benjamin placed the mysterious letter on the table.
"They've taken your company."
Edward nodded.
"I expected it."
"You still won't tell me who they are?"
Edward looked directly at him.
"I can't."
"You mean you won't."
"No."
Edward's voice was barely audible.
"I mean..."
"...they're listening."
Benjamin glanced around the room.
"Through what?"
Edward gave a sad smile.
"That's the problem."
"We never knew."
Later that afternoon...
Daniel received a phone call.
He answered immediately.
"Mercer."
A familiar voice replied.
"It's Thomas."
The former Holloway butler.
"I found something while cleaning out the library."
"What is it?"
"A hidden compartment."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"Don't touch anything."
"I'm on my way."
One hour later...
Daniel arrived at a small apartment on Chicago's North Side.
Thomas carefully led him into the living room.
He placed an old wooden box on the coffee table.
"I've worked in that house for thirty-four years."
"I never knew it existed."
Daniel opened the box.
Inside were letters.
Photographs.
Receipts.
And one leather-bound journal.
The cover bore a single set of initials.
E.H.
Edward Holloway.
Benjamin joined them shortly afterward.
He carefully opened the journal.
Most entries detailed business meetings.
Financial transactions.
Political favors.
Then one page stopped him cold.
October 14, 2003
"Richard Carter confronted me today."
"He offered me immunity if I testified."
"I almost accepted."
"Tonight they called my wife."
"They described the pajamas my son was wearing."
"I understood the message."
Benjamin slowly turned the page.
Another entry.
"I betrayed Richard today."
"I have never hated myself more."
The room fell silent.
Thomas quietly wiped away a tear.
"He wasn't born a monster."
Benjamin closed the journal.
"No."
"But he became one."
That evening...
Evelyn closed the diner early.
She and Hannah sat together on the front porch, watching the sunset paint the Chicago skyline gold.
"It's strange," Hannah said softly.
"What is?"
"I used to think wealth meant safety."
Evelyn smiled.
"And now?"
"I think love does."
Evelyn slipped an arm around her daughter's shoulders.
"Your father would've liked hearing that."
Just then, Benjamin's phone rang.
He stepped away to answer.
Thirty seconds later, his expression changed.
Daniel immediately noticed.
"What happened?"
Benjamin lowered the phone slowly.
"The forensic lab finished restoring Richard's VHS tape."
"I thought we'd seen all of it."
"So did I."
He looked at Evelyn.
"There was another thirty-seven seconds hidden after the static."
Everyone fell silent.
Benjamin spoke carefully.
"Richard says he buried something..."
"...somewhere only you would recognize."
Evelyn frowned.
"What?"
Benjamin met her eyes.
"He called it..."
'the place where we made our first promise.'
Evelyn's breath caught.
She knew exactly where that was.
Twenty-nine years earlier, she and Richard had shared their first kiss beneath an enormous oak tree in Lincoln Park.
Later that night, they carved two tiny initials into its trunk.
R + E
If Richard had hidden something there...
He had hidden it where only Evelyn would ever think to look.
Benjamin folded the restored transcript and slipped it into his pocket.
"Tomorrow morning," he said quietly.
"We go digging."
Far across the city, another pair of eyes was also reading the restored transcript.
Someone inside the forensic laboratory had secretly copied the file before sending it to Benjamin.
A secure message left Chicago less than a minute later.
Its destination was unknown.
Its subject line contained only five words:
May you like
She knows about the tree.
End of Chapter 12
