CHAPTER 11 Blood Never Lies
CHAPTER 11
Blood Never Lies
The underground archive was silent except for Dr. Elena Brooks' strained breathing.
Naomi pressed a clean bandage against the doctor's bleeding shoulder.
"You've lost blood," Naomi said.
"I'll live."
Dr. Brooks winced as she sat against the concrete wall.
"But we don't have much time."
Khloe knelt beside her despite the pain from her C-section.
"My daughter..."
"Is she alive?"
Dr. Brooks nodded immediately.
"Yes."
"I saw Hope less than an hour ago."
Khloe closed her eyes in relief.
"Thank God..."
"But she isn't at the monastery anymore."
Harrison locked the steel vault door and turned toward Dr. Brooks.
"Tell us everything."
The doctor took a slow breath.
"After the fake federal agents arrived, something felt wrong."
"The paperwork looked perfect."
"The identification badges scanned correctly."
"But one of the men called Hope by the wrong last name."
Naomi frowned.
"What did he say?"
"He called her..."
"'Baby Harrington.'"
Dr. Brooks looked directly at Khloe.
"I knew every official record listed her as Hope Cole."
"That's when I realized they weren't government agents."
Gabriel Blackwood stood silently across the room.
His eyes never left Khloe.
"I told you someone was rewriting history."
Khloe turned sharply.
"You don't get to lecture me."
"My father trusted you."
"And he died."
Gabriel lowered his head.
"Yes."
"He did."
"And I failed him."
Richard leaned against an old filing cabinet.
For the first time, he wasn't smiling.
"I didn't order Hope's kidnapping."
Naomi laughed bitterly.
"You expect us to believe that?"
"I don't care what you believe."
Richard's voice was calm.
"I've done terrible things."
"But I never wanted a child involved."
Khloe stared at him.
"You pushed me aside the moment I became pregnant."
"You lied."
"You manipulated me."
"You tried to steal my inheritance."
Richard didn't argue.
"I did."
"But taking Hope wasn't my plan."
Dr. Brooks slowly reached into the pocket of her torn lab coat.
She removed a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a silver cufflink.
It carried an engraved symbol.
A raven.
Gabriel's expression changed instantly.
"Where did you get that?"
"It fell from one of the kidnappers."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
"I was afraid of this."
Harrison looked at him.
"You recognize it?"
Gabriel nodded.
"The Black Raven Society."
Naomi frowned.
"I've never heard of them."
"You weren't supposed to."
"They've existed for more than seventy years."
"They don't work for governments."
"They don't work for corporations."
"They work for whoever controls the greatest secret."
Khloe looked at the cufflink.
"What secret?"
Gabriel answered quietly.
"The truth behind Jonathan's murder."
Naomi placed Jonathan's ledger on the table.
"If this organization wanted the ledger..."
"They could have taken it."
Gabriel shook his head.
"They don't want the ledger."
"They already know what's inside."
"Then what do they want?"
Gabriel looked directly at Khloe.
"They want the only witness who can legally unlock Jonathan's final trust."
Khloe froze.
"You mean..."
"Hope."
Silence filled the vault.
The realization struck everyone at once.
Hope wasn't kidnapped for ransom.
She wasn't kidnapped because she was Richard's daughter.
She had been taken because Jonathan Cole had written something into the family trust that required his first grandchild.
Naomi suddenly remembered the words written on the old envelope.
Open only after your child is born.
"It wasn't a message," she whispered.
"It was an instruction."
Gabriel nodded slowly.
"Jonathan knew someone would come for his grandchild."
A loud alarm suddenly echoed throughout the underground level.
Red emergency lights began flashing.
Harrison looked toward the security monitor.
Several black SUVs had entered the underground parking garage above them.
More than thirty armed men poured out.
None wore uniforms.
Each carried the same raven insignia on the shoulder of a black tactical jacket.
Naomi counted quickly.
"Thirty-six."
"They found us."
Richard stepped toward the monitor.
His face turned pale.
"I know that man."
He pointed to the leader.
A tall gray-haired man stepped out of the lead vehicle.
He carried no weapon.
Only a black cane.
Gabriel whispered a single name.
"Victor Ashcombe."
Harrison looked confused.
"Who is he?"
Gabriel's voice was barely audible.
"The only man Jonathan Cole was ever afraid of."
The security cameras followed Victor as he entered the building.
No one tried to stop him.
One by one, the building's security guards lowered their weapons and stepped aside.
Not because they had been defeated.
Because they recognized him.
Victor stopped in front of the camera.
He looked directly into the lens.
As though he knew they were watching.
Then he smiled.
"Khloe."
His voice echoed through the vault's speaker system.
"You've inherited your father's courage."
"I hope..."
"...you inherited his wisdom."
The screen went black.
One second later...
The massive steel vault door began unlocking itself from the outside.
May you like
Someone had overridden every security system in the building.
Victor Ashcombe had arrived.
