Chapter 11 - The Choice My Father Made

Gunfire in darkness is louder than people think.

It doesn't sound cinematic.

It sounds like doors slamming inside your skull.

I hit the floor and crawled toward my mother.

"Mom!"

"Here!"

I found her chair by touch and cut the zip ties with a shard of broken plastic.

A muzzle flash lit the room.

Lena tackled Martin behind a concrete pillar.

So she was not with him.

Vanessa's SUV horn blared continuously because the airbag had pinned Adrian against it.

"I'm fine!" he shouted. "Nobody ask!"

My mother grabbed my arm.

"We have to get out."

"Not without Lena."

"Naomi."

"Not again."

We moved behind stacked banquet tables.

Emergency lights flickered on.

Martin was gone.

Caleb lay unconscious near the loading doors.

Lena sat against a pillar holding her side.

No blood.

Probably cracked ribs.

I knelt beside her.

"You have a terrible way of saying hello."

She laughed once, then winced. "You still talk too much."

My mother stared at her. "Ortiz."

Lena's face changed. "Mrs. Carter."

"You knew my husband."

That hit me harder than the gunfire.

"What?"

Lena looked at me. "After Prague, I was recruited into a federal financial crimes task force. Project Harbor was one of our oldest cold cases. Your father had been a confidential source before he died."

My mother closed her eyes.

"Daniel wanted to testify," she said. "I begged him to stop."

"Who killed him?" I asked.

She looked at me.

"No one."

I felt anger rise instantly. "Don't do that. I saw the memo."

"Your father survived the crash."

Everything inside me stopped.

"What?"

"The accident was meant to scare him. He escaped the hospital before they could finish it. Federal agents moved him into protection."

"You told me he was dead."

Tears filled her eyes. "I had to."

I couldn't speak.

Lena reached into her jacket and handed me a small photograph.

My father, older, gray at the temples, standing outside a cabin.

The photo was dated eight months ago.

"He's alive," Lena said.

My knees nearly gave out.

Then she added the part that hurt worse.

"And he knows Martin took you."

"How?"

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Lena looked toward the dark river.

"Because Martin works for him."