Chapter 6 - THE TRAITOR AT THE TABLE
Marcus was being held inside a shuttered banquet hall near the Brooklyn waterfront.
The location came through a second message.
11:00 p.m.
Emily.
Ledger.
No police.
Adrian read the instructions.
Then handed the phone to Nico.
“Federal team gets perimeter only.”
Emily frowned.
“No police?”
“Visible police.”
“You trust them?”
“Some.”
“That is not comforting.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
The plan was simple.
Which meant it was probably terrible.
Emily would enter carrying a replica ledger.
Adrian would remain nearby.
Nico’s team would cover interior exits.
Federal agents would wait two blocks away until Adrian gave the signal.
Emily looked at the bulletproof vest beneath her sweater.
“I hate this.”
Adrian stood in front of her.
“Then don’t go.”
She looked up.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
“Even now?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
Adrian Mercer was confusing.
A man who probably ordered terrible things.
A man who could silence a room with one look.
Yet he had not forced her once.
Not when she refused his house.
Not when she challenged Leo.
Not now.
Emily whispered, “Danny would go.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Danny is dead.”
She flinched.
He immediately regretted the bluntness.
But continued.
“Do not turn your brother into permission to get yourself killed.”
Her eyes filled.
“He spent his whole life protecting me.”
“Then maybe honor him by surviving.”
Silence.
Emily looked down.
Then:
“I’m still going.”
Adrian sighed.
“I assumed.”
At 10:58, Emily entered the banquet hall.
Dusty chandeliers hung overhead.
Old wedding decorations remained stacked near walls.
Marcus sat in the center of the dance floor.
His face was bruised.
“Emily?”
She ran toward him.
Victor Saye stepped from behind a pillar.
Gun raised.
“Stop.”
Emily stopped.
Marcus shook his head.
“Go.”
Saye laughed.
“Very heroic.”
Emily held up the ledger.
“You wanted this.”
“Set it down.”
She did.
Leo appeared from the shadows.
Seeing him hurt more than expected.
Not because Emily cared about Leo.
Because Adrian did.
She understood what betrayal cost him now.
Leo picked up the ledger.
Flipped pages.
His expression changed.
“Copy.”
Saye’s face hardened.
Emily’s pulse raced.
Leo looked at her.
“Where’s the real one?”
“Safe.”
“With Mercer?”
She said nothing.
Leo laughed.
“Of course.”
Then a new voice came from the balcony.
“Not Adrian.”
Richard Mercer descended slowly.
Sixty-two.
Elegant.
Silver hair.
He looked like an aging senator.
Not a murderer.
Emily hated that.
Richard studied her.
“Daniel’s sister.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
“You knew him.”
“I knew of him.”
“You had him killed.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“Your brother should have minded his business.”
Emily’s hands curled.
Marcus shouted, “Don’t listen to him.”
Saye hit Marcus across the face.
Emily flinched.
Richard continued.
“Danny thought truth made him powerful.”
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
“He thought it made you afraid.”
The smile disappeared.
Good.
“You sound like him.”
“I hope so.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Where is the ledger?”
“Somewhere you can’t reach.”
“We reached you.”
Emily’s heart hammered.
Richard nodded toward Saye.
“And your friend.”
Emily looked at Marcus.
“We can reach anyone.”
A door opened behind them.
Adrian entered.
Alone.
Richard froze.
Leo whispered, “Adrian.”
Adrian’s gaze moved to him.
That was worse than anger.
Leo looked away first.
Richard recovered.
“Nephew.”
Adrian stopped twenty feet away.
“Uncle.”
Emily said, “You weren’t supposed to—”
Adrian ignored her.
Richard smiled.
“You always had trouble following instructions.”
“Family trait.”
Richard laughed.
“Where’s the real ledger?”
“With federal prosecutors.”
Richard’s face changed.
Adrian continued.
“Copies in three offices.”
Leo went pale.
“You’re bluffing.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Michael Serra trusted you.”
Leo flinched.
“You knew he was meeting Brennan.”
“Adrian—”
“You called Saye.”
Leo’s breathing changed.
Richard said sharply, “Enough.”
Adrian ignored him.
“How much?”
Leo stared.
“For Michael?”
Adrian’s voice became quieter.
“For your soul.”
Leo looked away.
Richard scoffed.
“Spare us.”
Adrian turned.
“You had my father’s trust.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“I built what your father left.”
“You stole from it.”
“I expanded it.”
“You sold routes to Calder.”
“I managed competition.”
“You murdered men who discovered it.”
Richard’s mask slipped.
“Men die in our world.”
Emily watched Adrian.
He became very still.
“Yes.”
Richard continued.
“Your father understood that.”
“My father is dead.”
“And left his empire to a boy.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
There it was.
Resentment.
Richard had expected succession.
Adrian inherited instead.
Richard continued.
“I gave twenty years to this family.”
“And decided that entitled you to own it.”
“I earned it.”
“No.”
Adrian took one step.
“You convinced yourself you did.”
Saye shifted the gun toward Emily.
Adrian saw.
“Don’t.”
Richard smiled.
“Here we are.”
He looked at Emily.
“One waitress caused all this.”
Emily said, “No.”
Everyone turned.
“My brother did.”
Her voice shook but held.
“He left enough behind that even after you killed him, you still couldn’t bury the truth.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“Your brother begged.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Adrian’s eyes turned cold.
Richard continued deliberately.
“He begged us to leave you alone.”
Emily’s vision blurred.
“He kept saying you knew nothing.”
Saye smiled.
Emily stared at him.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
The warehouse.
Philadelphia.
Danny.
Saye continued.
“He fought harder than most.”
Emily’s tears fell.
Then Marcus did something nobody expected.
He kicked backward.
His chair crashed into Saye’s knees.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Emily dropped.
Adrian moved.
Leo reached for his weapon.
Adrian struck him first.
Nico’s men stormed side doors.
Richard ran toward the kitchen exit.
Emily crawled to Marcus.
Saye recovered.
He aimed at her.
A shot fired.
Saye fell.
Leo stood behind him.
Gun smoking.
Everyone froze.
Adrian stared.
Leo lowered the weapon.
“I’m sorry.”
Richard stopped at the doorway.
“You idiot.”
Leo looked at him.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“I’m done.”
Federal agents flooded the hall.
Richard was tackled.
Saye survived, wounded.
Marcus was freed.
Leo raised both hands.
Adrian stood in front of him.
Twenty years of friendship between them.
Leo whispered:
“I didn’t know they’d kill Michael.”
Adrian’s face did not change.
“You gave them his location.”
“I thought they’d scare him.”
“You sold him.”
Leo cried.
“I know.”
Adrian could have hit him.
Instead, he stepped back.
“Take him.”
Agents cuffed Leo.
Emily watched Adrian’s face.
He looked older.
Not defeated.
Just tired.
She approached.
“Adrian.”
He looked at her.
She touched his arm.
For once, neither of them had anything clever to say.
Behind them, Richard shouted about attorneys.
Saye cursed.
Marcus demanded someone untie his feet.
The room returned to noise.
But Emily saw only Adrian.
A man who had just learned the person beside him for twenty years had helped kill his friend.
He looked at her.
“You okay?”
She almost laughed.
“You’re asking me?”
“Yes.”
Emily nodded.
Then shook her head.
Then began crying.
Adrian pulled her against him.
Not possessive.
Not dramatic.
Just there.
May you like
And for the first time in three years, Emily let someone hold her while she grieved Danny.
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