Chapter 2 - MY DEAD FATHER’S OLD BOOK CONTAINED A LEDGER THAT COULD DESTROY JULIAN’S EMPIRE—AND THE WOMAN WHO KICKED ME WAS THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNEW WHY MY BROTHER HAD BEEN TAKEN
We did not go directly to my apartment.
That was Julian’s first intelligent decision.
His second was allowing me to argue about the first.
“My brother is kidnapped.”
“I know.”
“Every minute matters.”
“I know.”
“Then drive.”
“If Victor knows about the book, he's watching your apartment.”
“So?”
“So arriving there emotionally is how we become three hostages instead of one.”
I hated him.
Mostly because he was right.
Bruno was rushed to a private veterinary hospital.
I refused treatment until a doctor told me Bruno was stable.
Three cracked ribs.
That was my diagnosis.
Bruno's was worse.
Internal bleeding.
Dehydration.
A stab wound.
Sedatives.
But he would probably survive.
Julian stood beside the examination table while Dr. Morgan prepared Bruno for surgery.
He rested his hand on the dog's head.
“Stay.”
Bruno's eyes opened.
His tail moved.
I looked away.
Some tenderness feels too private to witness.
Outside, Julian handed me a coat.
“I'm fine.”
“You're wearing a torn server uniform in November.”
I accepted the coat.
Not because he was powerful.
Because Chicago was freezing.
Celeste sat in another vehicle with Marcus.
I stared.
“Why is she coming?”
“Because she knows her father's operation.”
“She kicked me.”
“I remember.”
“She laughed.”
“I remember that too.”
“You ended your engagement.”
“Yes.”
“You're remarkably calm.”
“No.”
He looked toward Celeste.
“I’m controlled.”
“There's a difference.”
I believed him.
We reached a secure Croft property.
Not a mansion.
An office building.
Julian gave me a phone.
“Call your neighbor.”
“Why?”
“Have her check your apartment hallway.”
Mrs. Alvarez lived across from me.
She answered sleepily.
I apologized.
She opened her door.
Then whispered:
“Sadie.”
“What?”
“There are two men outside your apartment.”
Julian heard.
He held out his hand.
I gave him the phone.
“Mrs. Alvarez?”
His voice became unexpectedly gentle.
“Go back inside.”
“Lock your door.”
“Do not look through the peephole.”
“My people will be there in four minutes.”
She asked:
“Who is this?”
“Julian.”
“Julian who?”
I almost laughed.
He looked at me.
“Croft.”
Silence.
Then Mrs. Alvarez said:
“Oh.”
She hung up.
Despite everything, I laughed.
Julian almost smiled.
His men removed the watchers.
Then we entered my apartment through the fire escape.
I went directly to the bookshelf.
The book was there.
Dad's copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Leather cracked.
Pages yellow.
I opened it.
Nothing.
Julian watched.
“Why that book?”
“Dad read it every year.”
“Did he annotate?”
“Constantly.”
I flipped pages.
Then noticed numbers.
Tiny.
Written beside random paragraphs.
Page numbers.
Letters.
Accounts.
My father had hidden a cipher in the margins.
Julian sat beside me.
For three hours, we decoded it.
My nonprofit grant work had taught me to follow budgets.
Julian understood shipping.
Together, the pattern emerged.
Container numbers.
Dates.
Payments.
Names.
Victor Vane.
Thomas Croft.
Judges.
Police officers.
Customs officials.
And Gabriel Croft.
Julian's father.
My stomach tightened.
“Your father is in the ledger.”
“I see.”
“You're not going to defend him?”
“Evidence first.”
That answer made me look at him differently.
The ledger showed Gabriel discovered the operation late.
My father had been auditing Croft Maritime.
Together they collected evidence.
They planned to turn it over to federal authorities.
Then Dad died.
Twenty-four hours later, Gabriel died in the warehouse fire.
The criminal empire Julian inherited had been compromised from within.
Victor and Thomas had used Croft shipping routes for trafficking stolen pharmaceuticals, weapons, and money.
Gabriel tried to stop them.
They killed him.
Then spent twelve years positioning Celeste beside Julian so Victor could eventually gain access to everything.
Celeste sat across the room.
Her face had lost all color.
“You knew nothing?”
She shook her head.
“Not at first.”
“At first?”
Julian's voice became cold.
Celeste looked at him.
“I found out three years ago.”
I stared.
“And you still planned to marry him?”
“My father said Thomas killed Gabriel.”
“Victor only helped hide it.”
Julian laughed once.
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why?”
“Because he was my father!”
The words broke from her.
Then she looked at me.
“I know how that sounds.”
“No.”
I thought about Dad.
“I understand wanting it to be true.”
Celeste cried.
“He said marrying Julian would protect me.”
“From Thomas.”
“From the business.”
“From everything.”
Julian asked:
“Did you love me?”
She looked at him.
“Yes.”
He looked almost sad.
“Then why did you never tell me?”
“Because I loved the life too.”
Honest.
Ugly.
Human.
She continued.
“I liked being Celeste Vane.”
“I liked rooms going quiet.”
“I liked people being afraid to tell me no.”
My ribs hurt.
She looked at them.
Shame crossed her face.
“What I did to you…”
“Don't.”
She stopped.
“Don't apologize because your father kidnapped my brother and now you're scared.”
She nodded.
Fair.
We found another hidden compartment inside the book.
A key.
Number 418.
Bank logo.
Safe-deposit box.
Julian knew the branch.
We contacted federal investigators.
By dawn, the box was opened under warrant.
Inside:
Original shipping records.
Photographs.
A recorded statement from my father.
And a second memory card.
Dad appeared on screen.
Twelve years younger.
Alive.
I covered my mouth.
“Sadie.”
My heart broke.
“If you're seeing this, then I wasn't able to come home.”
I cried silently.
“I’m sorry.”
“I wanted to protect you and Evan from my work.”
“That may have been a mistake.”
“Secrets don't disappear.”
“They become debts children inherit.”
I looked at Julian.
He was watching his own father enter the recording.
Gabriel Croft sat beside mine.
Julian stopped breathing.
Gabriel spoke:
“Julian.”
“If Daniel's children are with you, then Victor and Thomas finally made the mistake we've been waiting for.”
Julian whispered:
“Dad.”
Gabriel continued.
“Thomas believes he deserves Croft.”
“Victor believes marrying Celeste to you will eventually give him control without war.”
“Neither understands that power taken through fear eventually turns everyone around you into an enemy.”
Then Gabriel looked directly into the camera.
“Do not avenge me.”
Julian's face changed.
“Expose them.”
“End what I failed to end.”
“And if doing that costs you the empire…”
Gabriel smiled sadly.
“Then maybe it was never worth inheriting.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Julian stood by the window.
I understood something then.
He had spent twelve years becoming powerful enough that nobody could kill him the way they killed his father.
Now his father was telling him the power itself might be the problem.
My phone rang.
Victor.
“Midnight passed,” he said.
I looked at the clock.
12:07.
“You have the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“And the box.”
He knew.
“How?”
He laughed.
“Because the federal task force has one of my people inside.”
Julian grabbed a notepad.
Wrote:
KEEP HIM TALKING.
I said:
“I want Evan.”
“Bring the originals.”
“Where?”
“Location changed.”
He gave an address.
An abandoned church in Pilsen.
Then:
“Julian comes alone.”
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“You're in no position to negotiate, waitress.”
Something inside me went still.
Maybe it was exhaustion.
Maybe pain.
Maybe twelve years of believing my father died in an ordinary accident.
“You made the same mistake Celeste did.”
Silence.
“What?”
“You think someone's job tells you how much they're worth.”
Victor's voice hardened.
“Bring the files.”
He hung up.
Julian looked at me.
“You're not coming.”
I laughed.
“Try again.”
“Sadie.”
“My brother.”
“I know.”
“My father.”
“I know.”
“My decision.”
He stared.
Then nodded.
“Your decision.”
Celeste whispered:
“I know the church.”
Everyone turned.
“My father used it for meetings.”
“There’s a tunnel beneath the rectory.”
Marcus asked:
“Where does it exit?”
“Two buildings east.”
Julian looked at her.
“Why help us?”
Celeste looked at me.
“Because last night I kicked a woman on the floor because I thought nobody important would care.”
Her eyes filled.
“I've been thinking about what that says about me.”
I didn't rescue her from the discomfort.
She needed it.
She continued.
“I can't undo it.”
“But maybe I can stop being that person.”
We built a plan.
Federal agents we trusted.
Not the entire task force.
Only Rebecca Shaw, a prosecutor named inside my father's notes as someone he believed incorruptible.
Julian carried copies.
I wore a wire.
Celeste gave us tunnel access.
At 1:32 a.m., we entered the church.
Victor waited near the altar.
Thomas Croft stood beside him.
And Evan sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
My knees almost failed.
“Sadie!”
“I'm here.”
Victor smiled.
“Touching.”
Julian held up the files.
“Release him.”
Thomas laughed.
“Nephew.”
Julian looked at him.
“You killed my father.”
“No.”
“Victor did.”
Victor stared.
Thomas continued:
“He started the fire.”
“You ordered it.”
“Details.”
The two men looked at each other.
There it was.
Men who had spent twelve years trusting greed.
One accusation was enough to split them.
I said:
“My father recorded everything.”
Victor's face changed.
Thomas turned.
“You said Mercer died before he could—”
“He did!”
“No.”
I held up my phone.
“His statement is already with federal prosecutors.”
Victor raised his gun.
Everything happened at once.
Celeste emerged from the tunnel.
“Dad!”
Victor turned.
Julian moved.
Thomas fired.
The bullet hit Julian.
I screamed.
He fell.
Federal agents stormed the church.
Victor grabbed Celeste.
Gun against her head.
“Back!”
She froze.
Her father whispered something.
I couldn't hear.
Then Celeste looked at me.
At the woman she'd kicked.
The woman she'd considered beneath her.
I saw terror.
And regret.
I moved.
“Victor.”
He looked at me.
“You want the originals?”
I held up the book.
His eyes followed it.
Celeste drove her heel down onto his foot.
Twisted.
The gun moved.
Rebecca fired.
Victor collapsed.
Celeste ran.
Thomas tried the tunnel.
Marcus caught him.
I reached Evan.
Cut the restraints.
Then Julian.
Blood covered his shirt.
“No.”
He opened his eyes.
“Vest.”
I almost killed him myself.
“You're wearing a vest?”
“Yes.”
“You couldn't mention that?”
“You were busy.”
I hit his shoulder.
He winced.
“That may be bruised.”
“Good.”
Evan laughed hysterically.
So did I.
Then I cried.
Julian sat up.
He looked at me.
“You okay?”
“My ribs are cracked.”
“My brother was kidnapped.”
“My dead father just gave me instructions through a video.”
“And I spent the last twenty minutes believing you got shot.”
“So no.”
“I'm not okay.”
He nodded.
“Reasonable.”
I laughed again.
Then Bruno's veterinarian called.
Julian answered.
Listened.
His face softened.
“He made it through surgery.”
I closed my eyes.
One good thing.
Sometimes that is enough to get through the next hour.
Victor survived.
Thomas was arrested.
Celeste surrendered voluntarily.
She gave prosecutors everything.
And Julian?
Three days later, he made an announcement nobody expected.
He was dismantling the criminal side of the Croft organization.
Not because federal authorities forced him.
Because Gabriel Croft had asked his son, twelve years after death, not to avenge him.
May you like
To end it.
And Julian intended to obey.
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