Chapter 7 - DANIEL ROSS RETURNSDaniel arrived at the police station under heavy protection.
Mark expected a frightened man.
Instead, Daniel walked through the doors looking exhausted but determined.
He was older than Mark remembered.
Thinner.
A scar ran along his jaw.
He stopped when he saw Mark.
“I'm sorry.”
Mark stared.
“You're alive.”
Daniel nodded.
“I had to disappear.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I didn't have a choice.”
Mark's voice hardened.
“You always had a choice.”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“She knows.”
Victoria lowered her eyes.
Daniel continued.
“Blackwood controls people through fear.”
Mark asked:
“Who is Blackwood?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not one person.”
“Victoria told me that.”
“Then she told you the truth.”
“Who leads it?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Your father.”
Mark's face went pale.
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
“He couldn't be leading it.”
“He was.”
Victoria whispered:
“Daniel.”
Mark turned.
“What is he talking about?”
Daniel explained.
“Your father built the original network decades ago.”
Mark felt sick.
“The charity?”
“Was one part of it.”
“The company?”
“Another.”
“My father's death?”
Daniel looked at Victoria.
“That's where everything changed.”
Mark demanded:
“Tell me.”
Daniel sighed.
“Your father wanted to leave Blackwood.”
“Why?”
“Because he realized what it had become.”
“What had it become?”
“A machine that destroyed anyone who threatened it.”
Mark looked at Victoria.
“And she knew?”
Daniel nodded.
“She was helping your father escape.”
Mark stared at Victoria.
“Then why did she lie?”
“Because Richard found out.”
Victoria began crying.
“Richard threatened to kill Mark.”
Daniel nodded.
“He did.”
Mark turned back to Daniel.
“Who killed my father?”
Daniel's expression became grim.
“Your father's attorney.”
“Margaret?”
“Yes.”
Mark's eyes widened.
“Why?”
“Because your father was going to expose her.”
“But she said she turned against Blackwood.”
“She did.”
“After killing him?”
Daniel nodded.
“She poisoned him.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Mark felt as though the room were spinning.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Margaret controlled the evidence.”
Daniel handed Mark a small flash drive.
“Your father recorded everything.”
Mark took it.
“What's on it?”
“The final conversation.”
They played the recording.
Mark's father's voice came through.
“I know what you've done.”
Margaret's voice answered.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You're going to destroy everything.”
“I am going to save my son.”
Mark's father's voice became weaker.
“Mark must never know.”
Margaret whispered:
“Then he will never know.”
A glass shattered.
The recording ended.
Mark looked at Daniel.
“That proves it.”
Daniel nodded.
“But there's more.”
“What?”
“Your father left instructions.”
“For what?”
“To destroy Blackwood.”
Mark's phone rang.
A message appeared.
COME TO THE MANSION.
COME ALONE.
Then a second message arrived.
IF YOU WANT ELENA TO LIVE.
Mark's heart stopped.
Elena looked at him.
“What happened?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel saw the screen.
“They have her.”
Mark looked toward the hallway.
Elena was standing there.
Then Mark realized something.
The Elena beside him wasn't moving.
It was a photograph on the security monitor.
A live feed showed Elena somewhere else.
She was tied to a chair.
Victoria screamed.
“No!”
Mark grabbed the monitor.
A man's voice came through the speakers.
“Bring me the final ledger.”
Mark whispered:
“Richard.”
The voice laughed.
“No.”
A different voice answered.
“Not Richard.”
The screen changed.
Margaret appeared.
Mark stared in disbelief.
She smiled.
May you like
“Hello, Mark.”
===
