Chapter 9 - The Empty Grave)
Police would have complicated everything.
Marcus called only Nathan and Rebecca.
Victoria insisted on coming.
Marcus refused.
Then she said something that changed his mind.
"Adrian doesn't know Charles gave me a second ledger."
Marcus stared at her.
"What second ledger?"
"A list of payments Graham Cole made outside Aurelia."
"Where is it?"
Victoria smiled bitterly.
"Inside Elena's grave."
Thirty-five minutes later they entered Chicago Memorial Cemetery through a maintenance gate.
Rain had begun.
Marcus hated that.
Elena's funeral had happened in rain.
They reached the Thorne family plot.
Her name was carved into black granite.
ELENA THORNE
BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER
Marcus stood before it.
For four years he had spoken to this stone.
Birthdays.
Christmases.
The first day Lily started school.
The night he finally removed Elena's clothes from their closet.
And beneath the earth had been a stranger.
Rebecca touched his arm.
"We need to move."
A groundskeeper loyal to Nathan had already opened the grave.
The coffin waited beneath a temporary canopy.
Victoria looked away.
Marcus did not.
"Open it."
Nathan lifted the lid.
Empty.
Marcus stared.
"No body."
Nathan frowned.
"The burial records say..."
Marcus turned toward Victoria.
"Explain."
Victoria looked genuinely shocked.
"There was a body."
"Whose?"
"I don't know."
"Of course."
"I never asked."
Marcus stepped toward her.
"You buried an unidentified woman under my wife's name and never asked who she was?"
"I was told she had no family."
"By whom?"
"Graham Cole."
Rebecca whispered, "My God."
Marcus looked inside the coffin.
Something lay at the bottom.
A small metal box.
Victoria stared.
"I didn't put that there."
Nathan lifted it.
No lock.
Inside were documents wrapped in plastic.
And a phone.
The phone powered on automatically.
A video began.
Elena appeared.
Alive.
Recorded perhaps months earlier.
Marcus could tell from her hair length.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Marcus, if you're watching this, someone finally opened the grave."
His breathing stopped.
"I don't know how long they'll keep me alive. I don't know what Victoria has told you."
Victoria stiffened.
Elena continued.
"But if Lily is safe, listen carefully."
She lifted a page.
"The Aurelia network is not controlled by the Coles."
Marcus looked at Rebecca.
"The Coles handle enforcement and money. They are not the top."
Elena's expression became fearful.
"Charles discovered that someone inside the federal government had protected Aurelia from investigation for decades."
Nathan swore quietly.
Elena continued.
"I found the identity."
The video glitched.
Static.
Then resumed.
But the next several seconds had been corrupted.
Marcus grabbed the phone.
"No."
Elena reappeared.
"...never trust anyone who shows you the three-circle symbol unless the vertical line is broken."
Marcus looked at the pendant.
The vertical line on Lily's pendant was fractured.
Elena continued.
"Charles created a resistance group inside Aurelia. Rebecca was part of it. Nathan helped without knowing everything."
Rebecca began crying silently.
"If Victoria is still alive, ask her about December Ninth."
Marcus looked at his mother.
Victoria whispered, "Elena..."
The video continued.
"That is the date she chose which side she was on."
Then Elena looked off-camera.
Fear crossed her face.
"I have to stop."
She leaned closer.
"Marcus, I did lie when we met."
His eyes burned.
"But I never lied about loving you."
A noise came from behind her.
She whispered quickly.
"And Lily is not Subject Eight."
Marcus frowned.
The video ended.
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
"What does that mean?"
Rebecca shook her head.
Marcus turned toward Victoria.
"What happened December ninth?"
Victoria looked down into the empty coffin.
Her voice was barely audible.
"I killed Graham Cole."
Adrian's father.
Marcus stared.
"He's dead?"
"He has been for eight months."
"Everyone said he died in Switzerland."
"He died in my house."
"Why?"
Victoria looked at Marcus.
"Because he came for Lily."
A gunshot cracked through the cemetery.
Nathan fell.
Rebecca screamed.
Marcus pulled Victoria behind the stone monument.
Another bullet struck granite.
Nathan groaned.
"Shoulder."
Marcus saw movement between the trees.
Men.
At least four.
Adrian stepped into view holding an umbrella.
He smiled.
"Family reunions are always so emotional."
Marcus raised his weapon.
Adrian lifted one hand.
"If you shoot me, Elena dies."
Marcus froze.
Adrian pointed toward the metal box.
"Give me the second ledger."
Victoria whispered, "Don't."
Adrian smiled wider.
"And the pendant."
Marcus looked at the broken crystal in his palm.
Then toward Nathan bleeding in the mud.
He threw the ledger across the grass.
Adrian's man collected it.
"The pendant," Adrian said.
Marcus held it up.
"Elena first."
Adrian shook his head.
"You still think this is a negotiation."
Marcus smiled.
"No."
Adrian frowned.
Marcus pressed a button inside his cufflink.
Floodlights exploded across the cemetery.
Three black vehicles roared through the gate.
Men in tactical gear surrounded the gravesite.
Adrian spun.
Marcus had called more than Nathan.
He had called Claire Briggs.
And Claire had brought former federal tactical officers.
Adrian raised his gun.
Marcus fired first.
The bullet struck Adrian's wrist.
His weapon fell.
Seconds later he was on the ground.
Marcus walked toward him.
Adrian laughed through the pain.
"You think you won?"
Marcus kicked the gun away.
"Where is Elena?"
Adrian looked up.
May you like
Then smiled.
"Ask your daughter."
