Chapter 9 - The Real Betrayal
Marcus was found before dawn.
He was not hiding.
He was waiting at a small roadside diner outside the city.
Adrien sat across from him.
I stayed behind the glass partition.
Marcus looked exhausted.
“You want to know the truth?”
Adrien said nothing.
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I didn't steal the ledger.”
“Then why help Victor?”
“Because he had my brother.”
Adrien's expression changed.
Marcus explained.
His younger brother had disappeared six months earlier.
Victor had threatened to kill him unless Marcus helped recover Elias Moretti's old ledger.
“But why?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Because the ledger contains proof that someone inside the organization has been paying police informants for years.”
Adrien stared.
“Who?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I never saw the name.”
“Then what was in the envelope?”
“A key.”
Adrien leaned forward.
“To what?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“The old Moretti waterfront warehouse.”
Adrien became still.
That warehouse had been closed since his father's death.
Marcus whispered, “Victor wasn't trying to steal your father's secrets.”
“He was trying to find something your father hid before he died.”
Adrien stood.
“What?”
May you like
Marcus finally looked at him.
“The evidence that could destroy the person who has been controlling your family from the shadows.”
