Chapter 14: The Last Piece of the Puzzle
Mason Reed found us before we found him.
That was the kind of person he had always been.
Always one step ahead.
Always prepared.
The security alarms went off just after midnight.
Marcus ran into the library.
“Someone entered through the west gate.””
Ethan stood immediately.
“Who?””
Marcus looked at me.
“We don’t know.””
But I already did.
I walked toward the entrance.
Everyone followed.
The front doors opened.
And there he was.
Mason.
Older.
Tired.
But still the same person who had once taught me how to survive.
For a second, I forgot everything.
The anger.
The betrayal.
The questions.
I only saw my friend.
Then I remembered the fire.
“You’re alive.””
Mason looked at me.
“So are you.””
My voice became cold.
“You knew.””
He looked down.
“Yes.””
Daniel moved forward.
“You let her believe you were dead too.””
Mason didn’t answer.
That was enough.
Ethan stepped beside me.
“Explain.””
Mason looked at him.
“You’re Richard’s son.””
“Yes.””
“Then you deserve the truth.””
He looked at me.
“All of it.””
We moved into the library.
Mason sat across from me.
“I didn’t betray you.””
I almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“No.””
He looked exhausted.
“I expect you to remember.””
Everyone was tired of hearing that.
Including me.
Mason continued.
“The night before the fire, you discovered the real operation.””
“What operation?””
“The one Daniel Voss was investigating.””
He placed a folder on the table.
“The Whitmore family wasn’t the only organization involved.””
Inside were names.
Companies.
Politicians.
People with influence.
Mason pointed.
“Thomas was building a network.””
Richard looked at him.
“And you helped him?””
Mason shook his head.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Naomi did.””
The room went silent.
My heart stopped.
“What?””
Mason opened another document.
“You were undercover.””
I stared.
“No.””
“Yes.””
He pushed the file toward me.
“Your entire security assignment was a cover.””
I looked at Daniel.
He looked away.
“You knew?””
“I knew pieces.””
Mason continued.
“You weren’t protecting Daniel Voss.””
“Then what was I doing?””
“Investigating him.””
My mind spun.
Everything I believed was changing.
I wasn’t just a protector.
I was an investigator.
A person searching for corruption.
Mason leaned forward.
“You found proof.””
“What proof?””
“The person controlling everything.””
I looked at him.
“Who?””
Mason hesitated.
And that hesitation terrified me.
“Your employer.””
I frowned.
“My employer?””
Mason looked at Richard.
“No.””
Then at Thomas.
“No.””
Then at me.
“The security company.””
I felt the room shift.
The people I trusted.
The people who trained me.
The people who gave me the mission.
They had been part of it.
Mason continued.
“Your supervisor discovered you knew too much.””
“Who was my supervisor?””
Mason looked at me.
“Jonathan Hale.””
The name hit me.
A name I had buried.
The man who recruited me.
The man who believed in me.
The man who told me I was special.
“He ordered the fire.””
Silence.
Then Ethan asked:
“Where is he now?””
Mason looked toward the window.
“He’s been here the entire time.””
My blood went cold.
“What?””
Mason’s expression turned serious.
“He changed his identity.””
He pulled out a photograph.
A man standing inside Whitmore House.
Working among the staff.
Someone I had seen every day.
Someone who had been close enough to watch me.
I looked at the picture.
And my heart dropped.
Because the man standing beside the Whitmore family for years…
Was the same man who had handed me my first uniform at Whitmore House.
May you like
Marcus.
The security chief.
