estate was

inutes. Black SUVs lined the perimeter. Armed guards swept the woods behind the h

, there wa

for

st hours before. The articles, the transcripts, the photographs-each piece twisted her pe

y not her

," Damien said f

rmured. "Someone

he frame, arms cros

her look u

d, face hard. "That bullet-if I ha

shiv

s is about the scand

ing my father was an honest man. Now I'm finding out he was involved in shady

d beside her. "I think they were plann

o him slowly

government contracting. Defense technolog

ney," she

aundering money or moving funds...

wall of clippings, h

starting to look like a

d herself in the guest suite. S

n at the bottom of her duffel bag. It was a battered tin container, filled with remnants of a life be

long moment before inse

s she opened the onl

onfess

eath c

secretly. Her father's face appeared onscreen.

a," he said, voice shaking, "t

her mouth as

. I got in too deep. Damien's father... he promised power, protection, everything. But he was ly

king directly

it won't be

en cut t

en, tears blur

adn't died i

een si

g, she showed D

it ended, he stood and walked

aid finally. "He pulled the strings

ly involved," Elena said. "We

erson who migh

ho

e offshore accounts. He vanished after my fat

an was

Swiss banker-was rumored to be hiding under a new identity. If they could get him to talk, th

landed. A black car awaited them,

ething out of a spy

. "It is. Just withou

et cafe outside the city. He w

he said the moment

replied. "We're not here to exp

ed around the room.

ignorance,

ade hi

gestured for

en. "Told him it was too dangerous. But once

they do?"

government paid for but never received. Billions disappeared. When

r?" Elena

said. "But I know this-your father tried to back

orward. "Where'

"That's the question ev

owned. "

They're not seeking revenge. They think your

't," s

d softly. "If he left breadc

k to New York, El

he hidden accounts. The buried confessions. The m

aptop and played

she hadn't before-a photo behin

her chil

he noticed a

ere was a bookshelf-with one b

ga

ell her that books h

eld se

estate in upstate New York. The house had been abandoned for years,

musty, thick with

bookshelf in

-A Tale of Two Cities-the same edition

lled i

y fell to

it up. "This l

k her he

found a locked panel beneath the f

was a m

box... we

s of

the pages-detailed notes, tran

is is the paper trail. Eve

o the authoriti

e targets. Bigger than before. This could ta

through her hair.

ould answer, hi

ess

it and w

it?" sh

e phone so s

s a p

outside the estate

t was a

to hand over the l

blood

mie

hand. "We're

o exit, a sharp clic

d, female,

t move if

n around-

s Cas

-best

betr

ing

Contin