THE LAST THING JULIAN STOLE
We reached the storage facility before noon.
Roman’s men surrounded the building.
I stayed inside the SUV with my daughter.
Roman approached the entrance.
A few minutes later, he returned.
His face told me everything.
“What happened?”
“The unit was opened.”
“Was everything gone?”
“Not everything.”
He handed me a small box.
I stared at it.
“What is this?”
“Your father left it behind.”
I opened the box.
Inside was an old photograph.
My father was standing beside a younger Roman.
I looked at Roman.
“You were so young.”
He smiled faintly.
“Your father trusted very few people.”
I looked at the photograph again.
Then I noticed something written on the back.
A sentence in my father’s handwriting.
If you are reading this, then they finally found me.
My hands began trembling.
There was more.
Trust no one. Not even the man you married.
I looked at Roman.
“Julian.”
Roman nodded.
“There is more.”
I turned the photograph over.
Another line had been written beneath the first.
The money is only a distraction. The real secret is in Madeline’s name.
I stared at the words.
“What does that mean?”
Roman didn’t answer.
Then his phone rang.
He listened.
His expression became completely still.
“What happened?”
He ended the call.
“Julian escaped.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He was being transferred when someone attacked the convoy.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Roman looked at me.
“Coming here.”
My heart stopped.
“Here?”
“To Portland.”
“Why?”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“Because he knows we found your father’s evidence.”
I held my daughter tighter.
“What does he want?”
Roman looked at the photograph in my hand.
“The same thing he wanted from the beginning.”
“What?”
“Whatever your father hid.”
A vehicle suddenly appeared at the end of the road.
Roman’s security team immediately moved into position.
The SUV stopped.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
My breath caught.
Julian.
He looked completely different.
His expensive clothes were dirty.
His face was bruised.
And there was blood running from the corner of his mouth.
He looked directly at me.
Then at my daughter.
Then at Roman.
“You don’t understand,” Julian shouted.
Roman stepped in front of me.
“Go home, Julian.”
“You have no idea what you’ve uncovered!”
Roman’s expression remained cold.
“Then tell us.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You think this is about money?”
Nobody answered.
Julian looked directly at me.
“Your father didn’t die because of Victor Kane.”
I froze.
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
Julian continued.
“He died because of you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Julian smiled.
And for the first time since I had met him, I saw something in his eyes that terrified me more than his betrayal.
Fear.
“Madeline,” he whispered.
“You were never supposed to survive long enough to find out.”
Roman immediately stepped between us.
But Julian’s next words changed everything.
“Ask Roman what happened the night your father died.”
I looked at Roman.
He didn’t speak.
And in that silence, I realized the truth I had been avoiding.
Roman Blackwood hadn’t just known my father.
He had been there the night he died.
