Chapter 5 - The Last Secret
Hazel left the warehouse without saying goodbye.
Damian found her at sunrise beside the river.
“You disappeared.”
“I needed air.”
He stood beside her.
“Your father?”
“Black Harbor’s director.”
“I thought he died.”
“So did I.”
Damian waited.
Hazel eventually continued.
“Seven years ago, Daniel Shaw told me there was a leak. Forty-eight hours later, the operation collapsed. His car was found abandoned.”
“No body?”
“No.”
“And you believed he was dead.”
“I needed to.”
Damian looked toward the river.
“What if Vincent showed us that photograph deliberately?”
“He did.”
“To divide us.”
“Probably.”
“Is it working?”
Hazel looked at him.
“Not yet.”
His phone rang.
Marcus.
Damian answered.
“What?”
“We found Colin Price.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring him in.”
Two hours later, Colin sat inside an Apex conference room.
He looked exhausted.
Hazel remained standing.
Damian sat opposite him.
“Who paid you?”
Colin stared at the table.
“Vincent.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
“Who ordered the corridor attack?”
Colin hesitated.
Hazel spoke.
“Answer.”
Colin looked at her and visibly recoiled.
“Bastion.”
“And Daniel Shaw?”
Colin’s eyes shifted.
Damian caught it.
“You know something.”
“I know a name.”
Hazel stepped closer.
“What name?”
“Orion.”
Her face went still.
Damian asked, “What is Orion?”
Hazel answered without looking away from Colin.
“My father’s operational code name.”
Silence.
Colin swallowed.
“Vincent received instructions from Orion.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
Hazel walked out.
Damian followed.
She entered his office and stood at the window.
“Hazel.”
“Don’t.”
“Evelyn.”
“Don’t.”
He stopped several feet behind her.
“My father taught me everything.”
Her voice was controlled.
“How to observe people. How to notice exits. How to recognize when someone was lying.”
She laughed quietly.
“Apparently he forgot to teach me how to recognize it in him.”
“You don’t know the whole story.”
“I know enough.”
“No. You have one frightened man giving you a code name.”
She turned.
“Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“What you did for me.”
Hazel frowned.
“Making you slow down before you destroy something you can’t repair.”
That silenced her.
Damian walked to his desk.
“Six days ago, I made a decision because I was angry and embarrassed.”
He looked at her.
“I’m not letting you make the same mistake.”
Hazel stared at him for a long moment.
Then Damian’s desk phone rang.
His private line.
Nobody outside a small circle had the number.
Damian answered.
“Russo.”
A man spoke.
“Put my daughter on.”
Hazel went white.
Damian held out the phone.
She took it.
“Dad?”
“Hello, Evelyn.”
Her hand trembled once.
Then stopped.
“Where are you?”
“Close.”
“Were you Orion?”
“I still am.”
Hazel closed her eyes.
“Did you destroy Black Harbor?”
“No.”
“Did you work with Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Her face hardened.
“Why?”
“To get close enough to identify everyone above him.”
Hazel said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“Vincent never controlled the network. Bastion didn’t either. They were middlemen.”
“Then who?”
“I’ll tell you in person.”
“Where?”
“The place I taught you to play chess.”
Hazel’s expression changed.
She knew exactly where he meant.
The call ended.
Damian reached for his coat.
Hazel stopped him.
“You’re not coming.”
“Yes, I am.”
“This is my father.”
“And this started inside my company.”
“It could be a trap.”
Damian looked at her.
“Then it’s fortunate I recently discovered my former secretary is terrifying.”
Despite everything, Hazel laughed.
A small, unwilling laugh.
It was the first genuinely warm sound Damian had ever heard from her.
“Fine,” she said.
“But this time, you follow my instructions.”
Damian opened the door.
May you like
“I’m getting disturbingly good at that.”
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