Chapter 10: My Father Was the Enemy
"Don't let Dad leave that warehouse.""
Malik's voice continued ringing in my ears long after the call disconnected.
I stared at Raymond Carter.
The man I had mourned for twenty years.
The man whose photograph sat beside my mother's grave.
The man who had just admitted to ordering her murder.
My father slowly lowered his eyes.
"Andre, give me a chance to explain.""
I stepped backward.
"You don't get to call yourself my father.""
His face tightened.
"I made mistakes.""
"Mistakes?""
I pointed toward Victor, who was sitting against the warehouse wall.
"You disappeared. Mom disappeared. Malik died. And now you're telling me you ordered your own wife's murder?""
Raymond shook his head.
"I never wanted Evelyn dead.""
"Then why did you order it?""
He looked toward Darius.
"Because I believed she was going to expose something that would destroy the family.""
I laughed.
"What family? The one you murdered?""
Raymond approached me.
I immediately raised my hand.
"Don't come closer.""
He stopped.
"Your mother discovered that Samuel and Victor had been using Black Crown to move money through legitimate businesses. But she also discovered that I had been involved before I left Atlanta.""
"So you killed her to protect yourself?""
"No. I ordered someone to scare her. I told them not to hurt her.""
Victor laughed from the floor.
"That's what you tell yourself?""
Raymond turned sharply.
"Shut up.""
Victor wiped blood from his mouth.
"Tell your son about the hospital.""
My stomach tightened.
"What hospital?""
Raymond looked away.
Victor smiled.
"Your mother wasn't dead when they put her in that ambulance. She was still alive when your father visited her.""
I felt my hands begin to shake.
"Where was she taken?""
Raymond remained silent.
I grabbed his jacket.
"WHERE?""
Darius stepped between us.
"Andre, listen.""
I turned toward him.
"Move.""
"Your father isn't telling you everything, but neither is Victor.""
Darius pointed toward the digital recorder my father had been holding.
"That device contains the original conversation between Raymond and Victor. I heard part of it before they arrived.""
Raymond immediately reached for the recorder.
Darius pushed his hand away.
"Not anymore.""
I took the device.
My father looked frightened for the first time.
"Andre, don't play that.""
I pressed the button.
Static filled the warehouse.
Then my father's voice came through.
"She knows about Samuel. She knows about the trust. If she talks, the boys will lose everything.""
Victor answered.
"Then let me handle her.""
Raymond's voice became quieter.
"Make sure she disappears. I don't want the children finding out what happened.""
The recording ended.
I stared at my father.
He looked like a stranger.
"She was your wife.""
His eyes filled with tears.
"I know.""
"She raised us. She protected us. She believed you were a good man.""
"I know!""
"Then how could you?""
Raymond dropped into a chair.
For several seconds, the only sound was Jordan crying in Denise's arms.
Then Victor spoke.
"Because your father was never the victim in this story.""
I turned toward him.
"What do you mean?""
Victor leaned against the wall.
"Raymond wanted control of everything. The organization, the businesses, the trust. When your mother found out he had been secretly transferring money, she threatened to take the boys and leave.""
Raymond shook his head.
"That's a lie.""
Victor laughed.
"Then why did you sign the order?""
My father stood abruptly.
"Because you threatened to expose me!""
The words escaped before he could stop himself.
I froze.
Victor's smile widened.
"There it is.""
Raymond realized what he had admitted.
Darius looked at him with disgust.
"You let us believe Victor killed Malik's father. You let us build Black Crown around that lie.""
My father turned toward him.
"You don't understand what I sacrificed.""
Darius stepped closer.
"You sacrificed everybody.""
Before anyone could respond, the warehouse doors opened.
Several men entered.
They wore dark jackets and carried weapons.
Victor began smiling.
"Finally.""
My father reached inside his coat.
I immediately grabbed his wrist.
"What are you doing?""
He pulled out a small pistol.
"Protecting my family.""
I stared at the weapon.
"You don't get to use that excuse anymore.""
A man near the entrance shouted.
"Nobody move!""
Darius pushed Denise and Jordan behind the metal table.
I grabbed the recorder and pulled Trey from my memory, remembering the envelope Samuel had given him.
The truth was bigger than one recording.
We needed to survive long enough to expose it.
Then one of the men stepped forward.
He removed his hood.
It was Samuel.
He looked directly at Raymond.
"Brother, you should have stayed dead.""
Raymond's face turned pale.
"Samuel?""
Samuel smiled.
"Did you really think I would let you take everything twice?""
Victor began laughing.
And suddenly, I understood.
The man who had been pretending to be my father's enemy had just walked into the warehouse to save him.
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Samuel wasn't here to rescue us.
He was here to finish what he had started twenty years earlier.
