Chapter 12: The Last Carter Child
I had spent my entire life trying to protect my family.
Now my nephew was being held hostage because of secrets I hadn't even known existed.
Samuel stood across the service road, smiling as if he had already won.
I looked at Darius.
"Where is the second recording?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
"Malik trusted you.""
"He trusted me with Jordan. He trusted Trey with the card. He didn't tell me where everything was.""
I grabbed his jacket.
"Then start remembering.""
Darius looked at me.
"Your mother has it.""
I stopped.
"What?""
"Malik told me that if anything happened to him, Evelyn would know where to find the original recording.""
I turned toward Renee.
"Where's my mother?""
"At the house.""
I pulled out my phone and called her.
No answer.
I tried again.
Nothing.
Then I received a text.
*DON'T COME HOME. THEY KNOW WHERE I AM.*
A second message followed.
It contained a photograph of my mother's living room.
The furniture was overturned.
A lamp lay broken on the floor.
And on the wall, someone had written:
*ONE FAMILY. TOO MANY SECRETS.*
I looked at Darius.
"Take us to the house.""
Samuel laughed.
"You're not going anywhere.""
I turned toward him.
"You want the recording? Fine. But you won't get it by threatening children.""
Samuel lowered his phone.
"You're in no position to negotiate.""
Before he could say anything else, the warehouse alarm began blaring.
A security door dropped between us.
Someone had activated the emergency system.
Darius grabbed my arm.
"Now!""
We ran toward the delivery truck.
Renee climbed into the passenger seat with Jordan.
Darius took the driver's seat, and I climbed into the back.
As we sped away, I looked through the rear window.
Samuel was standing beneath the warehouse lights, watching us leave.
He didn't chase us.
He didn't need to.
He knew where we were going.
And that frightened me more than anything.
When we reached my mother's house, the front door was open.
I rushed inside.
"Mom!""
The living room was empty.
A broken picture frame lay near the stairs.
I picked it up.
It contained the photograph of my parents standing outside the old auto shop.
The glass had shattered directly across my father's face.
Renee entered behind me.
"Andre?""
I pointed toward the hallway.
"Check the bedrooms.""
She disappeared.
Darius moved toward the kitchen.
I noticed a small envelope on the counter.
My name was written across it.
I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Andre, if you're reading this, Samuel has found me. Don't trust the recording in the locker. It was altered. The original is hidden where your father made his last promise.
At the bottom, my mother had written an address.
The old Carter Auto Shop.
I stared at the note.
The building had been abandoned for years.
It was where my father had supposedly been murdered.
It was also where everything had started.
Renee returned from the hallway.
"She's not here.""
I showed her the note.
She read it twice.
"Your father made his last promise?""
I nodded.
"To protect us.""
Darius looked toward the window.
"Then we need to get there before Samuel.""
I turned toward him.
"How do you know he hasn't already gone?""
Darius pulled out his phone.
"Because Samuel just sent me something.""
He showed me a photograph.
It was an image of the auto shop taken from inside the building.
Someone had placed a small wooden box on the workbench.
Beside it was a photograph of Malik.
My brother was standing in the same room, wearing a hospital gown.
On the back of the photograph was a message.
*HE'S WAITING FOR YOU.*
I felt my heart pound.
"Malik is there?""
Darius nodded.
"That's what Samuel wants us to believe.""
I took the keys.
"We're going.""
Renee grabbed my arm.
"Not without Jordan.""
I looked toward the baby.
He was sleeping in her arms.
"Bring him.""
We drove to the old shop.
The neighborhood had changed dramatically. Businesses had closed, houses had been renovated, and the old streetlights barely worked.
But the auto shop looked exactly as I remembered.
The faded sign still hung above the entrance.
CARTER AUTO REPAIR.
I parked across the street.
For several seconds, I couldn't open the door.
I remembered being a child, running through that garage while my father worked beneath cars.
I remembered Malik sitting on an overturned bucket, pretending to help.
I remembered the smell of engine oil and the sound of our father's laughter.
Then I remembered the blood.
I stepped out.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, a single light illuminated the old workbench.
The wooden box sat in the center.
I approached slowly.
There was a brass key resting on top.
The same kind of key Trey had carried to locker 317.
I opened the box.
Inside was a small recorder, several photographs, and a letter addressed to both of us.
*TO MY SONS.*
My hands trembled as I unfolded it.
Andre and Malik, if you're reading this, then I failed to protect you from the people I trusted.
Samuel did not act alone. Victor helped him, but there was another person who made sure the evidence disappeared.
Someone who knew where I was going that night.
I stopped.
Renee stepped closer.
"Keep reading.""
The next line was written in darker ink.
The person who betrayed me was your mother.
I looked up.
"That can't be right.""
Darius shook his head.
"Maybe your father was trying to confuse whoever found this.""
I continued reading.
Evelyn knew what Samuel planned. She warned him that I was going to expose everything. She believed she was saving the family by helping him.
My chest tightened.
My mother had admitted to hiding things.
But she had never admitted to betraying my father.
The letter continued.
However, she changed her mind at the last moment. She tried to stop the shooting, and that is why they came after her.
I looked toward Renee.
"She helped Samuel?""
Renee shook her head.
"She tried to stop him.""
I turned the page.
There was another paragraph.
If you want to understand what happened, listen to the original recording. But remember this: the man who fired the gun wasn't the man who ordered the murder.
I reached for the recorder.
Before I could press PLAY, a voice came from the darkness.
"That's right.""
I turned.
A figure stood in the doorway.
It was Judge Elaine Brooks.
Her face was bruised, and one sleeve of her coat was torn.
She held a small black case.
"Andre, your father didn't tell you everything.""
I approached her.
"Where is my mother?""
"Alive.""
"Where's Trey?""
"Samuel has him.""
I stepped closer.
"Then tell me how to get him back.""
Elaine opened the case.
Inside were original documents, photographs, and a sealed envelope.
She placed the envelope on the workbench.
"This contains the name of the person who ordered your father's murder.""
I stared at it.
"Why not just tell me?""
She looked toward Darius.
"Because the person who ordered it is standing in this room.""
I slowly turned.
Darius had gone completely still.
Elaine pointed at him.
"Your brother's right-hand man wasn't just working for Victor.""
She opened the envelope.
"Marcus King, Darius's father, was the one who arranged Raymond Carter's murder.""
Darius closed his eyes.
Then Elaine delivered the final blow.
"And Darius has known the truth since the night Malik died.""
I looked at Darius.
He didn't deny it.
Instead, he whispered:
"There's something else, Andre. Something Malik made me promise never to tell you.""
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded hospital document.
At the top was Malik's name.
Beneath it was a medical diagnosis and a date.
The date was three days before the funeral.
I looked at him.
"What is this?""
Darius swallowed.
"Your brother didn't disappear because he was afraid of Samuel.""
He paused.
"Malik knew he was dying, Andre. And he asked me to help him fake his death for one final reason.""
I stared at the document.
May you like
Then Darius spoke the words that changed everything.
"Your brother wanted to find out which one of us would betray his son.""
