Chapter 9: The Last Brother
The detective locked the motel room door.
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
The information had changed everything.
There could be a corrupt officer.
Or several.
The evidence could disappear.
The arrests could become meaningless.
And Victor was still free.
Emily looked at the detective.
“Who can we trust?””
He answered honestly.
“I don't know.””
That frightened her more than anything else.
They transferred the evidence to an independent federal investigator in Bakersfield.
The trip was made in separate vehicles.
Emily rode with Caruso.
Razor followed.
The detective stayed behind.
No one used the main highway.
Nobody turned on a radio.
They drove in silence.
Halfway there, Caruso received a message.
He read it.
“What?””
Caruso turned pale.
“Maria's house burned.””
Emily’s heart dropped.
“Is she alive?””
“She got out.””
“Then she’s okay.””
Caruso nodded.
“But her records are gone.””
Emily looked at the jacket.
Her father had hidden things everywhere.
Maybe there was another clue.
She searched the inside seams.
Nothing.
The collar.
Nothing.
The sleeves.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the old photograph.
The little girl on the motorcycle.
Her father had painted it.
There had been a number written beneath the tire.
Emily suddenly remembered.
*409.*
She looked at Caruso.
“Turn around.””
“Why?””
“My dad didn't paint randomly.””
They returned to Fresno.
They found the old mural.
Emily counted the bricks beneath the painted tire.
Four.
Then zero.
Then nine.
One brick was loose.
Behind it was a metal cylinder.
Inside sat another tape.
Razor stared.
“Ghost's last message.””
They played it.
Daniel’s voice filled the empty garage.
“If Emily hears this, then the people I trusted failed.””
Emily closed her eyes.
“Don't let them make you hate everyone.””
Her father paused.
“Betrayal spreads when good people decide fear is easier than truth.””
Razor looked down.
Daniel continued.
“There is one final brother.””
Emily opened her eyes.
“One of the Nine is still alive.””
Caruso whispered, “Who?””
Daniel answered on the recording.
“His name is Michael.””
Everyone froze.
Razor stared at Caruso.
“There was no Michael.””
“There was.””
Emily frowned.
“Why don't I remember that name?””
Caruso shook his head.
“Because Michael left before you were born.””
Daniel continued.
“He left because he refused to participate in what Victor was building.””
Static.
Then:
“Michael knows where the original ledger is.””
Razor looked at Emily.
“We find him.””
They searched old records.
Finally, they found an address.
A ranch outside Modesto.
They drove before dawn.
Michael opened the gate himself.
He was seventy-two.
He walked with a cane.
His face carried the same weathered lines as Caruso.
When he saw the jacket, he stopped.
“Daniel.””
Emily nodded.
“He was my dad.””
Michael lowered his head.
“I knew.””
“You knew about me?””
“Yes.””
“Why did you stay away?””
Michael looked at her.
“Because your father asked me to.””
Emily's frustration exploded.
“Every man in my father's life keeps saying he asked them to stay away!””
Michael accepted her anger.
“Your father knew he was surrounded.””
“Then why did he trust you?””
“Because I was the only one he didn't.””
That stopped her.
Michael led them into the house.
A hidden room contained documents.
The original ledger.
Photographs.
A list of names.
And evidence of payments dating back twenty years.
At the top was a name Emily recognized.
Victor Kane.
Below him was another.
A businessman.
Then a sheriff.
Then a judge.
Then a police captain.
Then a prosecutor.
Michael looked at Emily.
“Your father wanted the truth released publicly.””
“How?””
“He had planned to send the files to a reporter.””
“What happened?””
“The reporter died.””
Emily stared.
“How?””
“Car accident.””
She closed the ledger.
“Everybody who gets close to this dies.””
Michael nodded.
“That's why Ghost created one final backup.””
“Where?””
Michael smiled sadly.
“With you.””
Emily frowned.
“What?””
“The jacket.””
She looked down.
Michael pointed to the First Nine patch.
“Your father knew nobody would search the patch because they would assume it was sentimental.””
Emily turned the jacket over.
Michael cut a tiny seam behind the patch.
A microSD card slipped out.
Everyone stared.
“That was there the whole time?””
Michael nodded.
“Your father carried the evidence on himself.””
Razor took a breath.
“Then this ends tonight.””
They uploaded the files to multiple locations.
Three reporters.
Two attorneys.
A federal office.
And a public archive.
Before sunrise, the evidence was no longer controlled by any one person.
Michael closed his eyes.
“Daniel would be proud.””
Emily held the jacket.
Then her phone rang.
Victor.
She answered.
“It's over.””
Victor laughed.
“No.””
“What do you want?””
“You.””
She looked around.
“I have nothing left for you.””
“You have something.””
“What?””
“Your father's trust.””
Emily said nothing.
Victor continued.
“He left one thing in the jacket that isn't evidence.””
Emily’s heart raced.
“What?””
“He left a message for you.””
“Where?””
“At the diner.””
Rosie’s.
The place where all of this had begun.
Caruso shook his head.
“No.””
Victor whispered:
“Come alone.””
Emily ended the call.
Razor looked at her.
“You're not going.””
Emily stared at the jacket.
“We're going.””
“No.””
“My father started this at Rosie’s.””
May you like
She looked at him.
“I want to finish it there.””
