Chapter 4 - THE LEDGER IN BROOKLYN
Two days later, I returned to Brooklyn.
Not to Julian.
To the safety-deposit box.
I entered the bank wearing a plain black coat and carrying my father's key.
My hands trembled as the employee led me into a private room.
Inside the box was a sealed envelope.
A small notebook.
And a photograph.
I picked up the photograph first.
It showed my father standing beside a younger Julian Cross.
Julian couldn't have been older than twenty-five.
They were smiling.
I stared.
My father had known him.
Not merely worked in the same organization.
Known him.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
My Elena,
If you're reading this, I failed to come home.
I need you to understand something. Not everyone in the Cross family is evil.
Julian is different from Victor.
He doesn't know what his uncle has been doing.
I tried to warn him, but Victor discovered my investigation.
If you ever meet Julian, judge him by his actions, not his name.
I love you.
Papa.
I began crying.
Then I opened the notebook.
The pages contained names.
Bank accounts.
Shipping routes.
Payments.
And one repeated reference.
PROJECT BLACK CROWN.
I didn't understand it.
Not yet.
But I understood enough to know my father had died because of what he'd discovered.
I photographed the pages and contacted an attorney Margaret had recommended.
Then I called her.
“I found it.”
Margaret went silent.
“Are you safe?”
“For now.”
“Elena, listen carefully. Victor knows you're alive.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“Someone told him.”
“Who?”
Margaret hesitated.
Then whispered, “We don't know.”
I looked toward the bank's glass doors.
A black sedan was parked across the street.
Its engine was running.
My blood went cold.
“Margaret?”
May you like
“Yes?”
“I think someone followed me.”
