Chapter 4 - THE FINAL MESSAGE
Ronan found us before I could decide whether to play the memory card.
Maybe he had cameras.
Maybe he had instincts.
Maybe secrets simply behaved differently inside Raven Hill.
The bedroom door unlocked from outside.
He entered alone.
His eyes dropped to the brass capsule in Evelyn's hand.
Every trace of warmth disappeared.
“Where did you get that?”
I stood.
“Dorian.”
Silence.
Not shock.
Impact.
Ronan looked like someone had struck him without moving.
“Say that again.”
“Your brother gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
His jaw tightened so hard I saw the muscle jump.
“You told me you didn't know him.”
“I lied.”
“I noticed.”
Evelyn grabbed his sleeve.
Ronan didn't look away from me.
“You had something from my dead brother for four years.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he told me to.”
“Dorian is dead.”
“I know.”
“I buried him.”
“I know.”
“You don't get to stand in my mother's room and tell me what my brother wanted.”
I felt my own anger rise.
“I didn't ask for any of this.”
Ronan took one step toward me.
“Then explain.”
So I did.
Not everything.
But enough.
St. Agnes.
Dorian's injury.
Falcon.
The warning.
The photograph of Poppy.
The condition he gave me.
Wait until Evelyn remembered.
When I finished, Ronan looked at his mother.
She signed Falcon.
He didn't understand.
For the first time, irritation appeared on his face.
“What?”
I translated.
“He told her to trust me.”
Ronan laughed once.
Bitter.
“Convenient.”
Evelyn slapped the armrest.
Then signed more sharply.
Ronan.
Little wolf.
Still stupid.
I almost smiled.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Mara.”
“She called you stupid.”
Evelyn pointed at him triumphantly.
Ronan stared at his mother.
Then to my shock, he laughed.
It was brief.
Rough.
Almost disbelieving.
“She used to call me Little Wolf.”
His voice changed.
“She hasn't…”
He stopped.
Evelyn touched his hand.
For one moment, the mafia boss disappeared.
He was only a son.
Then Ronan looked at the card.
“We play it now.”
I nodded.
We used an offline laptop from his safe.
The card held one audio file.
No video.
Ronan clicked.
Static.
Then Dorian's voice filled the room.
“Ronan.”
Ronan stopped breathing.
“If Mara Ellison is standing in front of you, Mother remembered Falcon.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
My eyes burned.
Dorian continued.
“That means I failed to come home.”
Long pause.
“I need you angry enough to listen and calm enough not to kill the wrong man.”
Ronan's face hardened.
“I found the leak.”
Static.
“It isn't a driver. It isn't a dock supervisor. It isn't one of your captains.”
Another pause.
“Gideon.”
Ronan closed his eyes.
Dorian continued.
“He has been selling pieces of us for years. Not enough to destroy the family. Enough to make himself necessary every time something goes wrong.”
Ronan whispered:
“No.”
Evelyn squeezed his hand.
“He controls Dr. Hollis. Mother heard them discussing transfers after Father's funeral. If something happens to me, she is not safe.”
My skin prickled.
Then Dorian said something that changed everything.
“Do not retaliate immediately.”
Ronan stared at the screen.
“Gideon expects that. He knows you. He knows anger is the easiest way to make you predictable.”
Dorian coughed.
“The proof is not on this card.”
Ronan cursed.
“The card only tells you where to look.”
Static crackled.
“Mother knows the Falcon route.”
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“East watches morning. West watches graves. Follow the bird that never sees sunset.”
Ronan looked confused.
I wasn't.
The brass clock in the East Wing.
Dorian continued.
“And Ronan…”
His voice softened.
“If Mara has Poppy with her, leave the child alone. She is not mine.”
I nearly laughed despite myself.
Ronan looked at me.
Dorian had anticipated even that suspicion.
“She was already a mother when I met her. Mara helped me because she was decent, not because she belonged to me.”
My throat tightened.
“Don't turn gratitude into possession. That's something Father would have done.”
Ronan looked offended by a dead man.
I almost smiled.
Then Dorian's final words came.
“Mother wasn't losing her mind.”
Evelyn began crying.
“Someone wanted you to believe she was.”
The audio ended.
Silence.
Ronan replayed the final ten seconds.
Again.
Again.
Then he stood.
“Dr. Hollis.”
I grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
His eyes dropped to my hand.
“Take your hand off me.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“Your brother literally recorded a message asking you not to do exactly what you're about to do.”
“You don't know what I'm about to do.”
“Yes, I do.”
His expression went cold.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know Dorian did.”
That stopped him.
Evelyn signed.
Falcon.
East.
Now.
We went to the brass clock.
Ronan dismissed security.
He examined the carved falcon.
Nothing.
I remembered Dorian's line.
The bird that never sees sunset.
The falcon's head faced east.
Behind one brass wing was a tiny indentation.
Evelyn placed her thumb against it.
Click.
A narrow panel opened.
Empty.
Ronan's face changed.
“No.”
Evelyn began signing rapidly.
Not empty before.
Box.
Black.
Dorian.
Ronan turned toward me.
“Someone found it.”
Footsteps sounded behind us.
Dr. Hollis stood at the end of the corridor.
And beside him was Gideon Cain.
Sixty-two.
Silver-haired.
Elegant.
The kind of man who smiled before ruining lives.
Gideon's eyes dropped to my wrist.
For the smallest fraction of a second, he recognized the falcon.
Then he smiled.
“Ronan.”
His gaze shifted toward Evelyn.
“I hear your mother has had an exciting week.”
Evelyn's fingers dug into my arm.
Falcon.
He knows.
I looked at Ronan.
May you like
Ronan looked at Gideon.
And for the first time, the most feared man in Ashport understood that the enemy Dorian had warned him about had just walked into his mother's hallway smiling.
