Chapter 5 - The Woman Damian Never Spoke About
Vincent survived.
The bullet passed through his shoulder.
The attack proved one thing.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
Again.
Damian drove Caitlyn himself to a stone house overlooking the Hudson River.
An elegant woman in her sixties opened the door.
She looked at Damian.
Then Caitlyn.
Then the blood on Damian’s shirt that belonged to Vincent.
“Oh,” she said calmly. “So it finally happened.”
Caitlyn blinked.
“What finally happened?”
The woman smiled.
“My son brought someone home.”
“Mother.”
Damian sounded almost embarrassed.
Caitlyn nearly forgot they had been shot at forty minutes earlier.
Evelyn Hamilton embraced her son despite his obvious discomfort.
Then she took Caitlyn’s hands.
“You have Thomas’s eyes.”
Caitlyn froze.
“You knew my father?”
Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
That evening another layer of the past unfolded.
Thomas Elmore had not merely worked for Damian.
He had worked with Evelyn.
After Anthony Hamilton died, Evelyn discovered that Nicholas Vale had used legitimate Hamilton businesses to hide criminal operations.
She recruited Thomas to trace the money.
Damian eventually joined them.
Someone betrayed the investigation.
But Evelyn had never known who.
Until now.
While Marco worked on decrypting the drive, Caitlyn sat beside Noah, who had been transported under guard.
Damian appeared in the doorway.
“Vincent is stable.”
“Good.”
“You don’t sound convinced he’s innocent.”
“My father’s letter said the traitor would be beside you.”
“Vincent has been beside me for eighteen years.”
“That doesn’t make him innocent.”
“No.”
She looked up.
“You’re considering it.”
“I consider everyone.”
“Even him?”
“Especially him.”
Caitlyn understood something then.
Damian’s power had never made him feel safe.
It had simply given him more people to distrust.
“Do you trust anyone?”
He looked at her.
The silence lasted too long.
Then Marco entered carrying the laptop.
“I opened the partition.”
They gathered in the library.
A spreadsheet appeared.
Payments.
Dates.
Container numbers.
Political donations.
Police officers.
Judges.
Executives.
Then Caitlyn saw a name.
She stopped breathing.
Russo, Vincent — $2,400,000.
Damian’s face became stone.
Evelyn whispered, “Damian…”
Another entry appeared.
Hamilton, Evelyn — $6,000,000.
Caitlyn turned.
Evelyn looked genuinely shocked.
“These are false.”
Damian continued scrolling.
Then his own name appeared.
Hamilton, Damian — $18,000,000.
Marco swore.
“It’s a frame.”
“Maybe,” Caitlyn said.
At the bottom was one final name.
Elmore, Noah — $750,000.
Caitlyn stared.
“No.”
Damian looked at Noah.
Her brother began trembling.
“Noah?”
His hand struck the wheelchair tray.
Again.
Again.
He was trying to communicate.
Caitlyn knelt.
“What?”
Noah struggled.
Then finally forced out a word.
“Not… money.”
“What?”
“Map.”
Damian looked at the spreadsheet.
“Those aren’t payments.”
He studied the numbers.
“They’re coordinates disguised as dollar amounts.”
Marco started converting them.
One by one, locations appeared.
Warehouses.
Offices.
Storage facilities.
Then Noah’s number produced an address in Pennsylvania.
Caitlyn recognized it.
Her childhood home.
The house had been sold after the accident.
Damian stood.
“Your father hid something there.”
Noah began tapping urgently.
Caitlyn watched.
Damian translated.
“Basement.”
Then another word.
“Wall.”
And finally:
“Clock.”
Caitlyn remembered.
Their father had kept an old grandfather clock in the basement because their mother hated it upstairs.
She looked at Damian.
“We need to go.”
Before he could answer, Evelyn’s house shook.
An explosion thundered outside.
Windows shattered.
Security shouted.
Damian threw Caitlyn to the floor and covered her body with his.
Smoke filled the hallway.
Marco ran in.
“East gate is down!”
Damian pulled Caitlyn up.
“Take Noah.”
Then every light in the house died.
A voice came through the security speakers.
Calm.
Male.
Familiar to Damian.
“Hello, Evelyn.”
Damian froze.
His mother went white.
The voice continued.
“You should have left the dead buried.”
Evelyn whispered one name.
May you like
“Nicholas.”
And Caitlyn realized the man responsible for destroying her family had finally stopped hiding.
