Chapter 7 - The Bloodline and the Redacted Name
Hannah leaned against the brick archway, her mind spinning through the revelation like a wild compass needle.
"Clara Vance was my mother," Hannah whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of the truth.
"Which means... the little boy in the safe house wasn't just Vincent’s child."
"He was my half-brother."
Cole slowly lifted his head, his dark eyes fixing upon Hannah with a look of stunned comprehension.
"Julian was your brother," Cole said, his voice flat with profound shock.
"And he was my brother, too."
"We share a sibling, Hannah."
Betty sat with her head in her hands, her white hair coming loose from its pins.
"Vincent brought that little boy to me that night," Betty said, her voice shaking with sorrow.
"He held Julian against his chest, wrapped in an old wool blanket."
"The boy had the DeLuca eyes—the exact same gray-blue eyes that your father had, Cole."
"Vincent made me swear on my mother’s grave that I would never speak Julian’s name until Cole was grown and in control of the estate."
"He knew Cross was hunting for that child."
"Cross knew that if Julian ever reached twenty-five years of age, the trust fund created by Clara’s estate would unseal the original grand jury transcripts."
Cole pulled the yellowed birth certificate from his pocket and held it under the dim penlight beam.
"Julian was born on December 12, 1999," Cole calculated aloud, his jaw tightening.
"Which means he is twenty-four years old right now."
"He turns twenty-five in two months."
Hannah felt a cold dread settle in the pit of her stomach.
"That's why Cross came tonight," Hannah realized, the pieces locking together in horrifying alignment.
"He isn't just looking for an old recipe book."
"He knows the timeline is expiring."
"If Julian's real identity is uncovered before his twenty-fifth birthday, the grand jury files open automatically, and Cross faces federal prison for murder and extortion."
"Cross needs Julian dead before that date," Cole finished the thought, his voice dripping with venom.
Suddenly, a heavy metallic clang echoed through the ceiling vents from the corridor outside the wine cellar.
Someone had breached the service corridor leading to the vaulted rooms.
Hannah pocketed her cracked phone, noticing that the signal bar flickered with a single weak line of reception.
The screen lit up with three missed calls from Margaret.
Then, a new message flashed on the screen, sent only forty seconds earlier.
Hannah’s fingers trembled as she opened it.
Margaret had written:
HE IS IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU.
LOOK AT THE SECURITY ROSTER FROM 2018.
Hannah gasped and turned the phone screen toward Cole.
Cole stared at the text, his brow furrowing as he processed the cryptic warning.
"The security roster?" Cole muttered.
"Why would Margaret know anything about my private estate security?"
Betty looked up sharply from the wooden chair, her eyes widening in sudden terror.
"Cole... who hired the guards for the gatehouse six years ago?"
Cole’s breath hitched in his throat.
"Captain Cross handled the vetting process as a courtesy when my father first disappeared."
The realization hit Cole like a physical blow to the sternum.
"Marcus," Cole breathed, the blood draining from his lips.
"Marcus Vance was hired as our head of perimeter security in 2018."
"His last name was Vance."
Hannah's eyes widened in horror.
"Vance was my mother's family name."
"Marcus is Julian," Cole said, the truth finally crashing down upon them with devastating weight.
"My father didn't send Julian across the country or hide him in another state."
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"He hid him right here, on the payroll, guarding the gates of his own family estate."
"And Cross has him."
