Some she knew.
Some she did not.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Developers.
Politicians.
Police officials.
Executives.
Then she saw one name.
Marcus Vale.
Next to it was an amount.
$250,000.
Naomi's stomach turned.
"Why did he pay this?"
David answered:
"To make Liang Wei disappear."
Naomi looked up.
"Did Marcus kill him?"
David shook his head.
"Not directly."
"What does that mean?"
"He hired someone."
"Who?"
David hesitated.
Then said:
"Victor Hale."
Naomi remembered Adrian's warning.
She looked toward him.
Adrian's face was pale.
"Victor was Marcus's right hand at the time."
Naomi's voice became cold.
"And now he is trying to help me?"
David nodded.
"He has spent twenty-seven years trying to undo what he did."
"That doesn't make it right."
"No."
David closed the ledger.
"It doesn't."
Suddenly the windows shattered.
Everyone dropped to the floor.
Another shot struck the wall.
David shouted:
"Down!"
Adrian pulled Naomi behind a bookshelf.
A vehicle sped away outside.
Then silence.
Naomi's hands shook.
"Who was that?"
David looked at the broken window.
"Marcus."
Naomi stared.
"How did he find us?"
David's expression changed.
"Because someone told him."
Naomi looked at Adrian.
He shook his head.
"It wasn't me."
Then a voice came from the back of the bookstore.
"He's telling the truth."
Victor stepped out of the darkness.
Naomi immediately reached for the ledger.
"You."
Victor raised his hands.
"I know what you're thinking."
"You lied to me."
"Yes."
"You worked for Marcus."
"Yes."
"You knew my grandmother."
"Yes."
"You knew my father."
"Yes."
Naomi's voice broke.
"And you knew my mother was alive."
Victor looked down.
"Yes."
She stepped toward him.
"Why?"
"Because Evelyn made me promise."
"Promise what?"
"That I would protect you until you were old enough to decide whether you wanted the truth."
Naomi laughed bitterly.
"You don't get to decide when I'm old enough."
Victor nodded.
"You're right."
He reached into his coat.
Naomi tensed.
He removed a small envelope.
"This was Evelyn's."
Naomi opened it.
Inside was a photograph of her mother.
Sarah.
Alive.
Standing beside a harbor.
On the back was an address in Hong Kong.
Naomi stared at it.
"My mother."
Victor nodded.
"She has been waiting for you."
Naomi closed her eyes.
For decades, she had believed she had no family.
Now she had discovered a father.
A living mother.
A grandmother who had hidden an entire history.
And a criminal empire that wanted her dead.
Then the bookstore door opened.
Marcus Vale walked inside.
He held a gun.
"You have the ledger."
Naomi looked at him.
"No."
Marcus smiled.
"Then this ends tonight."
Marcus did not shout.
That was what frightened Naomi most.
He stood in the doorway with the gun held steadily at his side.
Behind him were two men.
Professional.
Silent.
Marcus looked at the ledger in Naomi's hands.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
He laughed.
"That's exactly what I said when I first met you."
Naomi remembered the restaurant.
The hundred-thousand-dollar bet.
The laughter.
The humiliation.
Suddenly she understood.
The bet had never been random.
Marcus had recognized her name.
He had known who she was.
He had been testing her.
He needed to know whether she could actually read the documents.
The $100,000 was bait.
Naomi looked at him.
"You knew who I was before I served your table."
Marcus said nothing.
"Didn't you?"
His silence answered.
Victor stepped forward.
"Marcus."
"Stay out of this."
"You've lost."
Marcus laughed.
"No. I haven't."
He looked at Naomi.
"I needed to know whether Evelyn taught you enough."
Naomi felt a chill.
"Enough for what?"
"To read the ledger."
David moved closer to his daughter.
Marcus raised the gun.
"Don't."
David stopped.
Marcus continued.
"Your grandmother spent decades hiding evidence."
"And you spent decades trying to find it."
"Yes."