Ethan stepped forward.
"Why?"
"Because Victor is trying to erase everyone who can prove Northstar existed."
"Then why are you still alive?"
Anna smiled sadly.
"Because I disappeared before they knew where to look."
Ethan asked the question he had been afraid to ask.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Anna looked at him.
"Because every time I wanted to, someone died."
She took a breath.
"Richard."
"Your father?"
"No."
"My father?"
Anna nodded.
"Richard was murdered."
Marissa's face went white.
"He didn't die naturally?"
Anna shook her head.
"They made it look like an accident."
Marissa could barely stand.
Ethan caught her.
Anna looked at both of them.
"The people who killed Richard are still alive."
"Who?"
Anna's answer was quiet.
"One of them is sitting in your mother's house."
THE SECOND BETRAYAL
Marissa didn't sleep.
Neither did Ethan.
They returned to Chicago before dawn.
Elaine was awake when they arrived.
She looked at Anna.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Elaine began to cry.
"You're alive."
Anna nodded.
"I am."
Elaine walked toward her.
"I'm sorry."
Anna shook her head.
"You protected me."
"I failed you."
"You protected Ethan."
Elaine looked at Ethan.
"That was the promise."
Ethan stepped forward.
"What promise?"
Elaine sat down.
"The night Anna disappeared, your father came to our house."
She looked at Ethan.
"He begged me to hide her."
"Why?"
"Because Victor had discovered that Anna had copies of the Northstar records."
Ethan stared.
"My father knew."
"Yes."
"And you helped?"
"Yes."
Marissa interrupted.
"What about Richard?"
Elaine closed her eyes.
"He found out too late."
"What happened?"
"He was going to expose everything."
"And?"
"Victor threatened us."
Elaine's voice broke.
"He said if Richard spoke, Marissa would disappear too."
Marissa froze.
"So Dad stayed silent."
"For a while."
"And then?"
"He gave the records to Anna."
Anna nodded.
"That's why they killed him."
Ethan turned toward Anna.
"You said someone is in my mother's house."
Anna nodded.
"Your mother's old house."
Ethan understood.
The house had been empty for years.
He had never sold it.
Nobody used it.
He called Nolan.
"Get there."
"Why?"
"Now."
The house was empty.
But the basement wasn't.
Nolan found fresh footprints.
A hidden room.
And inside it—
files.
Hundreds of them.
Names.
Photographs.
Bank accounts.
Every person connected to Northstar.
At the center was a photograph of Ethan.
Taken only three days earlier.
Beside it was another.
Marissa.
Then Elaine.
Then Anna.
Nolan whispered:
"They've been watching all of you."
A file contained Victor Hale's name.
Another contained Margaret Vale.
Then Roger Vance.
But there was one final file.
Marked:
PROJECT FAMILY
Nolan opened it.
The first page contained a list.
Edward Calloway.
Elaine Hayes.
Richard Hayes.
Anna Calloway.
Ethan Calloway.
Marissa Hayes.
Nolan stared.
Marissa was included.
But she had never been part of Northstar.
At least, not knowingly.
When Ethan arrived, Nolan handed him the file.
Ethan read it.
Then he looked at Marissa.
"Your father wasn't the only Hayes involved."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Anna stepped forward.
"I do."
Everyone looked at her.
"Northstar wasn't only about money."
"What was it about?"
"Bloodlines."
Marissa frowned.
"Explain."
Anna opened the file.
"They used families to control people."
"That's insane."
"No."
Anna pointed to one document.
"Look."
Marissa read it.
Her name appeared beside a number.
SUBJECT 17.
She looked at Ethan.
"What's subject seventeen?"
Anna answered.
"You."
Marissa felt the room disappear.
"Why me?"
"Because your father made a deal."
"What deal?"
"He traded the ledger for your protection."
Silence.
Marissa's voice became a whisper.
"My father gave them the ledger?"
"No."
Anna shook her head.
"He gave them something they wanted more."
"What?"
Anna looked at Elaine.
Elaine began crying.
"Your father gave them the identity of the person who created Northstar."
Ethan stared.
"Who?"
Elaine couldn't speak.
Anna finally answered.
"Edward Calloway."
Ethan stepped back.
"My father?"
"He didn't create it alone," Anna said.
"But he was responsible."
"Yes."
Ethan looked devastated.
"But why would he do it?"
Anna took his hand.
"Because he believed he could control it."
"And he couldn't."
"No."
"He lied to everyone."
"Yes."
"Richard."
"Yes."
"Mom."
"Yes."
"Me."
Anna's eyes filled.
"Especially you."
That night, Ethan sat alone in his father's old study.
Marissa entered.
He didn't look up.
"I don't know who my father was anymore."
She sat beside him.
"You know who you are."
He looked at her.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because you had every opportunity to become him."
She reached for his hand.
"And you didn't."
Ethan squeezed her fingers.
For the first time in days, he allowed himself to rest against someone.
Outside the house, a car stopped.
A man stepped out.
He looked toward the windows.
Then made a phone call.
"They found Anna."
A voice answered.
"And the ledger?"
"Not yet."