Chapter 13 - A FATHER’S DEBT
Renick sat on the pantry floor.
He did not enter the shelter.
He did not defend himself.
“I didn’t know.”
Isla’s knife remained raised.
“She said you were powerful.”
“I am.”
“She said you could find anybody.”
Renick looked at Owen.
Owen looked away.
Isla’s voice cracked.
“Then why couldn’t you find us?”
Renick answered quietly.
“Because people I trusted lied to me.”
Belle felt the words touch every person in the room.
Isla.
Renick.
Owen.
Herself.
The entire story was built from people deciding lies were safer than truth.
Isla lowered the knife.
“You thought Mom was bad.”
Renick’s face twisted.
“Yes.”
“She knew.”
He closed his eyes.
“She did?”
“She cried once.”
Isla climbed out.
She was taller than Brinley.
Older in the eyes than any eight-year-old should be.
Renick remained still.
Isla stood in front of him.
Then she slapped him.
Belle inhaled.
Owen almost stepped forward.
Renick did not.
Isla slapped him again.
“You were supposed to believe her.”
Renick’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The girl’s anger broke.
She began crying.
Renick opened his arms but did not touch her.
Isla looked at them.
Then fell forward.
He caught her.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Belle looked away.
Some reunions deserved privacy even in crowded rooms.
Later, the injured caretaker woke.
His name was Thomas Reed.
Former state trooper.
Bianca’s cousin.
He confirmed two men had attacked the cabin three hours earlier.
One wore a mask.
The other did not.
Patrick Kavanaugh.
Renick stared.
“My brother.”
Thomas nodded.
“He wanted Isla.”
“Why?”
“She knows something.”
Isla sat beneath a blanket.
Everyone looked at her.
She shook her head quickly.
“I don’t.”
Thomas said, “Your mother gave you something before she died.”
Isla’s face changed.
Renick noticed.
“What?”
Isla looked at Owen.
He looked equally confused.
“Sweetheart,” Belle said gently, “you don’t have to tell anyone until you feel safe.”
Renick gave her a look.
Belle ignored him.
Isla touched a bracelet around her wrist.
Simple woven cord.
A metal bird charm.
Micah.
Birds again.
She pulled the charm.
It opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Owen whispered, “Bianca.”
Renick took it carefully.
Thomas had a laptop.
The card contained one video.
Bianca appeared on screen.
Thin.
Bruised.
Alive only days before her death.
“Isla, if you’re watching this, then somebody found you.”
Renick’s face tightened.
Bianca continued.
“Renick, if you’re watching too, listen before you get angry.”
Belle almost smiled despite everything.
“She knew you,” she murmured.
Renick looked at the screen.
Bianca said, “Declan stole the money. Patrick sold the names. Callum coordinated both.”
A diagram appeared.
Financial transfers.
Photographs.
Call logs.
“The three of them built a business inside Cormac’s business.”
Renick’s expression hardened.
“They used Kavanaugh routes to move weapons and information.”
Owen leaned closer.
Bianca continued.
“But one of them changed sides.”
Belle frowned.
“Who?”
The video cut to Declan.
Recorded secretly.
He sat in a restaurant.
His voice:
“I want out.”
Renick stared.
Declan was speaking to Bianca.
“I never agreed to the children.”
Bianca asked, “What children?”
“Brinley. Isla. Ashford’s boy.”
Belle felt ice.
Declan continued.
“Callum says family makes Renick weak.”
Renick’s jaw tightened.
“He wants them removed.”
Removed.
A polite word for dead.
Belle took Owen’s hand without realizing it.
He looked at her.
She did not release him.
Bianca’s video returned.
“Declan contacted me six months ago. He wanted protection in exchange for evidence.”
Renick looked stunned.
“So Declan wasn’t hunting her.”
Owen frowned.
“Then who attacked the car?”
“Patrick and Callum,” Thomas said.
Bianca continued.
“Declan gave me one useful thing.”
The screen displayed coordinates.
Boston Harbor.
Pier 19.
“He said the original ledger is hidden beneath Pier 19 in an old customs vault.”
Renick exhaled.
Finally.
The ledger.
Bianca’s face filled the screen again.
“Do not go there without federal protection.”
Renick almost laughed.
Owen did not.
Bianca looked directly into the camera.
“And Renick… if our daughter gives you one chance, don’t waste it.”
The video ended.
Silence.
Isla stared at the black screen.
Renick crouched beside her.
“I won’t.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
He nodded.
“But I’ll try.”
That answer seemed to matter.
Owen checked his phone.
His face changed.
“Belle.”
“What?”
He showed her.
A message from an unknown number.
A photograph.
Micah and Brinley.
Taken inside the coastal house.
Again.
Belle’s heart stopped.
Below it:
May you like
ONE CHILD FOR THE LEDGER.
CHOOSE WHICH FAMILY YOU WANT TO KEEP.
