Ava
"You're lying."
Dave shook his head, wincing from his injuries. "I wish I was. I caught her making a call, reporting everything to Emma Voss. When I confronted her, she tried to kill me."
Adrian was on his feet instantly. "Where is she now?"
"Gone. She ran when I got away." Dave slumped into a chair. "I'm sorry, boss. She's been in your house for twenty years. She's seen everything. Knows everything."
I couldn't believe it. Martha, with her kind smile and gentle hands. Martha, who'd made me tea and cleaned my wounds. Martha, who'd worked for Adrian's family since he was a child.
"This doesn't make sense," I said. "Why wait twenty years to betray him?"
"Because she wasn't betraying him. She was watching him." Adrian's voice was cold, emotionless. The way it got when he was processing something terrible. "The Syndicate planted her in our house before I was born. My father never knew. I never knew."
"What about your mother? Your sister?"
Adrian's expression darkened. "My mother went insane. She saw things, heard voices. What if someone was feeding her poison? Driving her mad?" He slammed his fist on the table. "And Selene. Martha knew everything about her schedule, her habits. She could have given that information to Malric."
The implications hit me like a punch. Martha had helped murder Selene. Had driven Adrian's mother to madness. Had been a spy in their home for decades.
"We need to find her," Dave said. "Before she disappears completely."
"She won't disappear. The Syndicate doesn't abandon assets." Adrian pulled out his phone. "Zarek, I need you to track someone. Martha Reeves. Last seen near the safe house. I want every camera checked, every contact monitored."
He hung up and looked at Dave. "Get those wounds treated. Then I want everyone we trust brought here. We're going dark until I figure out how deep this infiltration goes."
Dave left. Adrian paced the kitchen like a caged animal.
"Adrian, sit down. You're hurt too."
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding through your shirt."
He looked down at the spreading red stain like he'd forgotten he'd been shot. "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing. Sit down and let me look at it."
For once, he didn't argue. He sat, and I carefully lifted his shirt. The bullet had grazed his side, leaving a deep furrow. It needed stitches.
"First aid kit?"
"Bathroom. Under the sink."
I found it and returned with supplies. As I cleaned the wound, Adrian watched me with those intense gray eyes.
"Why are you still here, Ava?"
"What do you mean?"
"You could have run when Dave brought you back. Could have called the police. But you stayed. Why?"
I threaded the needle, considering my answer. "Because you're not the monster I thought you were. And because whether I like it or not, I'm part of this now. The Syndicate knows about me. Running won't change that."
"I'm sorry." His voice was soft. "You saved my life, and I've destroyed yours."
"Stop apologizing." I began stitching carefully. "What's done is done. Now we figure out how to survive it."
He was quiet while I worked. When I finished, I bandaged the wound and sat back.
"There. You'll live."
"Thanks to you. Again." His hand caught mine. "Ava, I need to tell you something. About why I really kept you prisoner."
My heart beat faster. "Okay."
"That first night, when I woke up and saw you covered in my blood, fighting to save me—I felt something I'd never felt before. Hope. Like maybe I wasn't completely lost." He paused. "I told myself I kept you for security reasons. But the truth is, I kept you because I couldn't let you go. Because you made me feel human again."
I didn't know what to say. This man had kidnapped me, controlled me, dragged me into his nightmare world. But he'd also protected me, fought for me, signed away his freedom for me.
"Adrian—"
"I'm not asking you to forgive me. Or love me. I know I don't deserve either." He stood up. "But I am asking you to trust me. Whatever happens with the Syndicate, I'll keep you safe."
"How? They're everywhere. Emma said I belong to them now too."
"Then we'll find a way out. Together." He touched my face, gentle despite the violence in his eyes. "I won't let them have you."
Before I could respond, Zarek burst in. "Found her. Martha's at an apartment downtown. She's meeting with someone."
"Who?"
"Don't know. But we should move now before she runs again."
Adrian grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."
"I'm coming too," I said.
"Absolutely not."
"Martha knows me. If she sees me, she might talk. Tell us why she did this." I met his gaze steadily. "I can help."
Adrian looked like he wanted to argue. But finally, he nodded. "Stay behind me. Always."
We took two cars to the apartment. It was in a rundown building in a bad neighborhood. Not where I'd expect someone working for a powerful organization to hide.
"Third floor," Zarek whispered. "Apartment twelve."
We climbed the stairs quietly. Adrian had his gun drawn, and so did Zarek. I felt exposed without a weapon, but I'd refused one when offered. I was a doctor. I saved lives. I didn't take them.
Adrian tested the door. Unlocked. He pushed it open slowly.
The apartment was small and dirty. Martha sat at a table, alone. She looked up when we entered, and I saw no surprise in her eyes. Just resignation.
"Hello, Adrian. I wondered when you'd find me."
"Why?" Adrian's voice shook with rage. "You were family. I trusted you."
"Family?" Martha laughed bitterly. "Your father killed my husband forty years ago. Shot him in the street like a dog. So when the Syndicate offered me a chance for revenge, I took it."
"By murdering my mother? My sister?"
"I didn't murder anyone. I just watched. Reported. Followed orders." Martha's eyes were hard. "Your mother was weak. She couldn't handle the truth about your father. And Selene was collateral damage. Malric wanted revenge, and the Syndicate allowed it."
Adrian raised his gun. "Give me one reason not to kill you right now."
"Because I have information you need. About Emma Voss. About the Syndicate's real plans for you." Martha smiled. "Kill me, and you'll never know what's coming."
"Talk."
"Not here. Too many ears." Martha stood. "There's a warehouse on Fletcher Street. Meet me there at midnight. Come alone, or I disappear forever."
"You expect me to trust you?"
"No. But you'll come anyway. Because you need answers more than you need revenge." Martha walked toward the door. Adrian didn't stop her. "Oh, and Adrian? Bring the girl. Emma wants to meet her properly."
She left, and Adrian slammed his fist into the wall.
"It's another trap," Zarek said.
"I know. But she's right. I need those answers." Adrian turned to me. "You're staying here."
"If Emma wants to meet me, maybe I should go. Find out what she really wants."
"Are you insane? She'll kill you."
"Maybe. Or maybe she'll talk to me. Woman to woman." I touched his arm. "Adrian, we can't keep running blind. We need information."
He was silent for a long moment. Finally, he nodded. "Midnight. But we do this my way. With backup and an exit strategy."
The hours until midnight crawled by. Adrian made plans with Zarek, positioning men around the warehouse, planning escape routes. Dave recovered from his injuries and insisted on coming.
I tried to rest but couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Martha's cold smile. Emma's calculating stare. The bodies piling up around me.
At eleven thirty, we left for the warehouse. Adrian drove, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
"Whatever happens in there, you run when I tell you to. Understand?"
"I understand."
"Promise me, Ava. Promise you'll run."
"I promise."
But we both knew I was lying.
The warehouse was massive, empty except for a single light in the center. Martha stood beneath it, waiting. But she wasn't alone.
Emma Voss was there. And beside her stood a woman I'd never seen before. Young, beautiful, with long dark hair and familiar gray eyes.
Adrian stopped walking. His face went white.
"No. It's impossible."
The woman smiled. "Hello, brother. Did you miss me?"
It was Selene. Adrian's dead sister. Alive.
"I don't understand," Adrian whispered. "They found your body. DNA confirmed it."
"They found a body I left for them to find. Courtesy of the Syndicate's resources." Selene walked closer. "I've been alive this whole time, Adrian. Working for Emma. Working to bring our family down from the inside."
"Why?"
"Because I hate you. I hate Father. I hate everything our family represents." Selene's voice was full of venom. "You want to know why Mother went mad? I drove her to it. Whispered things to her. Made her paranoid. And I helped Malric plan to destroy Father. Everything that's happened to you is because of me."
Adrian looked shattered. "Selene, please. This isn't you."
"This is exactly me. The real me. Not the innocent little sister you remember." Selene pulled out a gun. "And now I'm going to finish what I started. I'm going to kill you. And her."
The gun pointed at me.
And I realized that all of Adrian's enemies, all the people hunting him, none of them were as dangerous as the sister he'd mourned for six years.