Page 81 of Midnight Legacy

Our meeting with Dad and Matteus had granted Ash time to work his magic with those numbers until we knew what the hell we were dealing with. We’d let Ash guide us on the new stage of our journey. Jordan could hack every government agency we knew, and I could turn a business from failure to flourishing. But when it came to a spreadsheet and hiding money, then Ash was the only one of us able to solve the clues left behind by Cassandra’s financial genius father.

My Jaguar was put into storage in one of our units and I took one of the black Range Rovers that was registered to our aliases. The wheels screamed as I sped it out onto the road. Now that we’d set the trap, I wanted to get back home to Cassandra.

Dad believed that we were still loyal, so he wouldn’t allow the Council to come after us. That and I was his only heir. Ash’s father had lots of children hiding in the wings to take his place, and he’d proved that he was willing to sacrifice them when he stood aside and let the Council vote on Michael.

Now that we’d appeased the Council, we had time to try and plan our next move, whatever that might be. I was able to breathe again for the first time in days.

***

Chapter Twenty-Two

Xavier

The helicopter rose high in the air as we made our journey to Cassandra’s childhood home. I didn’t want her to have to face her past with everyone watching her. It should have been in her own time when she felt ready. After this, I was wrapping her in proverbial cotton wool until our baby arrived.

A security detail remained at home to look after the remaining four women. Megan had sat with her head down, refusing to look at Jordan. If he didn’t fix the situation with her soon, there would be nothing left to fix. Cassandra ran, but she still reached out to me when she felt lost and lonely.

All the original documents with the secret writing on them were stored in a folder in a backpack that I carried, my other hand gripping Cassandra’s. My fingers protested from her boa constrictor grip on them, but Cassandra appeared small beside me, her face devoid of all emotion as she closed herself off from the world. I knew she was hurting, but there was nothing I could do to make it better.

Eventually, Cassandra sat back with her eyes closed. She didn’t wear the earphones that allowed us all to talk to each other, merely a discreet pair of ear defenders to cut out most of the noise from the blades rotating.

“That house contains too many secrets,” Ash said. “We’ll need to go in and search it properly at some stage.”

“I would think that Malcolm has already done that,” Jordan replied. “The only thing left to discover are the secrets that were left by the family members. The positive aspect is that Cassandra kept that house as a shrine to the memories of those who lived there.”

“This is too much for her,” I said, my jaw bunching in frustration. “She should be taking life easy right now, not having to face her past and run for her life.”

“We will keep her safe, Xavier,” Uncle Lucas said. “She is family and that means we will care for her. I already have my people delving into the death of her parents.”

We. He meant the shadow Council he led. The organisation that was so secretive that not even the Council we sat on knew they existed. Government officials lived in the depths of his pockets, law enforcement agencies suddenly finding something interesting to study in the opposite direction when he entered a room.

Right now, I would sell my soul to Satan to ensure Cassandra’s safety.

“Ten minutes out,” the pilot sounded in my ear.

“Everyone remember their roles,” I instructed. “Maximum intel, minimum time.”

As soon as we got what we were looking for, we were out of there. Only I needed to protect Cassandra, I wouldn’t even be making this journey. However, there was something we needed to see, and this was the only place we would find it.

The helicopter lowered until it landed on the land behind her old home. I had four guns strapped to me and I was sure Uncle Lucas and Jordan were packing a small arsenal. We flanked Cassandra as we strode across the rear lawn.

The house felt cold, as if the ghosts that haunted it were watching us from their lofty perches. Her father’s study was on the ground floor, a thin layer of dust covering the edges of the shelves.

“Shout out the locations,” Cassandra instructed, taking control as her fingers trailed over the leather covers in greeting.

There were three numbers which revealed the shelf, book, and page. She pulled each book forward as Jordan called out the coordinates until we had them all identified. Ash was about to lift the first book when Cassandra put her hand up to stop him.

“Wait.” She studied the shelves. “Zee, can you take a photograph of this? The pattern is familiar, but I can’t place it at the moment.”

Without hesitation, I did what she asked. She lifted the first book, her fingers running over the page. Using my phone, she photographed the page. She set it down and lifted the next, then the next. The final book she studied, turning it over in her hands.

“Do you have a knife?”

I was about to say no when Jordan handed her a flick knife. There were times I swear he had a toolbox up his ass with every instrument you needed to kill someone in it. She cut the paper from the rear back cover to reveal a hidden panel, recovering one of the old discs that computers used to use before CDs.

Every book was returned to its original position.

She studied them before pushing them back into place, and used a tissue to wipe the shelves so no one would know which books had been disturbed. Without a word, she turned on her heel and left the room, with the four of us dragging behind her. A rear family study with a massive bookcase spanning the entire side wall was her destination. Cassandra lifted a huge world globe and handed it to Ash. She then picked up a large sphere of the moon with all the features engraved on it and handed it to Jordan, another featured the constellation of the night’s sky. I watched with my brow furrowed as she hunted the room until she found an old leather-bound Bible.

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