Chapter 5 - The Uncle Who Was Guilty of the Wrong Crime
They found Julian alive.
At 3:20 in the morning.
He walked into a private clinic eight miles from the river.
Cut above his eyebrow.
Broken wrist.
No phone.
No wallet.
Damian arrived before police finished questioning him.
Julian sat on the examination table.
Sixty-one.
Silver hair.
Expensive suit torn at the shoulder.
He looked at Victor.
Then Damian.
“Wonderful.”
Damian stood in the doorway.
“You ran from my gala.”
Julian laughed.
“I was kidnapped from your gala.”
Victor stepped forward.
“By Marcus?”
Julian looked at him.
“You really are alive.”
Victor ignored that.
“Marcus?”
“Yes.”
Damian frowned.
“Why?”
Julian held up his broken wrist.
“Because I told him I was done.”
“With what?”
Julian looked at Damian.
“With the accounts.”
Damian laughed once.
“You expect me to believe you developed a conscience tonight?”
“No.”
Julian’s expression stayed flat.
“I developed fear.”
At least that was honest.
Damian waited.
Julian continued.
“Marcus has been moving money through old channels for nine years.”
Victor stared.
“Since Father died?”
“No.”
“Since when?”
“Since Elena died.”
Damian froze.
His mother.
“Why does her death matter?”
Julian looked at him carefully.
“Because your mother was auditing the company.”
Damian’s face changed.
“She was not an accountant.”
“No.”
“She was a shareholder.”
Damian stared.
Julian continued.
“She owned twelve percent.”
Victor looked surprised.
“She never told me.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“She stopped telling you things long before she died.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
Damian stepped closer.
“What did she find?”
“Marcus.”
Silence.
Julian continued.
“Elena found transfers that neither Victor nor I authorized.”
Damian looked at Victor.
His father shook his head.
“I did not know.”
Julian nodded.
“She came to me because Victor was gone.”
“What did you do?”
“I told her to stop.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I thought the transfers were tied to Charles.”
Charles had entered behind us.
He heard.
Julian looked at him.
“I was wrong.”
Damian stared.
“What were they tied to?”
Julian answered:
“Marcus.”
“Why?”
“He had been using the old network for himself.”
“How much?”
“Hundreds of millions.”
Bianca whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Damian’s voice stayed calm.
“What did Marcus do when Mother found out?”
Julian looked away.
Victor stepped toward him.
“Julian.”
“I don’t know.”
“You told her to stop.”
“Yes.”
“She died six months later.”
“Yes.”
Damian’s face went still.
His mother had died in a car accident.
Rain.
A mountain road.
No other vehicle found.
Damian looked at Julian.
“Was it an accident?”
Julian answered slowly.
“I do not know.”
Victor grabbed him by the jacket.
“You knew there was a threat.”
Julian shoved him away.
“I knew she was asking questions.”
“You did nothing.”
“I had already spent years hiding what we did.”
Julian looked at Damian.
“I thought another investigation would destroy the family.”
Damian’s voice became cold.
“So you protected the family.”
Julian laughed without humor.
“No.”
“I protected myself.”
Silence.
Damian nodded.
“That I believe.”
Charles stepped closer.
“Why did Marcus take you?”
Julian looked at him.
“Because he knows Victor came back.”
Victor frowned.
“And?”
“He thinks Victor has the Zurich file.”
Victor went still.
Damian noticed.
“What is the Zurich file?”
Victor did not answer.
Julian smiled bitterly.
“There.”
He looked at Damian.
“Your father still has secrets.”
Damian turned toward Victor.
“What is it?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“A complete list of beneficial owners.”
“For the shell companies?”
“Yes.”
“Who is on it?”
Victor looked at Charles.
Charles went pale.
Then Victor looked at Julian.
Then Damian.
“Everyone.”
Damian’s expression hardened.
“Define everyone.”
“Julian.”
Victor pointed.
“Charles.”
Another.
“Me.”
Then he looked at the floor.
“And your mother.”
Damian stopped.
“No.”
Julian nodded.
“Elena signed one company.”
Victor spoke quickly.
“She did not know what it was.”
Julian laughed.
“That is what all of us say.”
Victor turned on him.
“She signed because I asked her.”
Damian stared.
“You involved Mother.”
Victor’s face broke.
“One time.”
“For what?”
“To move money out of Julian’s control.”
“Where?”
“A trust for you.”
Damian went silent.
Victor continued.
“I thought I was protecting your inheritance.”
“How much?”
“Thirty million.”
Damian stared.
“That money is mine?”
“Yes.”
“Dirty money.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at him.
“I planned to surrender it with the Zurich file.”
“When?”
Victor said nothing.
Damian understood.
“Someday.”
“Yes.”
“That is everybody’s favorite date.”
Julian almost smiled.
Damian looked at Charles.
“Where is the Zurich file?”
Charles shook his head.
“I do not know.”
Victor reached into his coat.
A hotel key card.
“Neither does Marcus.”
Damian frowned.
Victor continued.
“Because it was never in Zurich.”
He handed Damian the card.
“Locker 218.”
“Where?”
“South Station.”
Damian looked at him.
“You brought it to Boston.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I planned to give it to you.”
Damian stared.
“When?”
Victor’s answer came quietly.
“Tonight.”
Then Julian’s phone.
Recovered by police.
Began ringing.
Unknown number.
Julian looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Marcus.”
Damian answered.
A man’s voice.
Calm.
“Damian.”
“You took my uncle.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he stole from me.”
Julian laughed.
Marcus ignored him.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
Damian looked at Victor.
“The Zurich file.”
“Yes.”
“You mean evidence.”
“I mean insurance.”
Damian’s voice hardened.
“Against what?”
Marcus answered:
“Against the truth about your mother.”
Silence.
Damian’s eyes went cold.
“What truth?”
Marcus laughed softly.
“She did not die because she found my accounts.”
Victor stared.
Julian went still.
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