Chapter 289 THE VOICE OF BLOOD
Chapter 289 THE VOICE OF BLOOD
POV: Zuri
The radio is still on.
Nobody moves.
Nobody speaks.
The man's voice hangs in the room.
Calm.
Familiar.
Cold.
“Hello, little sister.”
My fingers tighten around the file.
Marco.
My brother.
The last person I expected to hear.
Amani reaches for the radio.
I stop him.
“No.”
He looks at me.
“Zuri.”
“I want to hear him.”
Everyone goes quiet.
The radio crackles again.
Then Marco laughs softly.
“You always were difficult to find, Zuri.”
My heart pounds.
I stare at the speaker.
“Where are you?”
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he says,
“You're in the mountains.”
My blood runs cold.
“You're hiding inside an Iron Kings shelter.”
Amani's face hardens.
Marco continues.
“Amani is standing beside you.”
My eyes move to Amani.
“How do you know that?”
A pause.
Then his voice comes again.
“Because I know more than you think.”
I grip the file tighter.
“You've been watching us.”
“No.”
His voice becomes quieter.
“I've been looking for you.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then—
“The Silver Wolf files.”
My stomach drops.
He knows.
He knows about the documents.
He knows about the cemetery.
He knows about the hidden room.
“How?”
Marco breathes slowly.
“Because you were never the only one who survived.”
The radio goes dead.
I stare at it.
“Marco?”
Nothing.
“Marco!”
Static.
Then silence.
Amani immediately turns toward the Kings.
“Lock the shelter down.”
Men move.
Doors shut.
Weapons are raised.
Nobody leaves.
But I can't stop thinking about his words.
You were never the only one who survived.
Who else survived?
And why had Marco been searching for me?
Ghost and Evelyn spread the recovered files across the table.
Amani stands behind me.
I barely notice him.
My eyes keep moving over the papers.
Dates.
Names.
Locations.
Codes.
Most of them are years old.
Ghost picks up one folder.
“These weren't created recently.”
Evelyn nods.
“No.”
“How old?”
“Some are more than fifteen years old.”
I look at her.
“Fifteen?”
She turns another page.
My name appears.
ZURI MORETTI.
My stomach twists.
Another page.
My name again.
Then another.
Marco's name appears beside mine.
But something is wrong.
His name isn't marked as an enemy.
It isn't marked as a target.
It's listed under CONTACTS.
I stare at it.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn doesn't answer immediately.
Then she says,
“Marco had connections.”
“With the Silver Wolf network.”
I shake my head.
“My brother worked with them?”
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
I look at the files again.
Marco's name appears over and over.
Not as Antonio's enemy.
Not as Antonio's son.
As someone who had access.
Someone trusted.
Someone who knew things I never knew.
My mind searches through old memories.
Then something surfaces.
A bedroom.
A storm outside.
I was young.
Maybe ten.
Marco had stood beside my bed.
His face had been serious.
He had looked at the door before speaking.
“If you ever need to disappear...”
He had leaned closer.
“Don't trust Father.”
I blink.
The memory disappears.
I grab the edge of the table.
Amani notices.
“Zuri?”
I look at him.
“I remember something.”
“What?”
“Marco warned me about Father.”
Evelyn's eyes widen.
“What exactly did he say?”
I swallow.
“He told me that if I ever needed to disappear, I shouldn't trust Antonio.”
Ghost looks at Amani.
The room goes silent.
My brother had known.
Maybe long before I did.
Amani pulls me aside.
“We can't chase him.”
I stare at him.
“Why not?”
“Because that's what he wants.”
“He's been hunting me for years.”
“I know.”
“Then we should find him.”
Amani steps closer.
“Not like this.”
I cross my arms.
“Then how?”
“Marco knows we're angry.”
“He knows we're confused.”
“He knows exactly which buttons to push.”
His voice stays calm.
“If we run after him now, we walk into whatever trap he's prepared.”
I hate that he's right.
“He wants us moving.”
Amani looks into my eyes.
“So we make him come to us.”
I stare at him.
“You're willing to use me as bait?”
His expression hardens.
“I'm willing to stand beside you while we do it.”
Those words silence me.
He isn't asking me to face Marco alone.
He's telling me he'll be there.
I nod.
“Then let's do it.”
The plan is simple.
We create a lie.
The Iron Kings are moving the Silver Wolf files to another safehouse.
A convoy.
Armed riders.
One route.
One destination.
At least...
That's what everyone will believe.
Only a few people know the real plan.
Amani.
Ghost.
Rex.
Evelyn.
Me.
Everyone else receives different information.
Different routes.
Different times.
Different locations.
If Marco attacks the convoy...
We'll know someone leaked the information.
Ghost checks his weapon.
Rex loads magazines.
The riders prepare the motorcycles.
I stand near the shelter entrance with Evelyn.
Something doesn't feel right.
Then I see it.
One of the motorcycles is parked in the wrong position.
I frown.
“Who moved that?”
Evelyn looks over.
“What?”
“That bike.”
I walk closer.
It belongs to one of the convoy riders.
It wasn't there earlier.
I touch the seat.
Still warm.
My heart drops.
“Someone has already been outside.”
Evelyn's expression changes.
“You think they know?”
“I think someone inside this shelter knows about the operation.”
Before she can answer...
An engine roars.
The convoy leaves.
For the first few minutes, everything is quiet.
Too quiet.
Amani rides at the front.
Ghost stays near the rear.
Rex guards the middle.
I watch the road ahead.
Nothing.
No movement.
No enemies.
Then—
BOOM!
The road explodes.
The lead motorcycle flips.
Men scatter.
Gunfire tears through the trees.
“CONTACT!”
Amani immediately turns his bike.
“Get down!”
Bullets rip through the convoy.
I throw myself behind a fallen tree.
Ghost fires toward the ridge.
Rex returns fire.
Then I realize something.
They're not trying to kill us.
They're separating us.
Three attackers rush toward me.
Amani sees them.
“ZURI!”
He drives straight through the chaos.
One attacker grabs my arm.
I fight back.
Amani reaches us.
He slams the man into the ground.
Another attacker fires.
Amani pulls me down.
The bullet misses my head by inches.
“Stay behind me!”
“No!”
I grab my weapon.
“I can fight.”
“I know.”
He looks at me.
“That's why I'm worried.”
We move together.
Back to back.
Gunfire surrounds us.
Then I see another man running toward the convoy.
He's carrying the bag.
The fake files.
“Ghost!”
Ghost turns.
The man disappears into the trees.
Ghost takes off after him.
\---
The chase lasts minutes.
It feels like hours.
Ghost finally catches the man near the river.
The attacker falls hard.
Ghost grabs him.
“Where's Marco?”
The man laughs.
Then coughs blood.
He has already been shot.
Ghost searches him.
No phone.
No identification.
Nothing.
Then the dying man reaches inside his jacket.
He pulls out a small envelope.
He pushes it toward Ghost.
“For her.”
Ghost takes it.
“For Zuri?”
The man nods.
Then his eyes close.
Ghost opens the envelope.
One photograph falls into his hand.
A photograph of two children.
Me.
Marco.
We are young.
Maybe eight and twelve.
We're standing in front of the Moretti estate.
I look happy.
Marco looks serious.
Ghost turns the photograph over.
There is a handwritten message.
ASK YOUR SISTER WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED.
When Ghost returns, he gives me the photograph.
The moment I see it...
Something breaks inside me.
The memory comes back.
Not all of it.
Just pieces.
My bedroom.
Darkness.
Marco standing outside my door.
His shirt covered in blood.
His eyes terrified.
“Zuri.”
He grabs my shoulders.
“You have to run.”
“Why?”
“Just go.”
I hear footsteps.
Marco looks toward the door.
His face changes.
“Now.”
“Marco—”
“RUN!”
The door opens.
Antonio stands there.
My father.
Cold.
Angry.
Then everything goes black.
I gasp.
Amani catches me.
“What happened?”
I look at him.
My eyes fill with tears.
“I remember.”
He holds my shoulders.
“What?”
“Marco.”
I look down at the photograph.
“He wasn't sending me away.”
Amani's expression changes.
“He helped you escape.”
I nod slowly.
“I think he did.”
“Then why is he hunting you?”
I stare at Marco's face in the photograph.
“I don't know.”
But suddenly...
I understand something.
Marco wasn't calling to threaten me.
He wanted me to remember.
He wanted me to ask questions.
He wanted me to know there was more to the night I disappeared.
And whatever happened that night...
Antonio had spent years making sure I forgot it.
We return to the shelter before midnight.
Nobody speaks much.
The attack has left everyone tense.
Ghost places the photograph on the table.
Amani stands beside me.
Then—
The radio turns on by itself.
Static fills the room.
Everyone freezes.
Marco's voice comes through.
This time...
There is no laughter.
No teasing.
No threat.
Only exhaustion.
“Zuri.”
I step closer.
“Listen carefully.”
My heart pounds.
“Father isn't the one you should be afraid of.”
Amani's expression changes.
Marco continues.
“Antonio has been looking for you.”
A pause.
Then his voice drops.
“I've been trying to find you first.”
The transmission cuts.
Nobody moves.
Then the radio screen lights up.
A set of coordinates appears.
Ghost steps closer.
Evelyn looks over his shoulder.
I see the location.
My heart stops.
I know that place.
Amani looks at me.
“You know it?”
I nod slowly.
My eyes remain fixed on the screen.
“I grew up there.”
The old Moretti estate.
The place where my childhood ended.
The place where my father kept his secrets.
The place where Marco and I once called home.
I take a slow breath.
Then whisper,
“That's where Marco is.”