Chapter 18 - The Fourth FounderFrank Reed had been dead for twelve years.
Daniel remembered him as a mechanic.
Hardworking.
Quiet.
Strict.
A man who hated paperwork and barely trusted banks.
Apparently, that life had been another lie.
Michael stared at the photograph.
“I never knew.”
Daniel looked at him.
“For once, I believe you.”
Northstar’s original corporate documents listed four founding investors.
Three names were visible.
The fourth had been hidden behind a shell corporation.
Federal forensic accountants traced it.
Frank Reed.
Their father.
Daniel sat down.
“Why?”
Michael shook his head.
William agreed to talk.
Not because he felt guilty.
Because he enjoyed being the only person in the room with answers.
“Frank was brilliant,” William said.
Daniel stared through the glass.
“He fixed cars.”
William smiled.
“He fixed systems.”
“What did he do for Northstar?”
“Communications.”
Michael frowned.
“Our father barely used a computer.”
“Because he knew what they could do.”
William leaned back.
“Frank designed the earliest data architecture.”
Daniel felt sick.
“The surveillance network.”
“Yes.”
“Did Mom know?”
William’s smile weakened.
“No.”
Michael asked, “Why did Dad leave?”
William studied him.
“Because of you.”
Michael froze.
“What?”
“You were fourteen.”
Daniel remembered.
The year Michael got arrested for breaking into the school computer lab.
Their father had been furious.
William continued.
“Frank realized his sons were growing up.”
“So?”
“He started imagining what our system could do to you.”
Daniel whispered, “He developed a conscience.”
“Late.”
William smiled.
“But yes.”
Frank tried to dismantle Northstar.
William threatened the family.
Frank disappeared from the company.
Years later, he sold the fishing cabin publicly but secretly placed the land inside the Reed trust.
Michael eventually used it as a safe house without knowing their father had originally created the trust.
Daniel stared.
“The cabin.”
William nodded.
“Frank built his escape route before Michael ever needed one.”
Another generation planning for danger.
Michael asked, “Did you kill him?”
William’s expression changed.
“No.”
Daniel watched carefully.
That answer seemed genuine.
“Then how did he die?”
“Heart attack.”
“That’s what we were told.”
“It’s true.”
Daniel almost laughed from relief.
A normal death felt like a miracle.
William continued.
“Frank left something behind.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Another archive.”
“Not Northstar’s.”
“Whose?”
“His.”
William smiled.
“Every original founder had leverage on the others.”
Michael whispered, “Where?”
William looked at Daniel.
“You already had the key.”
Daniel froze.
The small brass house key.
Not only the cabin.
Daniel remembered something.
Their father’s old metal toolbox had used the same type of key.
It was still in Daniel’s garage.
He left immediately.
The toolbox sat beneath a workbench.
Untouched for years.
The brass key fit.
Inside were ordinary tools.
Wrenches.
Screwdrivers.
A faded work glove.
Daniel removed the bottom tray.
Underneath sat a notebook.
Frank Reed’s handwriting.
Michael opened the first page.
If either of my sons finds this, Northstar survived longer than I hoped.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Michael continued reading.
I helped build something evil because at first I believed information could prevent harm.
Then I watched William turn knowledge into control.
The ledger contained names.
Original victims.
Early operations.
Payments.
But also something else.
Frank had documented every attempt he made to sabotage Northstar from within.
Evidence deleted.
People warned.
Lives saved.
Daniel stared.
“He wasn’t innocent.”
Michael nodded.
“But he tried.”
Near the final page was a note.
There is one person William must never learn survived.
Daniel felt dread.
Michael turned the page.
A name.
STEVEN PIKE.
Lisa’s father.
Daniel froze.
“Lisa’s father didn’t die?”
Michael looked stunned.
The man David Mercer had been convicted of murdering.
The man whose death had started everything.
According to Frank’s ledger…
Steven Pike had survived the attack.
His death had been staged to get him away from Northstar.
Daniel called Lisa.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text arrived.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
Lisa standing beside an older man.
Both looking at the camera.
The older man had the same eyes.
Message:
YOU FINALLY FOUND THE BEGINNING.
Daniel showed Michael.
“Steven Pike.”
Michael stared.
Another message arrived.
BRING FRANK’S LEDGER.
NO POLICE.
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Apparently everyone in my life gives the same terrible instructions.”
Then a final text appeared.
ASK MICHAEL WHAT HE DID THE NIGHT STEVEN PIKE “DIED.”
May you like
Daniel slowly turned toward his brother.
Michael’s face had already gone pale.
