Chapter 5 - The Secret Ledger
Hannah could not look him in the eyes. She stared at her own hands, her fingers twisting the fabric of the duvet.
“How could I?” she whispered, her voice thick with tears. “You’re Daniel Carver. You rule this city with blood and fear. I was just a girl who came to your office begging for help, and you... you looked at me like I was a spy. And then Aaron died. I thought if I told you, you’d take the baby away. Or worse, the Whitlocks would find out and use the child to destroy you.”
Daniel reached out, his long fingers gently catching her chin and forcing her to look at him. His gray eyes were burning with a fierce, absolute light.
“I would never have let anyone hurt you, Hannah,” he said, his voice a low, intense rumble. “And I would never have taken our child from you. I didn't help Caleb because I knew he had stumbled into something far more dangerous than he understood. I was trying to protect him by keeping him away from my business, but I was too late.”
He leaned closer, his forehead resting against hers for a brief, agonizing second.
“Aaron was a good man,” Daniel murmured. “He died trying to protect my family’s secrets because he loved you. I will honor his memory by making sure the people who killed him suffer for every single second of pain they caused him.”
He stood up, his face hardening into a focused, lethal mask. “We have to find Caleb’s ledger, Hannah. Marcus has tracked Caleb’s last known movements to an old dry dock near the East Providence line. He hid something there. A lockbox. But the area is crawling with Whitlock’s men.”
“I know where it is,” Hannah said suddenly, sitting up in bed.
Daniel turned, his eyes narrowing. “What?”
“Caleb had a secret spot,” Hannah said, her breath coming fast as the memories returned. “When we were kids, our father worked at the old Narragansett ironworks near the harbor. There was an old crane tower that was abandoned in the fifties. Caleb used to hide his schoolbooks and his diary there. He called it the ‘Crow’s Nest.’ If he hid anything, it would be there.”
Daniel stared at her, a dark, dangerous plan forming in his mind.
“The ironworks are in Whitlock territory,” Daniel said. “They’ve had guards posted there since Aaron’s death.”
“Then we go at night,” Hannah said, her voice finding a strength she didn't know she possessed. “I’m going with you, Daniel. I can find the loose floorboard in the tower. You’ll never find it without me.”
“No,” Daniel said immediately. “You’re on bed rest. The doctor said—”
“I don't care what the doctor said!” Hannah protested, her eyes flashing with a fierce, motherly fire. “My brother is missing, my husband is dead, and my baby is the only thing I have left of the life I lost. I am not going to sit in this bed while you risk your life for my secrets. Let me help you, Daniel. Please.”
Daniel looked at her for a long, silent moment. He saw the determination in her eyes, the same raw, unbreakable strength that had made him fall in love with her on that cold February night.
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“We go tonight,” Daniel said. “But you stay in the car with Marcus. If anything goes wrong, he has orders to drive you straight to the state line. Do you understand?”
Hannah nodded. “I understand.”
