He Came Home Early and Heard His Mother Threatening His Wife—Then a Hidden Secret Was Revealed
Chapter 13
Thomas had disappeared.
The federal agents searched the property.
Nothing.
But Michael knew one thing.
If Thomas was working for Eleanor, the entire investigation might have been compromised.
They returned to the hidden office.
Michael searched the files again.
He found a document Thomas had overlooked.
It contained a list of safe houses.
One address was highlighted.
Michael recognized it.
The abandoned church where Daniel had once hidden.
They drove there.
When they arrived, the church was empty.
But a light was visible beneath the floor.
They found a hidden basement.
Thomas was inside.
He was sitting beside a table covered with documents.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Don’t move.”
Thomas looked at him.
“I knew you’d come.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Why did you betray us?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
“Your name is in Eleanor’s records.”
“I was investigating her.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because Eleanor found me.”
Thomas explained that he had infiltrated Eleanor’s organization years earlier.
He had secretly collected evidence.
But he couldn’t expose her because she had threatened his family.
Michael stared.
“So you were pretending to work for her?”
“Yes.”
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because there was a mole.”
Michael frowned.
“Who?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Someone inside the federal investigation.”
Michael’s heart sank.
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?”
Thomas opened a folder.
Inside was a recording.
Eleanor’s voice.
She was discussing the murder of Richard Carter.
But another voice appeared.
A federal official.
Michael recognized him.
He was the deputy director overseeing the investigation.
Thomas said:
“He has been protecting Eleanor for twenty years.”
Michael realized how deep the corruption went.
This wasn’t just a private criminal network.
It had reached inside government agencies.
Thomas handed Michael another file.
“There’s one final piece.”
“What?”
“The person Eleanor trusts most.”
Michael opened it.
A name appeared.
Emily Carter.
Michael stared.
Emily looked shocked.
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“It’s not what you think.”
He explained that Eleanor had been tracking Emily because she believed Emily possessed something Richard had hidden.
A key.
Michael looked at his wife.
“What key?”
Emily suddenly remembered.
Years earlier, before their wedding, Daniel had given her a small metal key.
She had kept it in a jewelry box.
They returned home.
Emily opened the box.
The key was still there.
It unlocked a small compartment in the hidden office.
Inside was a final recording from Richard.
Michael pressed play.
His father’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this, I’m dead.”
Michael’s eyes filled with tears.
Richard explained that he had hidden the evidence inside the house.
He knew Eleanor would eventually come after Michael.
But there was one final secret.
Richard had not created Northstar.
He had inherited it.
And Eleanor wasn’t the original architect either.
There had been someone above her.
Someone who had controlled the entire network from the beginning.
Michael stared at the screen.
Richard said the name.
Michael froze.
It was a name nobody expected.
Margaret Carter.
Michael’s mother.
