Chapter 92 - THE PEOPLE WHO REFUSED TO DISAPPEAR
The footsteps stopped.
Nobody moved.
Then someone knocked.
Three times.
Pause.
Two times.
Three times.
Eleanor looked at me.
“That isn't an attack.”
“What is it?”
“A signal.”
She walked toward the door.
Richard grabbed her arm.
“No.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You don't control me anymore.”
She pulled free.
Then she opened the door.
A woman stood outside.
Late fifties.
Dark coat.
Silver hair.
She carried a leather folder.
Behind her were six people.
None of them looked armed.
The woman looked directly at me.
“Emily Reed?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Mara Bennett.”
She handed me the folder.
“I worked for The Circle for twenty-seven years.”
I didn't take it.
“What do you want?”
“To surrender.”
I frowned.
“All of you?”
She nodded.
“We were administrators.”
Julian looked suspicious.
“Administrators of what?”
“Accounts. Transfers. Property. Records.”
I looked at the folder.
“What happened after I pressed terminate?”
Mara swallowed.
“Every protected account was frozen.”
“Good.”
“Every hidden identity was exposed.”
“Good.”
“Every person who depended on The Circle for protection suddenly became vulnerable.”
My expression changed.
“How many?”
“Three hundred and eighteen.”
Julian stared.
“You're saying destroying The Circle put hundreds of people in danger?”
Mara nodded.
“Some are innocent.”
Richard smiled.
“Now you understand.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
I looked at Mara.
“Can those people be protected without restoring The Circle?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Someone would have to take control of the assets.”
I looked at Richard.
Then at Eleanor.
Then at Julian.
Finally, I looked at Noah.
I understood.
The inheritance wasn't the money.
It wasn't the files.
It wasn't even the power.
It was responsibility.
I opened the folder.
“Then we protect them.”
Richard's face hardened.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
I looked at him.
May you like
“Neither did you.”
For the first time, nobody answered him.
