Chapter 10
I held the council anyway.
Victor thought I would cancel it.
That was why his face changed when the capos began arriving.
The babies stayed with Emma, a doctor, and two guards I chose personally.
No parade.
No emotional display.
I did not need my daughters in the room to prove they existed.
Victor sat at one end of the table.
Marco sat under guard beside him.
I placed Claire’s opened pendant in front of me.
Then the note.
DON’T TRUST VICTOR.
Nobody spoke.
I told them only what we could establish.
Claire discovered unauthorized reserve crews.
Victor locked her in the north stable office.
She escaped.
He concealed the encounter.
Marco’s security network then helped Victor monitor the ranch.
The triplets were moved that morning by men outside standard Whitmore command.
Victor’s people were scheduled to “find” them later.
One capo looked at Victor.
“Why?”
Victor answered without shame.
“Because Daniel is compromised.”
I almost smiled.
“How?”
“Claire. The babies. Emotion.”
There it was.
His worldview.
Family as infection.
Care as weakness.
“You hid thirty-six men from me.”
“To preserve continuity.”
“You imprisoned my wife.”
“To stop a panic.”
“You moved my daughters.”
“To prevent a larger collapse.”
Every crime became duty once he described it.
That was why men like Victor become dangerous slowly.
They rarely believe they are betraying anything.
They believe they are correcting everyone else.
I looked around the table.
“Anyone here who believes he should control northern security, say it.”
No one spoke.
Victor laughed.
“Of course not. Not with you staring at them.”
I leaned back.
“Then I’ll leave.”
That startled him.
I stood.
“Marco stays. Victor stays. Vote without me.”
Then I walked out.
Because if the room only followed me while I was present, Victor was right about one thing.
May you like
I did not have loyalty.
I had fear.
