Chapter 30 · The Last Debt

I didn't sleep. How could I?

Claire left around three AM after making me promise I wouldn't do anything stupid. I promised. I lied.

The red ledger sat on my coffee table. Lin's ledger. The one that proved my father bought weapons with borrowed money and never delivered them. The one that said my mother's family was some kind of shadow power I'd never heard of. The one that claimed she was alive somewhere, locked up, her mind erased.

And somewhere in this apartment was a package my father sent me three days before he died. A package I signed for but couldn't remember.

I tore the place apart. Every drawer. Every closet. Behind every piece of furniture. Nothing.

My phone buzzed at six AM. Unknown number.

"Stop looking. You already opened it."

I stared at the screen. My hands shook.

"Who is this?"

"Someone who knows what your father hid. And where your mother is. Meet me at the old Su family warehouse. Dock 7. One hour. Come alone or she dies tonight."

The call dropped.

I should've called Claire. I should've called the police.