Page 49 of King's Reckoning
Understanding dawned. "She made it personal. Made them feel connected rather than just involved."
"Exactly." Reed winced slightly as he adjusted his position. "And it worked. For generations, MCs protected these records without fully understanding their implications. Kept them away from people who would use them to maintain unjust power structures."
His free hand came up to brush a strand of hair from her face, the tender gesture speaking volumes about how their relationship had evolved. "Your mother was brilliant. She knew exactly how to make people care about abstract historical justice."
The conversation was interrupted by a commotion in the hallway. Through the door's window, Rowan caught glimpses of Devils members escorting someone—Ace, looking worse for wear but alive.
"Found him at one of our old safe houses," Cole reported as they helped Ace into the room. "Someone worked him over pretty good, but he managed to get away with this."
He held up a familiar laptop—one Rowan recognized from Abby's belongings.
"She wasn't as careful as she thought," Ace managed through split lips. "Left it charging when she went to meet her contact. I managed to copy her files before they caught me."
Barbara immediately took the laptop, connecting it to her own systems. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she began analyzing the data.
"This is significant," she breathed after several minutes. "This goes much deeper than we thought. Abby wasn't just working with Blackwood. She was part of something called Continental Resources Development. A decades-long corporate initiative to control land and mineral rights throughout the region."
She turned her screen to show them—countless documents detailing property acquisitions, legal strategies, and political influence campaigns that made Rowan's head spin.
"They've been manipulating land records for generations," Barbara explained. "Systematically erasing evidence of pre-colonial claims, particularly those belonging to certain families. Looking for ways to permanently secure resource rights despite questionable legal standing."
"Which is why they targeted certain MC territories," King added from the doorway. He entered carrying more files—records recovered from one of Darkness's hidden caches. "The founding families weren't chosen randomly. Theyheld legitimate claims to territories with valuable resources."
"And now they want to erase that evidence permanently," Reed said grimly. "Make sure these historical records never reach the proper authorities."
"It's worse than that," Barbara said, still analyzing Abby's files. "These artifacts aren't just separate historical records. They're components of a comprehensive land claim that could overturn billions in resource rights. And according to these documents, they're ready to implement the final stage of their containment strategy."
"What kind of strategy?" Rowan demanded.
Barbara pulled up complex legal documents. "A coordinated legal and political campaign to discredit any historical evidence that emerges. They've already positioned experts, influenced judges, prepared media narratives, all to ensure that even if these records come to light, they'll be dismissed as forgeries."
"The founding families," King said quietly. "All their descendants. Everyone who thought they were protecting abstract historical truth, when really..."
"They were protecting their own rightful heritage," Rowan finished. "Keeping these records away from corporations that would ensure they never received justice."
"Elena figured it out," Barbara added, reading through more files. "Discovered what ContinentalResources was really planning. Why they'd been targeting certain families, certain territories...”
"Including ours," Rowan said softly. "The Matthews family has legitimate claim to parts of this land. That's why they wanted my mom silenced."
King's hand found her shoulder, squeezing gently. "Your mother wouldn't let them erase your heritage. Wouldn't let them steal what rightfully belongs to her family."
"No," Rowan agreed. "She taught me to fight instead. To protect not just our claim, but everyone's right to the truth." She studied the legal documents with new understanding. "And she left instructions for how to counter their strategy. We just couldn't see them before because we were too focused on individual artifacts rather than the complete picture."
She pulled out Elena's journal, finding specific passages that now revealed themselves as legal strategies rather than mysterious instructions. What had seemed like cryptic notes were actually detailed documentation plans and authentication protocols.
"Look at this," she said, showing Barbara a particular section. "Mom wasn't documenting strange connections—she was mapping authentication chains. Ways to prove the legitimacy of these historical records so they couldn't be dismissedas forgeries."
"Brilliant," Barbara breathed, comparing Elena's notes to Abby's files. "She created a comprehensive authentication methodology, disguised as personal research. Anyone looking for conspiracy would miss the actual historical verification techniques."
"Which is exactly what happened," Reed added. "Everyone was so focused on controlling these artifacts, they missed the real protection Elena put in place—indisputable proof of their authenticity."
Before anyone could respond, Reed's monitors beeped as his heart rate increased slightly. Rowan looked up to see his expression tighten with pain and immediately reached for the call button.
"Don't," he said, catching her wrist. "It's manageable. And we don't have time for more medication to cloud my thinking."
"You need to rest," she insisted.
"What I need," he countered, his dark eyes intense, "is to help finish what we started. What you started."
