Page 83 of The Innovator

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “So I made a decision.”

My voice went calm. “Don’t make it sound like you saved us. You were part of the organization for a long time. What happened that made you kill my dad?”

“Someone tipped off the members, saying I was stealing money from them. I had to prove my loyalty. I was running my business, becoming a direct competitor to them. They didn’t like it. I needed money to escape, but your father didn’t want to get involved.”

“What about loyalty to your family?”

Derek didn’t answer me. I didn’t need his answer. My question told him my feelings.

I sat up straighter, remembering the other reason for my visit. “Who are they? Where can I find them? I can’t live my life constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when they’ll come at me.”

I didn’t dwell in their world, so they shouldn’t have anything on me, but Derek was my uncle, so maybe that placed me on the radar.

“Do these people have information on me?” I asked.

Derek met my eyes. “They had videos of you, but I destroyed them.”

Unable to reply, I blinked in surprise.

“A few days after the crime, a member discovered some recordings from nearby streets. The videos showed some teenagers flying drones. Some were blurry, some weren’t. I was responsible for reviewing them.” Derek looked at me, and for the first time since his betrayal, I saw the uncle I used to trust. It was the conviction glinting in his eyes. “I deleted them, told him that the videos were corrupted.”

Fuck. He had known all this time?

Emotions churned in me, confusing me. I didn’t know what to feel or what to say.

“And you didn’t share this with anyone?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “No.”

“Why?”

“I had my reasons.”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted. “You’ve sent me messages wanting to speak to me. Why?”

“Because it’s time to right some wrongs.” He leaned in and whispered. “If you want to destroy them, focus on the elite clubs. Like how you and your friends gather at the abandoned church, some of these members meet at elite clubs. Start there. You can’t destroy them all at once. There are too many of them. You and your friends will fail. Attack one club at a time. Deflect. Create chaos. Continue on. Attacking from the shadows is how you’ll win.”

“But they dwell in the shadows.”

“Then you find an abyss to work from.” His jaw tightened as though he’d been planning this for a while. “If you plan on destroying them, you must keep those you love far away.” A smile curled onto his lips. “That beautiful woman could get hurt in the crossfire.”

I didn’t even bother asking how he knew about my personal life. If I could keep tabs on him, he could do the same to me. How much money did he have left? I thought the authorities had taken everything from him.

Something flickered in his eyes. “There’s a tunnel in the city—”

An explosion erupted somewhere in the prison, and the ground shook as though an earthquake had occurred. The lights flickered, and dust rained down on us from the ceiling tiles. A fluorescent light bulb shatteredto the floor. Something crashed inthe nearby room, and alarms blared. Then lights went out in half of the room. The guards emerged shouting with some carrying extinguishers.

“That tunnel is one way to attack them,” Derek said.

“You need to get back into your cell.” The guard yanked him away.

I rose from my seat as another guard came to escort me out.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Not sure. There’s construction on a recent addition out back. Maybe they hit a gas line or something. It’s not the first time.” He shook his head. “It’s best you leave, just in case.”

I drove for a while before pulling over to the side of the road and texting the PI to delete videos of me visiting the prison, including any videos of me traveling to and from there. It was obvious someone was watching Derek, and I didn’t want to be dragged into his shit.

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