Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Seven

ZANE

The elevator isn't moving fast enough.

I know I should have run up the stairs instead of standing in this metal box that's creaking upward at the speed of a snail.

Finally, the doors open.

The moment I step out, my brother grabs my arm and jerks me back. "We need to talk."

" After I see Grey."

"It won't take long," Dutch grinds out. He juts his chin at Finn who's been silent since we came back from the house.

" I'll check on Grey," Cadey offers. "I want to know what progress she made with the video anyway."

"We'll walk you there," Dutch says.

We trail Cadey to the suite. The guard outside greets us with a nod and assures us that there's been no one in or out of the room since he's been stationed there.

"We'll be right back," Dutch tells Cadey.

"Yeah, yeah. Go have your secret bro-meeting. You'll tell me all about it later anyway. I don't know why you bother with the secrecy."

Dutch's lips twitch at her fiery tone.

Watching his face soften around her, I'm really freaking glad that he got his head out of his butt crack and admitted he was in love.

After Cadence slips into Grey's room, I hear them both squeal in that distinctly female way that girls do when they're excited to see someone.

We were only gone for a few hours. Why are they acting like it's been years since they've met?

Dutch's room is a few doors down. We head there and he closes the door behind us.

Without Cadence, Dutch lets the full breadth of his scowl free. "Finn, what the hell was going on between you and dad tonight?"

Finn's eyes flash, but his lips are as locked as a Fort Knox prison.

"Finn, enough with the silent, loner bull! You need to start telling us something ," I burst out.

"Whatever it is, we can figure it out together."

Still, Finn doesn't break his silence.

Dutch moves in closer. "I wouldn't push if it wasn't important, but this concerns the girls' safety. I need to know what dad told you. Please."

Finn and I both startle.

I didn't know ‘please' was in Dutch's vocabulary.

Finn finally cracks.

"Dad didn't tell me anything I didn't already suspect," he says, his eyes on the floor.

"What do you mean?"

"You know I'm adopted."

"Whaat?" I gasp. "You're adopted?"

Finn smiles a little.

Dutch rolls his eyes.

My brother continues, "There are some things I haven't told you. About me. About… Jinx."

My eyebrows fly all the way up to my forehead. "Jinx? What does any of this have to do with her?"

Dutch looks skeptical. "We can talk about Jinx later. For now, let's focus on dad."

Finn does that internal debate thing where his jaw clenches and he looks like he's at war with himself.

"Spit it out, Finn!" I demand. "What was so bad that dad practically disowned you?—"

"Dad lied." Finn glares at me like I punched the truth out of him.

"About…" Dutch prompts.

Damn. It's like pulling teeth.

Finn closes his eyes and the words seep out like he already regrets it. "About where I came from."

"You're kidding." I distinctly remember dad coming home with Finn and telling us he was our new brother, adopted from China.

"Where did you come from then?" Dutch demands.

"Not… through a regular agency."

"You're saying dad's your actual biological father?" I gawk. That makes what he did tonight twice as sickening.

"Or that he kidnapped you?" Dutch quirks an eyebrow.

"He hid me." Finn looks up, his eyes colliding with mine.

"From who?"

"Not from," Finn corrects me. " For ."

A painful, shuddering silence descends on us. It presses its claws into my shoulders and digs in deep. It tells me things will never be the same when I leave this room.

"You know who's behind The Grateful Project, don't you," I whisper. "You know who dad's afraid of."

Dutch gives our brother a dark look. "Who is he?"

Finn speaks with an unreadable expression, but there's a wet sheen in his eyes. Not from sorrow, but from anger.

"Who is he, Finn!" Dutch roars. "Say it."

"My father!"

GREY

Cadence picks up my notepad and skims it. Her eyes trail to the empty wine bottle and the crushed coffee cans.

"You've been working hard," she says with a hint of concern.

"I did a deep-dive on the tattoo I spotted in the video, and I think I'm on to something." I'm well aware that the sugar rush is kicking in and I'm unnaturally hyper, but I can't stop it. "Check this out." I roll my office chair slightly to the side so Cadence can stand in front of the computer.

She peers at the screen. "The yakuza? As in… the Japanese mafia?"

"The yakuza is one of the largest criminal organizations in the world. They've got power, connections, influence—not to mention billions of dollars from drugs, gambling, human trafficking. Basically anything a criminal can profit from."

"That sounds awful."

"Oh, it is." I realize I'm smiling and wipe the expression from my face. "It is."

"You think Sloane's real killer was from the yakuza?"

I nod.

"But… this isn't Japan."

"No." I stick up a finger, pointing. "But the yakuza started expanding their operations about four decades ago."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why not stick to Japan?"

"I'm not the yakuza, obviously. But I can take a guess."

She gestures for me to go ahead.

"From history, you'll learn that every king wants to dominate. That's why France, Spain, and Britain did all those awful things like slavery and genocide. They already ruled their own territories, but they wanted more. It's what men with power do. They take. They're insatiable."

Cadence mumbles thoughtfully, "Sounds like someone I know."

I'm sure she's thinking about Jarod Cross, but the waters we're swimming in are way deeper than that.

"The yakuza were unstoppable in Japan, but things changed. According to the Japanese police, there was a big split in factions. What was once the biggest criminal organization shattered into tiny fragments. The factions started warring with each other, trying to take as much territory as possible. After the bloodshed, they made agreements, divided territories and branched out, but the war wasn't really over. It just moved to the ‘colonies'''." I make bunny ears. "It turned into a competition for who could take over the yakuza bases in the overseas territories."

"So, who won the war for this territory?"

"From what I can gather thanks to this online translator," I point to the app that I've been using all night, "ten years ago, the police arrested this guy, Tsaka Nagasaki, for illegal gun possession, but he was released after only a few months in prison. Online speculation was that he belonged to the yakuza."

"So this guy, this Tus-Tus…"

"Tsaka."

"That's the big boss?"

"There's no proof that he was, and honestly, I don't think the big boss would actually go to prison. However, it's proof that the yakuza does have a presence here."

She nods. "Did you find anything else?"

"Not a lot. There are other, more obvious crime syndicates that make the news and then there are others that don't make the news, but we all know about them."

"Like the mob in The Godfather ."

"Mmhm. But I did find something interesting."

"I'm kind of scared to ask." Cadence grits her teeth and leans back like she's bracing for bad news.

"Nagasaki was killed last summer. But get this. He died on the day of Redwood Prep's summer showcase."

Cadence shudders. "Is that a coincidence?"

I count it out on my fingers. "The yakuza were involved with The Grateful Project. They killed Sloane, which means they're probably behind Harris and Slavno's deaths. And now we find out a yakuza lackey happened to die the night of the showcase."

"Grey, this sounds really serious." Cadence speaks in a grave tone.

"I know."

"Then why were you so excited when I walked in?"

"Because this is it, Cadence! This is a path forward. You have no idea how long I've been looking for these answers. Everything Redwood Prep did to cover up Sloane's death was to cover their own backs. I knew it. I was sure of it, but I never had proof and so no one would listen to me."

"And no one would listen to her. She was a girl from the south side. She was the daughter of a stripper. She wore tight clothes and snuck into clubs, so she must have been a wild child. She must have deserved it. The media pushed that narrative on her. And even if it was true, even if she was sleeping around, she wouldn't be worth less. She was a human being. She had a life . Someone took her life away from her and now they're going to pay."

Cadence's eyes dart between mine. "How do you plan on making a Japanese crime organization pay?"

"First, I'm taking this video to the police."

She jerks as if I hit her. "I don't know much about mafia life, but don't criminals usually have dirty cops working for them?"

"That's where phase two comes in." I get up, unable to sit still when my thoughts are whirring this fast. "Back in the day, the people in power didn't have to deal with cameras and hashtags and social media movements, so they got away with murder. Today, the internet makes it so that the information can go viral in seconds."

"Your plan is to… get everyone to know."

"Knowing isn't enough. We all know that evil exists and sometimes, we can even point out who the evil people are. But we don't fight because we don't think it's worth the fight. Rebellion is like a fire. Someone has to light the match of outrage and galvanize people into wanting to do something. And then, when there's a tiny flame, someone with enough clout will come with a gas tank, pouring attention on that cause."

"Someone with attention?" Her eyes widen. "Someone like Jinx."

I nod.

"How?"

"I want to film a video of me telling the world everything and then I'll send both my video and a copy of this flash drive to Jinx."

"What if she doesn't post it?"

"She will," I say confidently.

"Jinx isn't a reporter. She's only interested in scandals…" Cadence stumbles back. "You're going to use Zane."

A twinge of guilt snaps in my gut, but I shake it off.

"Zane got me to marry him because of Sloane's case. He knows where my heart really lies." Even as I speak the words, they feel bitter on my tongue.

"If you tell the world you married a student, they won't give you a nice narrative, Grey. They'll crucify you."

"Weren't you the one who said I should love Zane and not care what the world thinks?"

"Yeah, but I didn't tell you to go advertising your love either! Just live quietly and happily."

"That's not going to happen for me." I dip my head. "Since the moment I met Zane wearing a Redwood Prep uniform, I've been scared of people finding out. I was scared they'd judge me. That they'd look at me and see those monsters from The Grateful Project. I was scared no one would listen to the truth about Sloane if they thought I was as bad as the ones who murdered her."

Cadence stares at me with frightened eyes.

"But now I'll use it as a match. Zane is Jarod Cross's son and I'm Jarod Cross's step daughter. Zane is eighteen and I'm twenty four. Zane is my student and I'm his teacher. There's enough for Jinx to sink her teeth into. And once it catches fire…"

"Everyone will hear about you, about Sloane, about The Grateful Project," she finishes.

"And if I've been murdered, well, that'll only add fuel to flames. The yakuza can control the mainstream media, but they can't kill a million social media accounts. Who knows? There might even be a true crime documentary about me."

"No, there has to be another way."

"There is." I pat her hand. "In a perfect world, I'll go to the police, they'll use their super advanced technology and government backing to investigate the yakuza. Sloane's real killer will be sentenced to prison and we'll all live happily ever after."

Cadence shakes her head, tears in her eyes.

"But we need to be realistic. We don't live in a perfect world. Sloane died because we live in a world where grown men can purchase scholarship girls like cattle at an auction. Where teachers like me, yes, the ones just like me, who know better than to get involved with their students… do. Life is messy and dark and imperfect. And it won't get better until someone is willing to sacrifice, willing to die, to protect what's right."

Cadence rushes forward, tears in her eyes. "Sloane isn't the only one who cares about you, Grey. We all do. Don't take this on by yourself. Dutch and I will?—"

"No." I gently set her hands down. "You have Viola to think about. And you and Dutch are planning on starting a family."

Her eyes slide down.

"It'll happen." My mind trips back to that day in the park when she was crying while watching the toddler on the bike. "Whether or not it happens naturally, you're going to be an amazing mother, Cadence. I want you to remember that, even if I'm not around."

"You can't talk of dying so carelessly," she sobs.

"I can't ignore the likelihood of it either. Like you said, I'm dealing with the yakuza now. There's a one percent chance I walk out of this alive."

She shakes her head as if she can crack the world apart with the force of the motion.

"I know you and Dutch share everything but… for now can you please not tell the boys? They'll want to stop me and I can't have that."

Feeling a lump of emotions in my own throat, I turn to the laptop and my notepad. "I'll spend tonight with Zane and then I'll leave and film the video for Jinx tomorrow. I probably won't be able to say goodbye. It's better if you guys don't know where I am when all this goes down."

She slaps the lid of my laptop down. "No."

"Cadence."

"You can't, Grey. You can't go to the police. You can't tell Jinx. You can't film a confession. The moment you let that evidence out… Grey, that video is your suicide letter."

I scratch my nail against the desk. "I know."

"If you die, he'll die too."

"Dutch and Finn and Sol will protect him."

"That's not the death I'm talking about," Cadence says sternly.

My eyes well with tears, and my chest hurts. "I know."

"And still…?" Cadence croaks.

I look up. "And still."

My path has been set since the night my best friend was found in a body bag. If I have to choose between Sloane and Zane…

… it will always be Sloane.