No One Owns Me

Chapter 25 — The Secret Duncan Kept

I wake to the low, sharp sound of voices carrying up the stairs. At first I think it’s a nightmare, echoes of the warehouse still clinging to my bones—until I recognise Duncan’s tone, tight and frayed.

“You don’t understand what you’re asking of me.”

“Then explain it,” Drake answers, steady but unyielding.

I sit up fast, and my ribs scream in protest. The room spins for a heartbeat; I wait for it to settle, then slip quietly out of bed. I don’t want them to know I’m listening. Not yet.

I creep down the steps, keeping to the shadows.

“Casey deserves the truth,” Drake says.

My stomach twists tight. I take another step, and Ward looks up. His eyes lock with mine, and he stands at once.

“You should be resting.”

I shake my head. “What truth?”

The whole room goes dead silent. Duncan turns, his face pale. “Casey—”

“What truth?” I repeat, stepping fully into the light.

He glances at Drake, gets no help, then slowly sinks back into his chair. “You’ve been through more than enough in one night.”

“Then don’t add to it by hiding things.” My voice is sharper than I mean it to be. “Stop deciding what I can handle.”

Duncan studies me for a long moment, then nods slowly. He reaches for the photograph on the table—the one of the man with dark hair and sharp eyes—and pushes it toward me.

“Who is he?”

“Daniel Cross,” Duncan says quietly. “He was your father’s oldest friend. His right hand.”

My breath catches. “The man who raised me—what about him?”

“His name wasn’t the only thing hidden from you.” Duncan leans forward, elbows on his knees. “He didn’t just work for the Crown. He spent years trying to tear it apart from the inside.”

I stare at him, stunned. “He was fighting them?”

“He found out what they really do—how they control families, buy loyalty with threats, erase anyone who won’t bend. He risked everything to expose them.”

“Then why did he die?” My voice cracks.

Duncan looks away, his jaw tight. “It wasn’t that simple. He didn’t just die. He vanished first. For six months, no one knew where he was, or if he was even alive.”

“I was told there was an accident,” I say, cold creeping through my chest. “That he didn’t make it.”

“He was found eventually. Washed up on the rocks near the coast. Daniel was the one who brought him home.”

My blood runs cold. “Daniel Cross found him?”

“Yes.”

“Then he knows what really happened.” I lean in. “Where is he?”

Duncan shakes his head. “We lost track of him after the funeral. He went completely off-grid.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Of course he did.”

Ward speaks up then. “That message I got. It said to ask Duncan about your father.”

I turn to him. “Show me.”

He holds out his phone. I read the words again, and they feel like a taunt: ASK DUNCAN WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO CASEY’S FATHER.

“Why would they tell you that?” I ask.

“Because they want you digging,” Duncan says. “They want you chasing ghosts.”

“Maybe they’re afraid of what I’ll find.” I look straight at him. “You know more than you’ve said. Don’t you?”

He nods, slow and heavy. “I made a promise. To your father. To keep you far away from all of this.”

“By lying?”

“By keeping you alive.” His voice breaks. “But I failed. They found you anyway.”

I shake my head, and reach out to touch his arm. “You didn’t fail. You found me. You came back. That’s what matters.”

He blinks, eyes glistening, and covers my hand with his.

“But no more secrets,” I say firmly. “Please. No more.”

“No more,” he promises.

I look back at Daniel’s face. The only person who saw my father in his final days. The only one who knows the truth.

“Find him,” I say to Drake.

“We will.”

“No.” I stand straight, ignoring the ache in my leg. “I’m going to find him.”

Duncan’s head snaps up. “Absolutely not. You were kidn*pped, beaten, unconscious—”

“And I survived.”

“You’re still injured—”

“And I survived.”

He sighs, long and defeated. “You are impossible.”

“Apparently.” I give a faint, tired smile.

Ward nods, stepping forward. “She’s right. We need what he knows. And if we go looking, we go together.”

Duncan glares at him. “Don’t you dare encourage her.”

“I’m encouraging trust,” Ward says quietly. “She’s earned it.”

I meet his eyes, and my chest feels lighter. He’s not here to protect me from myself. He’s here to stand beside me.

“Thank you,” I say.

He nods.

Drake’s phone rings, sharp and sudden. He answers, listens, and his expression shifts. “Where?… You’re certain?… Got it.”

He hangs up, and looks straight at me.

“We found him. Daniel. He’s holed up in an old cottage, twenty miles north of here.”

I grab my jacket. “Let’s go.”

Duncan groans, but he’s already moving for his keys. “Of course we are.”

Then my phone buzzes in my pocket.

Unknown number.

One message: DON’T TRUST DANIEL.

I freeze. Before I can process it, another pops up:

HE’S THE REASON YOUR FATHER IS DEAD.

My hand falls to my side. Everyone stops, watching me.

“What is it?” Duncan asks.

I turn the screen toward them.

Ward’s jaw tightens. “That’s the same number that messaged me.”

Duncan goes pale. “If that’s true… then walking in there isn’t a rescue. It’s a trap.”

I stare at the words, at Daniel’s photograph still lying on the table. The ally we’ve been searching for… might be the very thing that destroys everything my father died for.