Chapter 13 - The Dead Man Comes Home
Roman recognized the alarm.
Gas.
Not fire.
Samuel had opened the old fuel system beneath the west wing.
“Everybody out.”
Claire gathered the ledger pages.
Roman grabbed the box.
Gabriel shouted, “Leave them!”
“No.”
Those pages were why people had died.
Roman would not abandon them for Samuel to recover later.
They moved through the corridor.
Smoke had begun rising from below.
Marcus headed toward the utility valves.
Gabriel caught him.
“You’ll never reach them.”
“There’s a manual cutoff.”
“Where?”
“Basement north junction.”
Roman looked at the countdown.
Three minutes.
“I’ll go.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Roman looked into her eyes.
“Get outside.”
“You are not trading yourself for a building.”
“I am shutting off the fuel.”
“Then we do it together.”
Gabriel shouted, “Argue later!”
They ran.
The basement corridor shook.
A small explosion knocked dust from the ceiling.
Nothing catastrophic yet.
Marcus reached the valve.
It was chained.
Roman used a maintenance axe to break the old bracket.
Claire and Gabriel turned the wheel.
The gas hiss slowly diminished.
Countdown: 1:14.
Roman realized something.
“Samuel wanted us to evacuate.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“What?”
“The countdown is theater.”
“You want to gamble on that?”
“No.”
But Samuel did not want the house destroyed.
The ledger was inside.
He wanted everyone outside so his people could take it.
Roman looked at Claire.
“Stay here.”
She groaned.
“Again?”
“This time I need you to protect the box.”
That she accepted.
Roman and Gabriel climbed toward the ground floor.
Through the front windows they saw three vehicles approaching.
Samuel’s recovery team.
Gabriel laughed.
“You were right.”
“I’m frequently annoyed by that.”
They prepared.
But before the vehicles reached the house, headlights appeared behind them.
More cars.
Security.
Lena Ortiz.
And local police.
Samuel’s men reversed.
Too late.
They were surrounded.
Roman stared.
“Who called police?”
Claire appeared behind him.
“I did.”
He turned.
“When?”
“Before we came downstairs.”
Gabriel smiled.
Roman looked at her.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You might have said no.”
“I would have.”
“Exactly.”
The immediate threat ended without a major fight.
Samuel, however, escaped.
Again.
Worse, the video feed showing Evelyn disappeared.
Ethan remained missing.
Police searched the estate.
The ledger pages were moved into secure evidence storage.
For the first time, Samuel’s network faced exposure.
But Roman knew he would not stop.
At dawn Gabriel stood inside Blackridge’s ruined breakfast room.
Roman joined him.
“You could leave,” Roman said.
“So could you.”
“It’s my house.”
“It’s mostly smoke now.”
Roman looked around.
Fair.
Gabriel became serious.
“I hated you.”
Roman nodded.
“Mutual.”
“I believed Vincent destroyed my life.”
“He helped.”
Gabriel smiled without humor.
“Yes.”
Roman looked at him.
“My father was wrong about you.”
“And I was wrong about him.”
Neither man apologized.
Too much had happened for one word to repair it.
Gabriel said, “Samuel will go to one place.”
“Where?”
“The person financing him.”
Roman frowned.
“Who?”
Gabriel looked toward the doorway.
“Your father.”
Roman’s eyes hardened.
“My father is actually dead.”
“This time, yes.”
“Then explain.”
“Vincent established a trust decades ago. Samuel secretly gained control after Vincent’s death.”
Roman understood.
Money.
Properties.
Legal resources.
All hidden behind Vale structures.
“Where is the trust administered?”
“Manhattan.”
Roman’s expression changed.
The Vale Foundation.
A charitable organization Roman rarely managed personally.
Its director was—
He stopped.
“Lydia Shaw.”
Gabriel nodded.
Roman stared.
Lydia had known him since childhood.
She attended his mother’s funeral.
His father trusted her.
She sat on Blackridge’s board.
Claire entered carrying coffee.
Roman looked at her.
“What?”
“We found Samuel’s connection.”
“To whom?”
“Lydia Shaw.”
Claire knew the name.
“She called yesterday.”
Roman froze.
“When?”
“Before everything started. She asked whether you would attend the Foundation gala next week.”
Roman had forgotten.
Claire continued.
“She also asked whether I still worked at Blackridge.”
Gabriel looked at Roman.
“Why would she ask that?”
Roman’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Lydia Shaw spoke.
“Roman, I hear you’ve had an unpleasant evening.”
His expression became cold.
“How did you hear?”
Silence.
A mistake.
A tiny one.
But Roman heard it.
The incident had not been made public.
Lydia recovered quickly.
“Ethan contacted me.”
“Ethan is missing.”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Then Lydia said, “Come to Manhattan.”
“Why?”
“Because I have something Samuel wants.”
“What?”
She answered:
“Your father’s original ledger.”
Roman looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel had heard through the speaker.
Roman said, “I thought the pages at Blackridge were the original.”
“Copies.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t.”
A familiar theme.
Lydia continued.
“But Evelyn is here.”
Claire nearly dropped her cup.
Roman’s face changed.
“Put her on.”
A rustle.
Then Evelyn spoke.
“Roman?”
Claire grabbed the phone.
“Mom!”
“Claire, listen to me. Don’t come.”
The call disconnected.
Roman stared at the screen.
Gabriel said, “Trap.”
“Yes.”
Claire was already reaching for her coat.
Roman looked at her.
She looked back.
“You’re not going to tell me to stay.”
Roman sighed.
“No.”
“Growth.”
“Don’t enjoy it.”
They headed for Manhattan.
And for the first time, Roman was walking willingly into a trap because the people waiting inside held more than a ledger.
May you like
They held Claire’s mother.
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