Chapter 5 - Midnight at Blackwood Station
Adrian had never believed in negotiating with men who threatened children.
But he believed in keeping them talking.
Blackwood Station had been abandoned for eighteen years.
The old commuter platform sat between a wooded ridge and an unused freight line.
Perfect for an ambush.
Which meant Adrian had no intention of bringing Lily.
At 11:52 p.m., he parked a black SUV fifty yards from the station.
Vincent sat beside him.
Celeste was in the back.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Adrian told her.
“My brother created this.”
“That doesn’t make you useful.”
“I know how Damian thinks.”
Adrian looked at her in the mirror.
“You thought you did.”
Celeste lowered her eyes.
Vincent checked his weapon.
“Team one is positioned north. Team two south.”
“Thermal?”
“Three heat signatures inside the station.”
“Samuel?”
“Can’t confirm.”
Adrian exited.
Rain had weakened to a cold drizzle.
A single emergency lantern glowed inside the station.
At midnight exactly, Adrian walked onto the platform alone.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Where’s the girl?”
Adrian recognized Damian Vale before he stepped into the light.
He wore a dark raincoat.
Still elegant.
Still composed.
As if this were a business meeting.
“You look tired, Adrian.”
“Where is Samuel?”
Damian smiled.
“You always begin with the least interesting question.”
“Where is he?”
A second man dragged Samuel Reed from behind a pillar.
Adrian’s attorney had blood on his face.
His hands were tied.
“Adrian,” Samuel said.
Damian struck him across the back.
“Quiet.”
Adrian studied Samuel.
Fear looked genuine.
But Celeste had said Samuel gave Damian the safe code.
“Bring him forward.”
“Bring Lily.”
“She isn’t here.”
Damian’s smile vanished.
“Then Samuel dies.”
Adrian shrugged.
Samuel stared at him.
Damian laughed.
“Cold.”
“You chose the wrong hostage.”
Samuel suddenly shouted, “He’s lying!”
Damian turned.
Samuel continued.
“He knows!”
Damian hit him again.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Knows what?”
Samuel looked directly at Adrian.
“I never gave him the safe code.”
Damian grabbed Samuel’s hair.
“Enough.”
Samuel screamed, “Michael did!”
Adrian felt the world shift.
“What?”
Damian froze.
Samuel kept talking.
“Michael gave Damian access seven years ago!”
Damian pulled a gun.
Vincent’s voice came quietly through Adrian’s hidden earpiece.
“Hold.”
Adrian raised both hands.
“Damian.”
“Shut up.”
“You knew Michael.”
Damian’s gun remained pointed at Samuel.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Well enough to know he was smarter than you.”
Adrian controlled his anger.
“He trusted you.”
“For a while.”
“Why?”
Damian smiled.
“Because Michael wanted to expose corruption inside your family.”
“So you pretended to help.”
“No.”
Damian’s expression changed.
“I did help.”
Adrian waited.
Damian lowered the weapon slightly.
“Your brother discovered money disappearing from the trust. Millions. He thought my father was responsible.”
“Was he?”
“Partly.”
“And you?”
“Eventually.”
Samuel shouted, “He’s lying!”
Damian fired.
The bullet hit the floor beside Samuel’s knee.
Samuel screamed.
Adrian didn’t move.
“What happened to Michael’s plane?”
Damian looked at him.
“I didn’t kill your brother.”
“Who did?”
Damian smiled.
“That answer is worth more than Samuel Reed.”
“You’re not leaving here.”
“Neither are you if the girl isn’t delivered.”
Vincent’s voice whispered.
“Shooter on roof. Wait.”
Adrian continued.
“Why Lily?”
“Because she owns something.”
“The estate?”
“Much more than the estate.”
“What?”
Damian stepped closer.
“When your grandfather created the original family trust, he made succession dependent on bloodline.”
“I know.”
“No, you know the amended version.”
Adrian felt a coldness spread through him.
Damian continued.
“Michael discovered the amendment was fraudulent.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
Adrian looked at him.
“You knew?”
Samuel whispered, “Adrian…”
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From an eight-year-old?”
“From the people who would kill for what she represents.”
Damian laughed.
“Samuel has always been talented at making cowardice sound noble.”
Adrian looked at Samuel.
“Who forged the amendment?”
Samuel refused to answer.
Damian answered for him.
“Your uncle.”
Adrian froze.
“Victor?”
Damian nodded.
Victor Moretti.
His father’s younger brother.
Seventy-one.
Retired.
Living quietly in Connecticut.
A man Adrian had spent Christmas with less than nine months ago.
“He changed the succession structure after Michael disappeared,” Damian said. “Placed Adrian first. Himself second.”
Adrian understood.
“If Michael had a child…”
“The original trust passes through Michael’s branch before yours.”
“And Victor gets nothing.”
“Unless both Michael and his child are dead.”
Adrian heard movement above.
Vincent whispered, “Roof clear.”
Adrian asked, “Then why poison me?”
Damian smiled.
“Because you found Lily.”
“I didn’t know who she was.”
“But once the document disappeared, we couldn’t risk you learning.”
“We?”
Damian realized the mistake.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Who is ‘we’?”
Damian raised the gun toward Adrian.
“You should have brought the child.”
A red laser dot appeared on Damian’s chest.
Vincent spoke through loudspeaker from the shadows.
“Drop it.”
Damian smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
Then every light around the station died.
Gunfire erupted.
Adrian hit the ground.
Samuel screamed.
Someone ran.
Security shouted.
Within seconds the lights returned.
Damian was gone.
The man guarding Samuel lay wounded.
Samuel remained tied to the chair.
Vincent emerged.
“Damian escaped through the maintenance tunnel.”
Adrian untied Samuel.
Instead of thanking him, Adrian grabbed his collar.
“You knew Lily existed?”
Samuel’s face broke.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Seven years.”
Adrian nearly struck him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Michael made me promise.”
Adrian released him.
“Michael trusted you?”
Samuel nodded.
“More than anyone.”
“Then why did his video say the killer might be standing beside me?”
Samuel looked toward Vincent.
Then Celeste, who had emerged from the SUV.
Then finally back at Adrian.
“Because Michael didn’t know which one of us Victor had bought.”
Vincent stiffened.
Adrian stared.
“One of us?”
Samuel nodded.
“Someone close to you has been sending Victor information for years.”
Before Adrian could ask more, his phone rang.
Grace.
He answered.
There was no greeting.
Only Lily screaming.
Then a man said calmly:
May you like
“You should have brought her when we asked.”
The call ended.
