Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT MANAGERThomas couldn't move.
His night manager, Frank, lay face-down on the marble floor.
Blood had soaked through his uniform.
A black crown button was pinned to his chest.
Evelyn stepped in front of Thomas.
"Don't touch him."
Thomas stared at the body.
"Who killed him?"
"I don't know."
"But he knew."
"Yes."
"About what?"
Evelyn looked at him.
"Your assignment."
Thomas's face hardened.
"You think my manager was involved?"
"I think everyone is involved until proven otherwise."
Sirens began somewhere above.
Evelyn grabbed Thomas's wrist.
"We need to leave."
"No."
He pulled away.
"I need answers."
"And you'll get them if you're alive."
Thomas looked at Frank again.
The man had been friendly.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
Invisible.
Exactly like Thomas.
That was the terrifying part.
Anyone could be inside Black Crown.
They could be accountants.
Janitors.
Executives.
Police officers.
Maybe even family members.
Thomas followed Evelyn into a service corridor.
They exited through a loading bay.
A black sedan waited.
Thomas stopped.
"I'm not getting in."
"You need to."
"Why?"
"Because your car is being watched."
He looked toward the parking lot.
His old sedan sat beneath a lamp.
A figure stood beside it.
Thomas recognized the silhouette from the apartment.
The same man.
He opened the driver's door.
The figure walked away.
Evelyn pulled out her phone.
"Security just confirmed movement in your apartment."
Thomas's stomach dropped.
"Sarah."
"I already sent someone."
Thomas grabbed her arm.
"Who?"
"My security team."
"How do I know they're safe?"
Evelyn stared at him.
"You don't."
That honesty frightened him more than reassurance would have.
They drove to one of Evelyn's private residences.
A glass house overlooking the river.
Thomas hated it immediately.
It was beautiful.
It was also isolated.
Sarah arrived twenty minutes later with two security officers.
Thomas ran to her.
She hugged him.
"Daddy."
"I'm here."
"Why are we at this lady's house?"
Thomas looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn crouched.
"I'm Evelyn."
Sarah studied her.
"Are you the boss?"
"Yes."
"Are you rich?"
Thomas almost smiled.
Evelyn actually laughed.
"Very."
Sarah nodded solemnly.
"Then why are you scared?"
Silence.
Evelyn looked at Thomas.
Children noticed what adults hid.
Later that night, Thomas put Sarah to bed in a guest bedroom.
When he returned to the living room, Evelyn was standing by the window.
"I need to ask you something."
Thomas crossed his arms.
"What?"
"Your wife."
"What about her?"
"What did she tell you about your family?"
"Nothing."
"Think."
Thomas searched his memory.
Rebecca had always been protective of family history.
She once told him that his grandfather had worked for a wealthy businessman.
Thomas had assumed she meant Richard Croft.
Now he wasn't sure.
"My grandfather's name was Daniel Miller."
Evelyn went still.
"What?"
Thomas noticed.
"You know the name."
She slowly sat down.
"Daniel Miller was head of security for my father."
Thomas stared.
"What?"
"He disappeared thirty-one years ago."
"My grandfather died when I was three."
"No."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Your grandfather didn't die."
Thomas felt dizzy.
"Then what happened?"
"He vanished."
"Why would my family hide that?"
"I don't know."
Evelyn opened a laptop.
She accessed a sealed archive.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel Miller.
Standing beside Richard Croft.
But that wasn't what shocked Thomas.
There was another person in the picture.
Rebecca.
Twenty years younger.
Thomas stared.
"This is impossible."
Evelyn zoomed in.
Rebecca was standing beside a woman.
Thomas recognized her.
His mother.
Both women were inside Apex.
Years before Thomas was born.
"What were they doing here?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"They were part of a project."
"What project?"
"The Legacy Project."
Thomas leaned closer.
"What's that?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"My father believed certain families were genetically valuable."
Thomas frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It didn't to me either."
She pulled up another file.
Thomas saw medical records.
His name.
Sarah's name.
Rebecca's.
His mother's.
His grandfather's.
All connected by a black line.
At the bottom was a phrase.
GENERATIONAL ASSET
Thomas felt sick.
"Why is my daughter on this?"
"I don't know."
Then the security alarm screamed.
Thomas stood.
Evelyn grabbed a weapon.
"Stay here."
A guard ran into the room.
"Ms. Croft."
"What?"
"The east cameras are down."
Thomas looked toward the window.
Across the river, on the opposite rooftop, a red laser appeared.
It moved.
Stopped.
Right on Thomas's chest.
Evelyn pushed him down.
The glass shattered.
A bullet tore through the wall.
Sarah screamed upstairs.
Thomas ran.
He reached the bedroom.
Sarah was standing beside the bed, crying.
"Daddy!"
He grabbed her.
Evelyn entered behind him.
"Window."
Another shot.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Evelyn pulled them toward the hallway.
Thomas saw something on the floor.
A tiny black device.
Another camera.
Inside their safe house.
Someone had already been there.
Thomas stared.
Then Sarah pointed toward the closet.
"Daddy."
"What?"
She whispered:
"There's a man inside."
Thomas froze.
The closet door moved.
Slowly.
Evelyn raised her weapon.
"Come out."
Silence.
She stepped closer.
The door opened.
An elderly man emerged.
His hands were raised.
Thomas stared at him.
He knew that face.
He had seen it in the photograph.
Daniel Miller.
His grandfather.
The man looked at Thomas.
May you like
And said:
"I've been waiting thirty-one years to meet you."
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