Chapter 4 - THE FIRE THAT WASN'T AN ACCIDENTSmoke crawled beneath my bedroom door.
David ran.
Richard didn't.
He grabbed my bedside unit and ripped out the power cable.
My communication screen went black.
“No!” I tried to scream.
Only a weak sound escaped my throat.
Richard cursed.
“Can you move?”
I couldn't answer.
The flames spread rapidly.
My bedroom door became hot.
Richard threw open the window.
“Can you stand?”
I shook my head.
He looked around.
Then he noticed the emergency lifting harness attached beneath my bed.
He pulled it free.
“Your father was prepared for everything.”
He fastened the harness around me.
Then lifted.
Pain shot through my body.
I couldn't breathe.
The fire alarm screamed.
Richard dragged me toward the window.
Below us, the garden was twenty feet down.
He attached a rope.
“We're going out.”
I stared at him.
He smiled grimly.
“Trust me.”
We went through the window.
The rope burned against my hands.
Richard lowered me into the darkness.
Halfway down, I heard glass shatter above.
David appeared in the window.
He looked down at us.
For one second, our eyes met.
His face was completely empty.
Then he disappeared.
Richard landed beside me.
“Stay with me.”
I tried to speak.
“Why…”
My voice barely worked.
“Why save me?”
He looked at me.
“Because I owe your father.”
We reached the garden wall.
Police sirens appeared in the distance.
Richard stopped.
“What?”
“I didn't call them.”
He looked toward the street.
Neither had I.
Then a black SUV stopped outside the gates.
Samuel stepped out.
My lawyer.
Behind him were two security agents.
He looked directly at me.
“You're alive.”
I almost laughed.
“Not for long,” Richard said.
Samuel stared at him.
“You.”
Richard nodded.
“We don't have time.”
Samuel looked at the burning house.
“Where's David?”
I pointed toward the building.
Samuel's jaw tightened.
“Police will be here in thirty seconds.”
Richard said:
“He's not inside.”
Samuel looked at me.
“What happened?”
I couldn't explain.
Richard did.
“David tried to burn the house.”
Samuel's face turned cold.
“I knew he'd escalate.”
“You knew?”
Samuel looked at me.
“There is something you need to see.”
He handed me a sealed envelope.
My father's handwriting was on the front.
FOR MADELINE ONLY.
I couldn't open it.
My hands were too weak.
Samuel opened it for me.
Inside was a letter.
My father's words.
My throat tightened as I read.
If you are reading this, someone has tried to kill you.
I feared this day.
The people who built Blackwell never stopped searching for what I took from them.
But the greatest danger may come from the person closest to you.
Never trust anyone who tells you they love you while asking what you will inherit.
I looked at Samuel.
“What did he take?”
Samuel's face was grim.
“The Blackwell Ledger.”
“What is it?”
“Every illegal transaction.”
“Every bribe.”
“Every assassination.”
“Every name.”
I stared at him.
“The names?”
Samuel nodded.
“Politicians. businessmen. judges.”
“And David?”
“We don't know.”
I looked toward the burning house.
“Where is the ledger?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Your father never wrote the location.”
“Then how did David know?”
Richard interrupted.
“He didn't.”
Everyone turned to him.
Richard looked at me.
“He was pretending.”
“Pretending?”
“He knows enough to scare people.”
Richard reached into his coat.
He removed a small photograph.
A photograph of Jessica.
Standing beside another man.
I stared.
“Who is that?”
Richard looked at Samuel.
“Your husband isn't working alone.”
Samuel recognized the man.
His face changed.
“That's impossible.”
“Who?”
Samuel swallowed.
“Adrian Hayes.”
My blood froze.
“Who?”
Samuel looked at me.
“Your father's older brother.”
I stared.
“My uncle died twenty years ago.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
He showed me an old death certificate.
Then another photograph.
The man in both pictures looked exactly like the person standing beside Jessica.
Richard said:
“Your uncle is alive.”
My head spun.
“And he's been running Blackwell from the shadows.”
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
You have 24 hours.
A second message followed.
Tell Samuel the vault is underneath the old house.
Then a final line.
And stop trusting Richard Vale.
Richard saw the screen.
His face changed.
Because he knew the sender.
“Who is Adrian?”
May you like
He whispered:
“My son.”
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