Chapter 6 - THE MAN BEHIND THE GUNRichard hit the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
I screamed.
Samuel pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Another shot struck the wall.
“Stay down!”
Elena crouched beside Richard.
“Dad!”
Richard opened his eyes.
“Go.”
“I won't leave you.”
“Go!”
The emergency lights flickered on.
A silhouette stood at the far end of the warehouse.
Adrian Hayes.
He walked slowly into the light.
Elegant.
Calm.
Almost impossibly composed.
He looked at me.
“You look exactly like Edward.”
I stared at him.
“You killed my father.”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
He looked at Richard.
“He did.”
Richard's eyes widened.
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
“What?”
Adrian walked closer.
“Your father wasn't killed because of Blackwell.”
He stopped.
“He was killed because he betrayed me.”
Richard struggled to sit.
“Liar.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Edward stole the ledger.”
“You said he destroyed it.”
“I lied.”
Adrian's gaze returned to me.
“He hid it.”
“Where?”
“You tell me.”
I stared.
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
Adrian smiled.
“Your father didn't trust computers.”
He pulled a small envelope from his jacket.
“He left something for you.”
I stared at it.
“What?”
“Your childhood house key.”
My breath stopped.
The old house.
The estate where I grew up.
I'd assumed it had been sold after my father's death.
Adrian watched my reaction.
“There is a room beneath the library.”
Samuel whispered:
“The vault.”
Adrian nodded.
“Exactly.”
I realized he wasn't afraid.
He didn't need to be.
Because he believed he already knew everything.
Then he looked at Elena.
“You made a mistake coming here.”
She raised a weapon.
“You killed my mother.”
Adrian smiled.
“No.”
“She died because of you.”
“She died because Richard betrayed me.”
Elena's hands shook.
Adrian continued.
“Ask your father what he did eleven years ago.”
Richard coughed.
“Don't listen…”
Adrian smiled.
“He knows.”
I looked at Richard.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked at me.
“I helped your father fake my death.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
I felt tears burning my eyes.
“Everyone claims they were protecting me.”
I stared at all of them.
“And every one of you lied.”
Silence.
Then Elena stepped beside me.
“I can prove what happened.”
She took out her phone.
A recording began.
My father's voice filled the warehouse.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
If you ever hear this, Madeline, it means I failed to protect you.
I couldn't breathe.
David will come after you.
I stared at Samuel.
Elena.
Richard.
The recording continued.
He isn't after your inheritance.
He is after the Blackwell Key.
My heart stopped.
What was the Blackwell Key?
Then my father's voice said something that made every person in the room freeze.
Because my daughter is the only living person who can activate it.
The recording ended.
Adrian smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
I turned toward him.
“What is the key?”
He smiled.
“Your blood.”
I felt sick.
“That's impossible.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Your father designed the vault biometric system around genetic authentication.”
“So?”
“So the vault can't be opened by anyone except a direct descendant.”
He looked at me.
“That's why David had to marry you.”
My blood turned to ice.
Adrian continued:
“But there was one thing David didn't know.”
“What?”
“The vault isn't in your old house anymore.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Then where?”
Adrian smiled.
“In your current home.”
I froze.
“My bedroom?”
He nodded.
“Under your bed.”
I stared at him.
The bedroom.
The room where David had watched me die.
The room where Jessica had measured the windows.
The room where they had planned my funeral.
Adrian whispered:
“They weren't choosing curtains.”
I looked at him.
“They were looking for the vault entrance.”
My stomach dropped.
Then my phone rang.
A live video appeared.
David.
He was standing inside my burned house.
He looked into the camera.
“Hello, Madeline.”
I froze.
He smiled.
“You have something I need.”
He held up a small metal case.
“And I have something you love.”
The camera turned.
Margaret appeared.
Blood on her face.
David whispered:
“Your mother.”
I stared.
I had no idea Margaret was still alive.
Then David said:
“Come to the old estate alone.”
May you like
He smiled.
“Or she dies.”
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