Chapter 10 - THE LOCKED ESTATEThe lights went out at 9:14 p.m.
Not dimmed.
Gone.
The estate disappeared into darkness.
Someone screamed upstairs.
The police shouted commands.
Daniel pulled Margaret behind a marble column.
Peter held the ledger against his chest.
Vanessa stood motionless.
I found her hand.
“Stay with us.”
She looked at me.
“My father is outside.”
“I know.”
“He'll kill me.”
“He'll have to get through all of us first.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“There's another way out.”
We followed him through the kitchen.
Behind a freezer was an old service corridor.
It led underground.
The police were working to restore the power.
But Richard had cut the external lines.
That meant he had access to the estate's original plans.
Someone inside had helped him.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
We reached the end of the tunnel.
A metal door led toward the lake.
Daniel stopped.
“Wait.”
He pointed toward the floor.
A phone.
Still recording.
He picked it up.
A video was playing.
Vanessa.
Speaking to Richard.
Three days earlier.
“I'll marry him,” she said.
“But?”
“But you don't touch Margaret.”
Richard laughed.
“You don't give me orders.”
“She did nothing to you.”
“She knows too much.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Then take the documents. Leave her alone.”
Richard stepped closer.
“You still think this is about documents.”
The video ended.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“That wasn't the recording I gave Daniel.”
Peter looked at her.
“No.”
“It was edited.”
“Not completely.”
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew.”
“I had suspicions.”
“About what?”
“That Vanessa was trying to protect Mom.”
I looked at Vanessa.
She started crying.
“I couldn't tell anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because my father had my brother.”
The room fell silent.
Peter asked:
“Where is your brother?”
Vanessa whispered:
“Briarwood.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“He has been here the whole time.”
A noise came from above us.
Something heavy dragged across the floor.
We returned to the basement.
At the far end of the corridor was a locked room.
Peter saw the door.
His face changed.
“He kept him there.”
Vanessa screamed.
“My brother!”
The police broke the lock.
Inside was a young man chained to a chair.
He looked weak.
Thin.
Alive.
Vanessa ran to him.
“Evan!”
He opened his eyes.
“Vanessa?”
She collapsed beside him.
“My God.”
Peter turned away.
I looked at Daniel.
“Call an ambulance.”
He did.
Then Peter looked at me.
“There is still one problem.”
“What?”
“Richard.”
A gunshot sounded upstairs.
Then another.
The police took positions.
A voice echoed through the estate.
Thomas.
You have something that belongs to me.
I recognized Richard's voice.
He continued.
“Bring me the ledger.”
I looked down at the metal box.
Then at Margaret.
She touched my arm.
“Don't.”
I looked at her.
Richard shouted again.
“Or I burn Briarwood to the ground.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“He started the gas.”
“What?”
“Dad, the old kitchen uses a separate gas line.”
The smell reached us.
Gas.
Strong.
Immediate.
Someone yelled from upstairs.
“FIRE!”
Flames exploded behind the staircase.
The old wooden beams caught instantly.
Smoke flooded the hall.
Margaret coughed.
Peter grabbed the ledger.
Daniel grabbed Vanessa.
I grabbed my wife.
We ran toward the lake.
Behind us, Briarwood began to burn.
And in the firelight, I saw Richard standing on the balcony.
Watching.
Smiling.
May you like
He wasn't trying to escape.
He was waiting for something.
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