Chapter 13: The Second Heir
Julian's smile vanished.
For the first time since anyone had met him...
He looked uncertain.
"Two heirs?"
Arthur Blackwood nodded slowly.
His weathered face had become almost ghostly pale.
"I should have remembered sooner."
"My father repeated it for years."
Julian took one deliberate step forward.
"You are lying."
Arthur met his nephew's gaze without flinching.
"I wish I were."
The tunnel fell silent.
Even Detective Collins lowered his weapon slightly.
Everyone was waiting.
Victoria wiped away her tears.
"What do you mean..."
"...two heirs?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
"My father never trusted one person with absolute power."
"He believed wealth should unite a family."
"Not destroy it."
Daniel frowned.
"So he divided the inheritance."
Arthur nodded.
"Not the inheritance."
"The authority."
Julian's voice turned cold.
"Explain."
Arthur looked toward the ancient iron gate.
"There are two blood seals."
"Neither works alone."
Victoria stared at the gate.
"So..."
"I can't open it?"
"You can."
Arthur answered quietly.
"But not completely."
Julian laughed once.
A humorless sound.
"Convenient."
Arthur ignored him.
"My father designed the vault to require two descendants of the Blackwood bloodline."
Daniel frowned.
"Victoria is one."
"Who's the other?"
Arthur didn't answer.
Instead...
He looked at Julian.
The realization spread across the tunnel like wildfire.
Detective Collins spoke first.
"You're saying..."
Julian finished the sentence himself.
"...I'm the second heir."
Arthur nodded.
"Yes."
For several long seconds...
No one spoke.
Julian slowly began to smile again.
"Amazing."
"After all these years..."
"I was chasing the one person..."
"...I needed alive."
Victoria looked sick.
"So we're trapped."
Arthur shook his head.
"Not necessarily."
Julian folded his arms.
"Then enlighten us, Uncle."
Arthur sighed.
"My father expected this possibility."
"What possibility?"
"That one heir would become unworthy."
Julian rolled his eyes.
"Always the philosopher."
Arthur continued anyway.
"In that case..."
"The second heir could refuse."
Daniel frowned.
"And then?"
Arthur answered with quiet certainty.
"The inheritance disappears forever."
Julian's smile froze.
"What?"
Arthur looked directly at him.
"The vault was never designed to make anyone rich."
"It was designed..."
"...to test character."
Julian laughed loudly.
"No."
"No old man would burn nine billion dollars."
Arthur replied,
"You never knew him."
Victoria stared at the iron gate.
"My grandfather..."
Arthur nodded.
"He survived the Great Depression."
"He watched brothers kill each other over property."
"He believed money destroyed weak families."
Julian's patience cracked.
"Enough!"
His voice echoed through the tunnel.
"You think I came all this way..."
"...for a morality lesson?"
He pulled a pistol from beneath his jacket.
The guards around Detective Collins instantly raised theirs.
Weapons pointed in every direction.
One wrong move...
And the tunnel would become a battlefield.
Evelyn cried out.
"Please..."
"Stop."
No one listened.
Daniel slowly stepped closer to Victoria.
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"Can you walk?"
She nodded slightly.
"Good."
"What are you thinking?"
He looked toward the explosive vest strapped to Evelyn.
"I'm thinking..."
"...we don't have much time."
Julian kept his pistol aimed at Arthur.
"You'll open the vault."
Arthur shook his head.
"I can't."
"Then she'll do it."
He pointed at Victoria.
She whispered,
"I don't know how."
Arthur answered quietly.
"I do."
He walked toward the gate.
Very slowly.
Julian allowed it.
Arthur placed his trembling hand upon the carved raven.
Then pointed to two shallow depressions hidden within the stone.
"Blood."
He looked toward Victoria.
"And him."
Julian smiled again.
"So we finally cooperate."
Arthur met Victoria's eyes.
"No."
Victoria frowned.
"What?"
Arthur's expression softened.
"My father built one final safeguard."
He reached into his coat pocket.
From within, he removed a tiny silver key no larger than a thumbnail.
Daniel blinked.
"The brass key..."
Arthur smiled.
"Was only meant to distract thieves."
He held up the silver key.
"This..."
"...is the real one."
Julian's eyes widened.
"You've had it all this time?"
Arthur nodded.
"For twenty-four years."
Without warning...
Julian fired.
BANG!
The bullet struck Arthur in the shoulder.
He collapsed against the stone wall.
Victoria screamed.
"UNCLE!"
Detective Collins shouted,
"DOWN!"
Gunfire erupted through the tunnel.
The confined space exploded with deafening echoes.
Officers exchanged fire with Julian's guards.
Stone shattered.
Dust filled the air.
Daniel pulled Victoria behind a massive pillar just as another bullet ricocheted inches from his head.
Arthur clutched his bleeding shoulder.
The tiny silver key slipped from his fingers.
It skidded across the stone floor.
Straight toward Julian.
Julian smiled.
"My lucky day."
He bent to retrieve it.
Before his fingers touched the key...
A small hand grabbed it first.
Everyone froze.
Sophie.
The five-year-old girl.
Claire had secretly followed the rescue team after all.
In the chaos...
She had wandered into the tunnel.
Now she stood holding the tiny silver key with wide frightened eyes.
Julian's expression darkened.
"Give it to me."
Sophie shook her head.
"No."
Claire's terrified voice echoed from the entrance.
"SOPHIE!"
The little girl looked around.
She didn't understand.
She only knew the scary man wanted something.
Julian took one slow step toward her.
"I won't ask again."
Daniel's pulse raced.
Sophie stood only a few feet from the edge of a deep stone shaft revealed by the earlier collapse.
One frightened step backward...
And she would fall.
Victoria whispered,
"Sophie..."
The child looked toward her.
Tears streamed down her tiny face.
"I don't want him to yell..."
Julian reached out.
"Come here."
Instead...
Sophie turned and ran.
Straight toward Daniel.
Julian cursed and lunged after her.
Time seemed to slow.
Daniel sprinted forward.
Victoria did the same despite her injured ankle.
Detective Collins shouted.
Claire screamed.
Arthur struggled to rise.
Julian's fingers brushed Sophie's sleeve.
Daniel dove.
At the last possible second, he caught Sophie and pulled her into his arms.
But the momentum carried all three of them across the loose stone.
The ground beneath Julian suddenly cracked.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
The ancient floor gave way beneath him.
He grabbed desperately at the edge.
One hand caught solid rock.
The other...
Closed around Victoria's wrist.
She cried out as he dragged her toward the collapsing ledge.
Daniel held Sophie with one arm...
And reached for Victoria with the other.
Now three lives hung over the darkness.
Julian looked up at Victoria.
For the first time...
There was genuine fear in his eyes.
Then he whispered something that made Victoria's blood turn to ice.
"You still don't know..."
May you like
"...who your real father is."
End of Chapter 13
