Chapter 11 - Midnight on the RooftopRichard went to the rooftop.
Not alone.
Mason had officers stationed around the building.
Julian insisted on coming.
Ethan followed.
The city glittered below them.
Wind moved through the empty terrace.
Then the rooftop door opened.
Olivia stepped out.
Richard nearly ran to her.
She raised a hand.
“Dad, stop.”
Richard froze.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Who took you?”
“No one.”
“What?”
Olivia looked exhausted.
“I left.”
Richard's heart sank.
“Why?”
“Because I found the person behind everything.”
Julian stepped forward.
“Who?”
Olivia looked at him.
“You.”
Julian stared.
Richard's stomach tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Olivia lifted a folder.
“This.”
She threw it toward Julian.
He caught it.
Inside were bank transfers.
Payments from Julian to Daniel Voss.
Richard stared.
Julian looked shocked.
“These are fake.”
“Are they?”
“Yes.”
“Then explain the signatures.”
Julian examined the documents.
His face became pale.
“My identity was stolen.”
Richard stepped closer.
“By whom?”
Julian looked at Ethan.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“You've spent years protecting your brother,” Olivia said.
Ethan looked devastated.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“Olivia.”
She raised her voice.
“You knew my mother.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“You met Maria before she died.”
Richard turned sharply.
“Ethan?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before the accident.”
“What did you discuss?”
“She asked me to protect you.”
Richard's voice shook.
“And you never told me.”
“I promised.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed someone was watching her.”
Richard closed his eyes.
The truth was becoming a maze.
Olivia opened another document.
“This is the real reason my mother died.”
She handed it to Richard.
It was a medical report.
Toxicology.
Richard read the words.
Sedative present in bloodstream.
His hands shook.
“They drugged her.”
Julian nodded.
“And staged the accident.”
“Who?”
Olivia looked toward the city.
“Daniel Voss.”
Richard turned.
“Then why accuse Julian?”
“Because Daniel needed Julian to look guilty.”
She held up another file.
“Someone changed the fingerprints.”
Mason examined the documents.
“These files came from where?”
“Daniel's private archive.”
“Where did you get them?”
Olivia looked directly at Ethan.
“He gave me access.”
Richard stared at his new son-in-law.
“You helped her?”
Ethan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I discovered my mother was being blackmailed.”
“By Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“What did he have on her?”
Ethan's voice dropped.
“The truth about Julian.”
Richard looked at Julian.
“What truth?”
Julian said nothing.
Olivia answered.
“Julian didn't disappear after his father's death.”
“He was kidnapped.”
“By Daniel.”
“And why?”
“Because Julian had seen something.”
Richard's heart pounded.
“What?”
Julian finally spoke.
“I saw Daniel kill my father.”
Silence.
“I was nineteen.”
“I hid.”
“He thought I escaped.”
Richard looked at him.
“So your father wasn't having a heart attack.”
“No.”
“Daniel killed him.”
“Yes.”
“And Evelyn knew?”
“She found me afterward.”
Richard understood.
“She helped you disappear.”
Julian nodded.
“To protect me.”
Olivia looked down.
“Then why did Daniel come after me?”
Julian's expression darkened.
“Because your father left one final piece of evidence.”
“My father?”
“Your biological father.”
Richard looked at Julian.
“What evidence?”
Julian reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small key.
The same shape as Richard's brass key.
But this one was engraved with:
18.
Julian looked at Richard.
“The trust has seventeen storage rooms.”
He held up the key.
“There is an eighteenth.”
Richard's blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“In a place no one checked.”
“Where?”
Julian looked at the hotel skyline.
“Under Olivia's childhood home.”
A gunshot cracked through the night.
Julian staggered.
Olivia screamed.
Richard dropped beside him.
Blood spread across Julian's shirt.
Mason shouted,
“Sniper!”
The rooftop lights shattered.
May you like
And in the darkness, a woman's voice whispered from behind Richard:
“You were never supposed to find Room 18.”
