Chapter 12 - Room 18Richard turned.
No one.
The rooftop door was swinging.
Mason's officers searched the building.
Julian was still alive.
Barely.
The bullet had passed through his shoulder.
Olivia knelt beside him.
“Stay awake.”
Julian smiled weakly.
“I've survived worse.”
Richard stared toward the rooftop door.
“Who was that?”
No answer.
They evacuated Julian to a secure hospital wing.
Olivia refused to leave.
Richard remained beside her.
Ethan stood across the room.
He looked destroyed.
Richard finally asked,
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“Because every time I tried, someone stopped me.”
“Your mother?”
“And Daniel.”
“Why protect your mother?”
“Because she saved Julian.”
Richard nodded slowly.
“You thought loyalty was more important than truth.”
Ethan looked at Olivia.
“I thought keeping you alive was.”
Olivia said nothing.
Mason entered.
“We found something.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
A floor plan.
Under Olivia's childhood home was a hidden chamber.
Room 18.
Richard stared.
“My wife knew.”
“She built it,” Mason said.
“What?”
“She had the chamber constructed three years before her death.”
Richard remembered construction crews working under the house.
Maria had told him it was a wine cellar.
Mason continued.
“We searched property records. The room was never documented.”
They returned to the house before dawn.
Richard opened the old floor panel beneath Olivia's childhood bedroom.
There was a keyhole.
He used the brass key.
The floor shifted.
A staircase appeared.
Below was a concrete chamber.
Dust.
Metal cabinets.
Boxes.
And a large cassette recorder.
Richard pressed play.
Maria's voice filled the room.
“If you're hearing this, then everything failed.”
Olivia covered her mouth.
Maria continued.
“Richard, I am sorry.”
Richard's eyes filled.
“I discovered that the Cole family trust was being used to hide illegal payments.”
A pause.
“I also discovered who Olivia's biological father was.”
Julian looked at Olivia.
Maria's recording continued.
“I never told Richard because I knew Daniel Voss was watching us.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“He wanted Olivia because she was the only legal heir capable of exposing the trust.”
The recording crackled.
Then Maria said something that stopped everyone.
“Evelyn did not create the agreement.”
Richard looked up.
“Then who?”
“Daniel did.”
Julian's expression tightened.
“He used Evelyn.”
Maria continued.
“He told her Julian would be killed if she refused.”
Richard whispered,
“That's why she protected him.”
The recording continued.
“But Daniel's plan has always been bigger.”
“What plan?” Olivia asked the empty room.
Maria answered.
“He intends to transfer the entire Bellamy Trust into a private shell company.”
Richard stared.
“How much?”
“Over one hundred million dollars.”
Silence.
Maria's voice became softer.
“Olivia's twenty-fifth birthday is the trigger.”
“When she reaches that age, the trust becomes hers.”
“Daniel must stop her before then.”
“Unless someone else activates the emergency clause.”
Richard looked at the documents.
“Who?”
Maria's final words came slowly.
“Her biological father.”
Julian stepped forward.
“What?”
“He alone can activate it.”
Richard turned.
“But you're the biological father.”
Julian nodded.
Maria continued.
“If Julian is alive, the trust can be transferred to Olivia immediately.”
Richard suddenly understood.
“That is why Daniel wants Julian dead.”
The recorder clicked.
Then Maria's voice whispered:
“And there is one more thing.”
Everyone waited.
“Daniel is not acting alone.”
Richard leaned toward the recorder.
Maria said,
“The person helping him has access to every private room in the Grand Bellamy.”
The tape stopped.
Mason stood.
“How many people have master access?”
“Five.”
Richard looked at him.
“Names.”
Mason read them.
The hotel manager.
The head of security.
Evelyn Cole.
Ethan Cole.
And Richard Hart.
Richard froze.
“Me?”
Mason nodded.
“You signed the original access agreement.”
Richard suddenly remembered something.
Every time he visited the hotel, he had used his master key.
But he'd never considered how easy it would be for someone to duplicate it.
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Someone running.
Richard grabbed a flashlight.
They followed.
At the top of the stairs, a bedroom door slammed shut.
Mason kicked it open.
Empty.
Except for a laptop sitting on Olivia's bed.
The screen displayed a live countdown.
13 DAYS, 6 HOURS, 11 MINUTES.
Beneath it:
UNTIL THE TRUST OPENS.
Then the screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Ethan.
Holding a gun.
Standing over Julian's hospital bed.
Richard turned toward Ethan.
Ethan's face went white.
“I didn't do this.”
But the image changed again.
This time it showed Richard.
And a message appeared.
HE WILL SHOOT JULIAN BEFORE THE DEADLINE.
Mason reached for Ethan's wrist.
Ethan whispered,
“No.”
Then the phone in his pocket rang.
He answered.
A man's voice said,
“Come alone.”
Ethan listened.
Then the voice added,
“Or Olivia dies next.”
May you like
Ethan looked at Richard.
And walked away.
