Chapter 14 - THE HOUSE OF THREE GHOSTS
Grace insisted on going to Vale House.
Lucas refused to let her go alone.
Adrian came with them despite the transmitter still hidden in his shoulder. Helen remained with Lily and the officers at a secure location.
They approached through the abandoned chapel tunnel, the same route Vanessa had used after fleeing the wedding.
Grace carried a compact pistol. Adrian had a flashlight and a medical kit. Lucas carried no weapon, only the hard drive from the grave.
The passage ended beneath the wine cellar.
Vale House was silent.
Too silent.
No guards.
No servants.
No police.
The entire estate had been emptied.
They entered the main hall.
White wedding flowers still covered the staircase. Rainwater blew through an open door. Broken glasses and abandoned programs lay across the marble floor.
On the wall above them hung Edmund’s portrait.
Lucas had passed it every day of his childhood. The painted man looked strong, severe, immortal.
Now the real Edmund waited somewhere in the house.
Grace pointed toward the eastern corridor.
“Power lines run through the basement. If the house is wired, we should disable the trigger system first.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Charles will have protected it.”
“There may be a manual shutdown near the tower.”
Lucas looked toward the stairs.
“I’m going to Margaret.”
Grace caught his hand.
“That is what Edmund expects.”
“He asked for you.”
“He asked for his wife.”
Lucas stared at her.
“Mother?”
“No.”
Grace’s expression was unreadable.
“Me.”
Adrian looked between them.
“What are you talking about?”
Grace said, “Edmund had documents created before the bridge. Marriage licenses, identity records, trusts. According to the network’s internal rules, control could transfer only through a legal family bond.”
Lucas understood slowly.
“He married you on paper.”
“Without my knowledge.”
“That isn’t legal.”
“Not in ordinary law. But this network does not depend on ordinary law.”
“You are telling me my father considers you his wife.”
“He considers me his successor.”
A speaker crackled above them.
Edmund’s voice filled the hall.
“Grace always did explain too much.”
Lights illuminated a path across the floor.
They led toward the ballroom.
Lucas entered first.
Margaret sat on the stage where the wedding musicians had performed. Her hands were tied, but she appeared unharmed.
Vanessa stood beside her.
Charles Crowe stood near the windows with the signet ring in his hand.
And Edmund Vale sat in the center of the room.
The burns had changed the left side of his face. His skin was tight and uneven. One eye remained partly closed. But the right side was the face Lucas remembered.
“Father,” Adrian whispered.
Edmund smiled.
“The disappointing son.”
Adrian flinched.
Lucas stepped forward.
“Release Margaret.”
Edmund looked toward her.
“Margaret has been trying to kill me for twenty years.”
Margaret replied, “Not hard enough.”
Edmund laughed.
“That is the woman I married.”
Grace raised her pistol.
“Where is the trigger?”
Edmund tapped the arm of his chair.
“Connected to my pulse.”
“If you die, the house explodes?”
“Only the east wing.”
Charles turned.
“You said the entire estate.”
“I lied.”
Charles’s expression darkened.
Edmund held out his hand.
“The hard drive.”
Lucas lifted it.
“First Margaret and Vanessa leave.”
“Vanessa is free to go.”
Vanessa did not move.
Charles said, “Come here.”
She looked at her father with hatred.
“You let them take Lily.”
“You failed to control the situation.”
“You told me they would only frighten her.”
Charles’s voice sharpened.
“Come here.”
Vanessa stepped toward Margaret instead.
Edmund seemed amused.
“Children always believe disobedience becomes courage if they wait long enough.”
Grace aimed at him.
“You arranged the bridge.”
“Yes.”
“You killed Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“You used Reed.”
“Yes.”
“And now you expect us to hand you evidence that could destroy the network.”
“No. I expect Lucas to hand me an empty drive.”
Lucas froze.
Edmund smiled.
“The real archive is not in Grace’s grave.”
“Where is it?”
“Inside Lily.”
Grace’s weapon lowered slightly.
“What?”
Edmund looked at Lucas.
“The child underwent surgery after birth. A harmless implant was placed beneath her left shoulder.”
Lucas remembered Lily’s emergency operation as an infant. Doctors had said she had a respiratory complication. Edmund had arranged the hospital and specialists.
“You used my daughter as a vault.”
“A biological key. The archive cannot be decrypted without data stored in the implant.”
Grace stepped forward.
“I will kill you.”
Edmund’s smile vanished.
“And lose the only person who knows how to remove it safely.”
Margaret suddenly moved.
She pulled one hand free from the rope and struck Vanessa’s knife from her grasp.
Charles raised his gun.
Vanessa threw herself between him and Margaret.
The gun fired.
Vanessa collapsed.
Chaos erupted.
Grace fired at Charles.
Adrian dragged Margaret from the chair.
Lucas tackled Edmund.
The old man struck a button on the chair.
A low alarm began.
Grace shouted, “The east wing!”
The floor shook.
Windows shattered.
Smoke poured from the corridor.
Lucas held Edmund by the throat.
“Stop it!”
Edmund looked toward the ceiling.
“I did.”
The alarm continued.
“Then what is happening?”
For the first time, Edmund appeared confused.
Margaret stared toward the east tower.
“That is not the demolition alarm.”
Grace went pale.
“It’s the archive release.”
Every screen in the ballroom turned on.
Names, accounts, recordings, and photographs began uploading to an unknown destination.
Edmund whispered, “Someone activated the final protocol.”
Adrian looked down at the Vale ring, still lying near Charles’s hand.
Its black stone was glowing.
The ballroom speaker activated.
A woman’s voice said:
“Continuity transfer accepted.”
Lucas turned toward Grace.
The voice continued:
“New controller recognized.”
May you like
Then it spoke the name.
“Lily Vale.”
