Chapter 8 - The Woman in Ivory
Mia screamed.
Claire pulled her behind the terminal desk as Mercer aimed at Eleanor.
“Drop the weapon.”
Eleanor kept the barrel pointed downward.
Victor lay against the wall, clutching his shoulder. Blood spread between his fingers.
“He is alive,” Eleanor said. “Unfortunately.”
Richard stared at his mother.
“You shot him.”
“He was reaching for Daniel’s gun.”
Daniel touched his empty holster and looked at Victor.
“I don’t carry a gun.”
Eleanor’s gaze flickered.
It was the smallest mistake, but everyone saw it.
Mercer moved closer.
“Put the weapon on the floor.”
Eleanor obeyed.
Richard rushed toward her.
“Were you kidnapped?”
“No.”
“Then what was the video?”
“A necessary performance.”
Claire stepped out from behind the desk.
“You staged your own abduction.”
“I staged evidence that I was not controlling the house.”
“Why?”
“To protect Mia.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“You locked her outside in the rain.”
“I needed your recording to trigger the temporary transfer.”
“You could have told me.”
“And you would have believed me?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
Eleanor looked at the cameras.
“Someone inside the company has been waiting for Archive Seven to open. Your father built it so only you could authorize access.”
“You humiliated a child to activate it.”
“I chose words.”
“You chose cruelty because it came naturally.”
For the first time, shame passed across Eleanor’s face.
It vanished quickly.
“The card can be remade.”
Mia stepped forward.
“I made it with Grandpa’s wood.”
Eleanor turned toward her.
Mia held the broken frame against her chest.
“Mom said he kept pieces from the old boat.”
Eleanor stared at the wet blue paper and splintered wood.
Something inside her expression fractured.
Claire did not care.
“Where is my first daughter?”
Eleanor looked at Mercer.
“Arrest Victor.”
Victor gave a pained laugh.
“For what?”
“For arranging Samuel Vale’s death.”
Mercer did not move.
Victor pressed his hand against the wound.
“You authorized the operation.”
“I authorized the retrieval of stolen research. I did not authorize murder.”
“You knew what your people would do.”
Richard stepped between them.
“What people?”
Eleanor looked at her eldest son.
“You have benefited from answers you never asked for.”
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
“The company was failing before the Vale patents. Victor arranged their acquisition.”
Claire faced Victor.
“You stole Adrian’s family company.”
“We purchased distressed assets.”
“After Samuel died and Adrian disappeared.”
Victor’s face remained calm despite the blood.
“Business does not pause for grief.”
Daniel crouched near him.
“You knew Claire’s baby was alive.”
“I knew a child had been transferred.”
“Where?”
Victor looked at Eleanor.
“Ask your mother why she changed the destination.”
Eleanor’s face went white.
Claire saw it.
“You knew where they were taking her.”
“No.”
“You changed the order.”
“To keep her away from Victor.”
“Where did you send her?”
“I sent her to someone I believed I could trust.”
“Who?”
Eleanor looked toward Mia.
“Not in front of the child.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You lost the right to decide what my children hear.”
The terminal chimed.
ARCHIVE EIGHT ACCESS AVAILABLE.
A countdown appeared beneath it.
10:00.
The distorted voice filled the corridor.
“Claire, do not believe Eleanor. Archive Eight is a containment file. Opening it will expose the location of every protected witness connected to the Vale case.”
Mercer raised his weapon toward the camera.
“Identify yourself.”
The voice ignored him.
Eleanor turned to Claire.
“Open it.”
“You just heard what it contains.”
“It contains the location of your daughter.”
“And other witnesses.”
“People who have hidden for twelve years while your child grew up without you.”
Claire looked at the countdown.
09:26.
Richard stared at Eleanor.
“You knew this was coming.”
“I knew Thomas built a final safeguard. I did not know how it worked.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You brought Claire here to use her.”
“I brought everyone here because the traitor is a member of this family.”
The words silenced the corridor.
Claire looked at Richard.
Then Daniel.
Then Victor.
Then Mercer.
Eleanor continued.
“Someone inside Ashcroft House gave Adrian access to the camera before Claire uploaded the recording. Someone took Mia without being seen. Someone knows the tunnels better than I do.”
Claire thought of Mrs. Finch.
The housekeeper had been found unconscious, but the bruise could have been staged.
“Where is Mrs. Finch now?”
Mercer spoke into his radio.
No answer came.
Eleanor looked at Claire.
“Margaret Finch was the nurse who carried your first daughter out of the hospital.”
“I saw the photograph.”
“She did not work for me.”
“Who did she work for?”
The countdown reached eight minutes.
Eleanor answered.
“Adrian.”
The terminal screen changed.
A live image appeared.
Mrs. Finch stood inside an airport hangar.
Beside her was Adrian.
May you like
He was not tied.
He was holding a gun.
