Chapter 13 - The Winter Room
The winter room was an abandoned conservatory on the northern edge of the property.
Richard had closed it after a storm damaged the glass roof. Connor had not entered it in years.
Dylan’s appearance on the nursery camera was not live. Investigators traced the signal to a recording inserted into the security system.
The message, however, was current.
Someone knew they had found the key.
Connor refused to deliver it without a plan.
Federal agents surrounded the estate while a smaller team entered the conservatory through an underground maintenance passage.
Connor approached the front entrance with an empty envelope in his pocket.
Amy remained in the main house with Frederick and two armed officers.
Before Connor left, she held his face between her hands.
“Do not trade your life for answers.”
“I’m not.”
“You always think you can control the risk.”
Connor looked at his son.
“I’m learning that I can’t.”
He kissed Amy and walked toward the conservatory.
Snow from an artificial holiday machine still clung to the roof from an event months earlier, giving the ruined building its old nickname.
The winter room.
Inside, broken glass glittered beneath moonlight.
A single lamp burned near the center.
Dylan sat tied to a chair.
His mouth was covered.
Connor stopped.
A speaker crackled above him.
“Put the key on the table.”
Connor looked around.
“You used Dylan as bait?”
“He became unreliable.”
“Show yourself.”
“You have spent your life benefiting from things you never earned.”
Connor recognized something in the voice.
Not the identity.
The resentment.
It sounded like Nathan, but colder.
Older.
Connor placed the envelope on the table.
“Let Dylan go.”
“He forged your signature.”
“So did Nathan.”
“And you protected him.”
“I turned over the evidence.”
“You always survive cleanly while others carry the shame.”
Connor’s mind raced.
Someone who knew the family.
Someone who believed Connor’s inheritance was undeserved.
The speaker continued.
“Your father stole the company.”
“From whom?”
Silence.
Connor looked at Dylan.
His eyes moved toward the eastern wall.
A figure stood behind the broken glass panels.
Connor could see only a shadow.
“You want the key?” Connor called. “Come and take it.”
The figure stepped forward.
Before his face became visible, lights exploded across the conservatory.
Agents entered from three directions.
The shadow ran.
Connor rushed to Dylan and tore the tape from his mouth.
Dylan gasped.
“Not him.”
“What?”
“The voice is a recording.”
A gunshot struck the lamp.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Agents shouted.
Connor dropped behind the table.
Dylan screamed as his chair overturned.
Through the confusion, someone moved beside Connor.
A hand reached into his coat and removed the envelope.
Connor grabbed the person’s wrist.
The sleeve tore.
A silver cuff link fell to the floor.
The intruder struck Connor and escaped through a broken panel before agents could intercept him.
The envelope contained no key.
But the attacker did not know that.
Dylan was taken into custody and medical care. He claimed he had been kidnapped from the airport by men working for the unknown organizer.
He still refused to name him.
Connor showed Elena the cuff link.
It bore the old Hale Construction emblem.
Only company directors had received that design.
Elena compared the winter meeting guest list with corporate records.
Five directors had attended.
Three were dead.
One lived overseas.
The fifth was Connor’s godfather, Malcolm Reed.
Malcolm had taught Connor to drive.
He had delivered the speech at Richard’s funeral.
He currently served as chairman of Hale Construction.
Connor called his office.
Malcolm answered warmly.
“Connor, I heard about the trouble at the house. Are Amy and Frederick safe?”
Connor looked at the cuff link.
“We are.”
“Good. Family is all that matters.”
Connor’s grip tightened.
“Were you at the winter meeting?”
May you like
The line became silent.
Then Malcolm said, “Your father should never have recorded that room.”
