Chapter 6 - The Woman in the Black Dress
Emergency lighting turned the executive office red.
Someone tried the locked doors from the corridor.
Julian pressed a hidden switch beneath the conference table.
A steel partition lowered behind the glass wall, sealing the office from the exterior hall.
“What did you do?” Audrey demanded.
“Bought us three minutes.”
Chloe moved toward a private service door.
“It will be locked from the other side.”
Julian caught her wrist.
“Who is outside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You told my father Audrey was returning.”
Chloe looked at Audrey.
“I told him because he already knew.”
“You gave him the date.”
“He threatened my mother.”
Audrey almost laughed.
“Is that what you told yourself four years ago?”
Chloe’s eyes filled with shame.
“No.”
The pounding outside grew louder.
Julian turned to Audrey.
“Is there another exit?”
“This is your office.”
“My father designed the security system.”
“Then you have spent your life sitting inside his cage.”
Julian flinched.
Chloe crossed to a wall cabinet and entered a code. A narrow panel opened, revealing an access passage behind the office’s ventilation system.
Julian stared at her.
“How do you know that exists?”
“Victor brought me through it the night Audrey disappeared.”
The pounding stopped.
Silence was worse.
Chloe entered the passage first.
Audrey hesitated.
Julian held out his hand.
She did not take it.
They moved through the narrow corridor single file. Behind them, metal scraped as someone forced the office partition upward.
Chloe led them to an unused conference floor two levels below.
The area had been closed for renovation.
Dust covered the windows.
Julian locked the service panel behind them.
Then he turned on Chloe.
“Tell me everything.”
Chloe stood with her back against the wall.
“Four years ago, Victor discovered that Adrian was investigating Project Gemini.”
“How?”
“My father told him.”
Chloe’s father, Senator Malcolm Mercer, controlled several government contracts awarded to Cross Meridian. His alliance with Victor had lasted decades.
“They needed Julian’s authorization key to move Orion into a subsidiary,” Chloe continued. “Victor copied it from the executive security system.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“You had access.”
“Yes.”
“You gave it to him.”
“Yes.”
Audrey felt the admission like a physical blow.
Chloe continued before Julian could speak.
“My younger brother had been arrested after a crash. Victor promised to make the evidence disappear. He said no one would be hurt. He said the Vale transfer was only leverage for the merger.”
“And the hotel?” Audrey asked.
Chloe lowered her gaze.
“Victor told me to make you believe Julian and I were together.”
“Why?”
“To separate you from Julian before Adrian gave you the files.”
“You apologized.”
“Because I knew what you saw.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“No.”
Audrey looked at Julian.
He held her gaze but did not approach.
“What were you doing in that room?”
“Chloe told me someone was blackmailing her,” Julian said. “She claimed the Mercer Hotel was the only safe place to meet. I found a microphone on her dress.”
“Victor was in the adjoining suite.”
“I did not know until later.”
Audrey turned back to Chloe.
“What happened at the laboratory?”
Chloe’s voice shook.
“Victor ordered the east doors locked. Owen tried to stop it. Adrian reached the archive corridor before the fire spread.”
“Did he escape?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have had four years to find out.”
“I tried.”
“While remaining beside Julian.”
Chloe’s expression broke.
“I remained beside Victor.”
Julian stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
“He placed me in your office to report everything you did.”
Julian looked as though another part of his life had just collapsed.
Outside the conference room, an elevator sounded.
Someone was searching the lower floors.
Chloe reached inside her jacket and removed a small key.
“Victor keeps a private archive beneath the old Cross estate. The original Gemini files may be there.”
“Why tell us now?” Audrey asked.
“Because three months ago I saw two new folders in Victor’s office.”
Chloe looked at the medical envelope Audrey still carried.
“One was labeled Elias.”
She swallowed.
“The other was labeled Noah.”
Julian stepped toward her.
“What does he want with my sons?”
Chloe began to answer.
A gunshot-like crack echoed through the service corridor as someone broke the outer lock.
May you like
Chloe pushed the key into Audrey’s hand.
“He does not want both of them.”
