Chapter 7 - The Man at the Gate
Daniel moved toward the window.
Victor lay motionless outside.
Rainwater mixed with blood near his temple.
“Claire is dead,” Daniel said.
Samuel leaned against the door, breathing heavily.
“That is what all of us were supposed to believe.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You have seen her?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say her name?”
“Because Victor did.”
Samuel held up his bloodstained hand.
“He attacked me near the gate.”
“He thought I had received a package from Claire.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What package?”
Samuel reached inside his coat.
Vanessa moved suddenly.
Daniel raised the poker.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
Samuel removed a sealed plastic envelope.
Inside was a memory card.
A handwritten label was attached to it.
THE NIGHT OF THE CRASH
The handwriting looked familiar to Daniel.
Claire used to write his name in the same sharp, slanted letters.
He stepped closer.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was delivered to my office twenty minutes ago.”
“By whom?”
“A courier.”
“Did you see their face?”
“The courier was wearing a helmet.”
Olivia watched Samuel carefully.
“Why bring it here?”
“Because the instructions said the card could only be opened on a device connected to the Bennett home network.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It means the sender wants us in one place,” Olivia said.
Samuel looked at her with surprise.
“Yes.”
Daniel helped Olivia stand.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
Samuel glanced at her soaked dress.
“Her water broke?”
“Vanessa punched her.”
Samuel looked at Vanessa with disgust.
She lifted her chin.
“Don’t pretend you care.”
Samuel took out his phone.
“I called emergency services before entering.”
Vanessa looked toward the security panel.
“The jammer blocks outgoing calls.”
“I used the gate’s independent emergency line.”
Daniel checked the window.
No ambulance lights were visible yet.
Samuel walked toward the television.
“We have minutes at most.”
“We should open the card.”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“We need to know what happened to Claire.”
“And our children need to survive.”
Another contraction seized her body.
Daniel caught her before she fell.
“We’re done with this.”
He turned toward Samuel.
“Open the doors.”
Samuel moved to the security panel.
He entered an administrator code.
The screen flashed red.
ACCESS REVOKED
He tried again.
Nothing.
“Victor removed my credentials.”
Vanessa looked toward the ceiling.
“Or the person controlling the cameras did.”
A low electronic sound moved through the house.
The televisions turned on.
This time, there was no hidden camera feed.
The screen displayed a countdown.
Eight minutes.
Seven minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
Daniel stared at it.
“What happens when that reaches zero?”
Words appeared beneath the timer.
THE ORIGINAL TRUST RECORD WILL BE RELEASED.
Samuel stepped back.
“That cannot happen.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Why?”
“The original trust includes private assets, medical records and sealed family agreements.”
“Whose medical records?”
Samuel did not answer.
Daniel turned toward him.
“Whose records?”
Samuel’s face tightened.
“Claire’s.”
Vanessa moved closer.
“What was wrong with her?”
“Nothing was wrong with her.”
“Then why were her records sealed?”
Samuel looked toward Daniel.
“Because Claire was pregnant when she died.”
The room became completely still.
Daniel’s face lost all expression.
“No.”
Samuel nodded.
“She was eleven weeks pregnant.”
“You’re lying.”
“She came to my office the day before the crash.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She would have told me.”
“She planned to.”
Vanessa stared at Samuel.
“You knew all these years?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing?”
“Claire asked me to keep it confidential until she confronted the person stealing from the company.”
Daniel looked as though he could no longer breathe.
“She died carrying my child.”
Samuel lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel turned away.
Olivia watched him struggle beneath the weight of a grief he had never been allowed to know.
She wanted to comfort him.
She also wanted to demand why Samuel had hidden something so important.
But the countdown kept moving.
Seven minutes.
Words appeared beneath it.
ONLY ONE TRUSTEE MAY STOP THE RELEASE.
Daniel looked at Olivia.
She understood immediately.
The system wanted one of their codes.
Vanessa whispered,
“This is the transfer.”
Samuel shook his head.
“No.”
“It is something older.”
Olivia pressed a hand to her abdomen.
“What happens if we enter a code?”
Samuel stared at the screen.
“One trustee would gain temporary authority over the entire Bennett Legacy Trust.”
“And the other?”
“Would be suspended until an investigation ended.”
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“Do it.”
Olivia turned toward her.
“You attacked me to force my code.”
“Because I thought Samuel planned to use Daniel’s.”
Samuel looked at Vanessa.
“And I thought you planned to use Olivia’s.”
Daniel stared at both of them.
“You were manipulating each other.”
A sound came from outside.
Victor had regained consciousness.
He raised his head and looked through the glass.
Then he smiled.
He reached into his coat.
Samuel shouted,
“Get down!”
May you like
Victor pointed a gun toward the window.
The glass exploded.
