Chapter 8 - Eight Minutes
Daniel threw himself over Olivia as the bullet struck the wall.
Vanessa screamed.
Samuel dropped behind the sofa.
Victor fired again through the broken window.
The second bullet struck the television.
The screen cracked, but the countdown remained visible.
Six minutes and forty-two seconds.
Daniel crawled toward the hallway while shielding Olivia with his body.
“Stay down.”
“I can’t.”
Another contraction twisted through her.
“Daniel, I think one of the babies is coming.”
Fear seized his face.
“Not here.”
Vanessa crawled toward the destroyed window.
“What are you doing?” Samuel shouted.
“Distracting him.”
She grabbed a heavy lamp and threw it through the remaining glass.
Victor ducked.
Daniel used the moment to pull Olivia into the hallway.
Samuel followed.
The house lights shut off.
Emergency strips illuminated the floor in red.
A computer voice echoed throughout the mansion.
Trustee conflict detected.
Emergency protocol activated.
Daniel looked at Samuel.
“What protocol?”
“I’ve never heard that announcement.”
Olivia gripped the wall.
“Dad mentioned something once.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What did he say?”
“That the trust was not built to protect money.”
“What was it built to protect?”
She struggled to remember.
“A witness.”
A loud mechanical lock engaged behind them.
Steel panels descended over the shattered windows.
Victor’s next bullet struck the barrier.
They were sealed inside again.
Samuel stared at the descending panels.
“Arthur changed the system before he died.”
“Why didn’t you know?” Daniel asked.
“Because he stopped trusting me.”
Vanessa entered the hallway, bleeding from a cut on her cheek.
“The feeling was mutual.”
Daniel turned on her.
“You risked Olivia’s life for a trust you don’t understand.”
Vanessa looked at Olivia.
“I know what I did.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Her voice cracked.
“I thought if I controlled the money, I could force Victor to reveal what happened to Claire.”
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“You wanted twenty-four million dollars for an investigation?”
“I wanted leverage.”
“You wanted Daniel.”
Vanessa struck him across the face.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough!”
The countdown appeared on a wall-mounted security panel.
Five minutes and fifty seconds.
Daniel looked toward the study.
“The main trust terminal is there.”
Olivia shook her head.
“We shouldn’t enter either code.”
“If we don’t, Claire’s records become public.”
“Maybe that is what the sender wants.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“You don’t understand the consequences.”
“The trust contains confidential agreements involving judges, politicians, medical executives and former board members.”
“Release could destroy hundreds of lives.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Or expose hundreds of crimes.”
“Not every secret is a crime.”
Daniel stared at the timer.
“What would Claire have wanted?”
Samuel answered immediately.
“The truth.”
Vanessa answered at the same time.
“Protection.”
Their conflicting responses revealed everything.
Each person remembered a different Claire.
Olivia took Daniel’s hand.
“What do you want?”
He looked at her stomach.
“To get you and our children out alive.”
“Then stop thinking like a Bennett trustee.”
“What should I think like?”
“A father.”
Daniel looked toward the study.
Then he made his decision.
“We let the timer expire.”
Samuel stared at him.
“You could lose the company.”
“I don’t care.”
“The trust could collapse.”
“I don’t care.”
“Daniel…”
“I already lost one child because people protected this family’s secrets.”
His voice broke.
“I will not lose two more.”
The timer continued.
Four minutes.
Suddenly, the steel panel covering the front window began lifting.
Victor had found an external override.
Vanessa looked toward the entrance.
“He’ll be inside before the countdown ends.”
Samuel removed a small handgun from an ankle holster.
Daniel stared at it.
“You brought a weapon into my house?”
“I expected Victor.”
Samuel checked the magazine.
“Unfortunately, he expected me too.”
Olivia looked toward the kitchen.
“There’s another way out.”
Daniel shook his head.
“All exits are sealed.”
“Not an exit.”
She pointed toward the floor.
“My father built a secure medical room beneath the pantry.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You never told me.”
“I didn’t know it was still operational.”
“How do we open it?”
“Biometric access.”
The front steel panel rose another foot.
Victor’s shoes became visible outside.
Three minutes and twelve seconds remained.
Daniel lifted Olivia into his arms.
“Show me.”
They hurried toward the kitchen.
Samuel followed with his gun raised.
Vanessa remained behind.
Daniel looked back.
“What are you doing?”
She picked up the syringe.
“I’ll slow Victor down.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
Vanessa looked at Olivia.
“But Claire trusted me once.”
The steel panel rose higher.
Victor crouched and began crawling beneath it.
Vanessa stepped into the dark living room.
Daniel carried Olivia toward the pantry.
Behind him, a gunshot echoed.
Then another.
May you like
A woman screamed.
Daniel did not know whether Vanessa had saved them or betrayed them again.
