Chapter 20 - The Door Beneath Harcourt Tower
My mother admitted the truth before the elevator reached the lobby.
She had never removed Volume Two.
Nathaniel ordered her to hide it beneath Harcourt Tower in a chamber accessible only through the original foundation.
“Why tell us it was gone?” I asked.
“Because Samuel called before you reached Black Ridge. He said Julian was listening to every federal channel.”
“Samuel voted against me.”
“Because Julian has evidence connecting Samuel’s daughter to the old property transfers.”
Samuel had a daughter living overseas under another name. Julian had threatened to prosecute her for crimes committed through accounts Samuel created without her knowledge.
“He is protecting his child,” my mother said.
“Everyone protects their children by sacrificing someone else’s.”
I ended the call.
Oliver joined us after dark with the original architectural plans for Harcourt Tower. His firm had renovated the upper floors but never received records for the foundation.
The six-digit code opened a service elevator Damon had used for years.
I contacted him through Agent Ruiz.
“What is beneath the tower?” I asked.
Damon’s answer came quickly.
“A room my mother never allowed me to enter.”
“You knew it existed.”
“I knew there was an elevator. Julian controlled the code.”
“You used it.”
“To move documents.”
“For Julian?”
“For Patricia.”
Every line led back to another lie.
The elevator descended below the lowest registered floor.
When the doors opened, we found a narrow stone corridor.
At its end stood an old wooden door.
Not steel.
Not biometric.
The simple kind of door someone might overlook in a modern tower.
I pushed it open.
Patricia Vale sat alone at a table.
The second volume of the Continuity Ledger rested in front of her.
Claire stopped beside me.
“Where is Rose?”
“With her mother.”
“Where is Elise?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe that?” I asked.
Patricia looked tired for the first time since I had known her.
“Julian stopped trusting me when Damon was arrested.”
“You built Damon’s plan.”
“I built part of it.”
“You framed Anthony.”
“I helped.”
“You imprisoned Rebecca.”
“I kept her alive.”
The distinction made Claire furious.
Patricia opened Volume Two.
“Julian possesses the final pages. Without them, neither volume proves who authorized the original land scheme.”
“Give us what you have.”
“In exchange for protection.”
“No immunity.”
“Then Julian wins.”
“He already controls the board.”
“The board was never his real objective.”
She turned the ledger toward me.
A family record appeared inside.
ANTHONY MERCER.
Below his name was another.
JULIAN MERCER.
Anthony’s older half-brother.
“He changed his surname after Anthony’s arrest,” Patricia said. “Nathaniel never knew Julian was financing the operation against him.”
Claire stared at the record.
“Julian is our uncle.”
“Yes.”
“And Rose?”
“His most useful lie.”
Patricia stood.
“Julian has spent decades waiting for a Harcourt heir he could control. He failed with Evelyn. He failed with Damon.”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“Now he has Rose.”
A monitor on the wall activated.
The Harcourt boardroom appeared.
Julian sat at the head of the table.
Beside him was Rose.
The little girl wore a white dress and the silver bracelet.
Cameras filled the room.
A press conference was about to begin.
Patricia looked at me.
“In eleven minutes, Julian will introduce Rose as the rightful Harcourt heir.”
May you like
The elevator doors closed behind us.
Then the entire chamber began moving upward.
