Chapter 11 - When the Powerful Start Calling)
Vivienne's phone began ringing three minutes after the transfer completed.
The first call came from a federal investigator.
The second from Hale Meridian's general counsel.
The third from an investigative editor Daniel had apparently selected years earlier.
Vivienne answered the federal call.
A woman identified herself as Special Agent Lena Torres.
"We received an encrypted evidence package connected to Daniel Hale."
Vivienne looked at Sebastian.
He heard every word.
Torres continued.
"Are you currently safe?"
"For the moment."
"Is Sebastian Vale present?"
"Yes."
"Do not confront him physically. We are coordinating with local authorities outside Deputy Commissioner Pike's command."
Sebastian stood.
Thomas blocked him.
Torres said, "Where are you?"
Vivienne gave the address.
"We have teams moving."
Sebastian laughed quietly.
Vivienne looked at him.
"What?"
"You think that's enough?"
"For what?"
"Pike has people everywhere."
Torres heard.
"Mrs. Hale, do not leave the property unless immediate danger requires it."
Vivienne asked, "Do you have Daniel's recording?"
"Yes."
"Then you know Marcus Dane was responsible for the physical act."
"We are reviewing it."
Sebastian's eyes shifted toward the window.
Vivienne saw the movement.
"Where is Marcus?"
Sebastian said nothing.
Thomas looked outside.
The black vehicles remained parked nearby.
But the men were gone.
Margaret whispered.
"They're surrounding the house."
Vivienne returned to the phone.
"We may have a problem."
Torres responded immediately.
"How many people?"
"Unknown."
"Stay away from windows."
A glass pane shattered in the living room.
Ethan flinched.
Vivienne grabbed him.
Something small rolled across the floor.
Not an explosive.
A smoke canister.
White smoke poured into the room.
Thomas cursed.
Margaret grabbed Ethan's hand.
"Back door."
Vivienne coughed.
Sebastian remained near the kitchen.
"Call them off," she shouted.
"They're not listening to me anymore."
That answer frightened her.
"Marcus?"
Sebastian nodded.
Vivienne understood.
Sebastian's empire was collapsing.
Marcus had no reason to protect him now.
Evidence named Marcus as Daniel's killer.
Marcus needed the originals destroyed.
And perhaps everyone who could authenticate them.
They moved toward the rear exit.
Smoke filled the hallway.
Thomas opened the door.
A man waited outside.
Thomas slammed it shut.
"Blocked."
Margaret coughed.
"Cellar."
They descended.
Ethan clung to Vivienne.
Sebastian followed.
Thomas turned.
"You stay upstairs."
Sebastian laughed.
"They'll kill me too."
"You earned it."
Vivienne shouted.
"Thomas."
He stepped aside.
The cellar was cramped.
Old brick.
One small window.
No obvious exit.
Margaret looked around.
"Daniel renovated this place."
Vivienne remembered.
He had once joked that the cellar had terrible drainage.
He spent a week fixing it himself.
Why would a wealthy executive personally repair a rental cellar years after moving out?
Because he had not been fixing drainage.
Ethan pointed to a shelf.
"Compass."
Vivienne looked.
The needle was pulling toward the far wall.
Another magnet.
She moved the shelf.
Behind it was a steel hatch.
Thomas almost laughed.
"Your husband was unbelievable."
Vivienne opened it.
A narrow emergency tunnel.
Of course.
They entered.
Sebastian hesitated.
Vivienne looked back.
"Coming?"
His face was unreadable.
Then he followed.
They crawled through darkness.
Ethan whispered.
"Mommy, are bad people coming?"
"Yes."
"Are the good people coming too?"
Vivienne almost smiled.
"Yes."
"Who gets here first?"
Nobody answered.
The tunnel emerged behind a detached garage.
They climbed out.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Thomas looked relieved.
Then a gunshot cracked.
Brick exploded beside him.
Everyone dropped.
Marcus stood near the alley.
He held a pistol.
Sebastian stared.
"Marcus."
Marcus aimed at him.
"You should have destroyed the archive four years ago."
Sebastian raised his hands.
"You said Daniel had no backups."
"And you believed me."
Vivienne went cold.
Sebastian looked confused.
Marcus smiled.
"I found the first backup three years ago."
Margaret whispered.
"What?"
"I left it."
Sebastian stared.
"Why?"
"Insurance."
Marcus laughed.
"You were making hundreds of millions. I needed leverage."
Sebastian's face changed from fear to fury.
"You blackmailed me."
"Silently."
Marcus looked at Vivienne.
"Your brilliant husband made everyone paranoid."
Sirens grew louder.
Marcus raised the gun.
"Give me the original documents."
Vivienne held the case.
"They've already been transmitted."
"Not the originals."
"Why do they matter?"
"Chain of custody."
Margaret answered quietly.
"Some signatures can only be authenticated from paper."
Marcus nodded.
"Smart woman."
Thomas moved slightly.
Marcus pointed the gun at him.
"Don't."
Ethan was shaking.
Vivienne stepped in front of him.
"You won't escape."
Marcus shrugged.
"Maybe not."
"Then why do this?"
"Because prison for obstruction is one thing."
He looked at the case.
"Murder is another."
Sebastian suddenly laughed.
Marcus looked at him.
"What?"
Sebastian's laugh grew.
"You idiot."
"What?"
"The recorder."
Marcus's expression changed.
Sebastian continued.
"You admitted everything on Daniel's recorder."
Marcus stared.
"He recorded the boat."
The sirens were almost on top of them now.
Marcus's face transformed.
Panic.
Real panic.
He aimed at Sebastian.
"You knew?"
Sebastian moved.
Thomas shouted.
Vivienne covered Ethan.
A gunshot echoed.
Then another.
When Vivienne looked up, Sebastian was on the ground.
Marcus ran toward the alley.
Thomas sprinted after him but stopped as police vehicles flooded the street.
Officers surrounded Marcus.
He dropped the gun.
Vivienne looked down.
Sebastian held his shoulder.
Blood spread through his designer jacket, but he was conscious.
He looked at Vivienne.
For one strange second, she saw the man who had once sat beside her after Daniel's funeral.
Then the illusion vanished.
Federal agents entered the yard.
Special Agent Torres approached.
"Vivienne Hale?"
Vivienne nodded.
Torres looked at Ethan.
"You're safe now."
Vivienne wanted to believe her.
But as agents began separating everyone for statements, Torres quietly added something.
"There's one part of Daniel's archive you need to see before this becomes public."
Vivienne's stomach tightened.
"What part?"
May you like
Torres hesitated.
"It's about Ethan."
