Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT THE LODGE BURNED
Flames spread through the archive corridor.
The lodge’s stone construction slowed the fire, but smoke filled the upper floors.
Marcus directed evacuations.
Sloane helped guide guests toward the ballroom exits.
Julian remained in custody at the sheriff’s station.
Harrison was transported to the hospital.
I entered the security room against the fire chief’s instructions.
Thomas appeared on a camera inside the service tunnel.
He carried the missing trust files and a fuel can.
He was moving toward the mountain bunker.
If he burned the papers underground, the fire might destroy the remaining crash evidence too.
I gave the camera location to the sheriff.
Then the screen changed.
Thomas stopped beside a junction.
He looked directly into the lens.
“Elena.”
A speaker activated.
He had accessed the emergency communication system.
“You wanted the empire.”
“Now come protect it.”
I answered through the console.
“The guests are safe.”
“The records are copied.”
“You cannot destroy the truth by burning paper.”
His laugh echoed through the tunnel.
“You still sound like your father.”
“You were afraid of him too.”
Thomas’s expression hardened.
“Daniel was weak.”
“He wanted employees to control family decisions.”
“He wanted you to stop stealing.”
“He wanted to humiliate me.”
“No.”
“He wanted accountability.”
Thomas raised the fuel can.
“You know nothing about what it is like to build beside a brother everyone preferred.”
“You decided his success was theft from you.”
“You killed him for it.”
The tunnel became silent.
I did not know whether he would confess.
Then he spoke.
“The helicopter was supposed to land.”
The words were enough.
The communication system recorded everything.
“I only needed time to recover the ledger.”
“Peter assured me no one would die.”
“You sabotaged an aircraft carrying three people.”
“Daniel forced them to take off.”
Thomas had spent twelve years rewriting the moment until murder became someone else’s decision.
A sheriff’s team entered the tunnel from the bunker side.
Thomas heard them.
He poured fuel across the floor and ignited it.
Flames raced along the passage.
The feed disappeared.
Firefighters entered with breathing equipment.
For seventeen minutes, we received no communication.
Then they emerged carrying one injured deputy.
Thomas was not with them.
He had escaped through an unmarked side tunnel leading toward the ridge.
The storm had intensified.
Visibility fell below fifty feet.
I returned to the ballroom command area.
Marcus was being treated for smoke inhalation.
The lodge’s east wing was damaged but standing.
No guests had died.
A receptionist approached holding a child’s winter coat.
It had been found inside the service corridor.
A note was pinned to the sleeve.
BRING JULIAN TO THE CRASH SITE.
May you like
Thomas was no longer protecting his secret son.
He was using him as the final key to escape.
