Chapter 11 - THE VAULT BENEATH THE LIBRARY
Emergency lights cast the hallway in red.
Thomas Reed ordered the exterior gates locked.
Rosa gathered the staff inside the kitchen safe room.
Daniel and I moved toward the library.
Thomas tried to stop us.
“The intruder may be armed.”
“The trust documents are inside,” I said.
“Documents can be replaced.”
“The original founding seal cannot.”
The seal controlled access to several historical trusts.
Without it, Vanessa could not legally transfer funds.
With it and Daniel’s copied signature, Adrian might create enough confusion to move millions before the courts intervened.
The hidden stair behind the library stood open.
We descended.
The vault door had been forced with the correct code and a copied security token.
Inside, drawers had been pulled open.
A masked figure stood beside the central table.
He held the founding seal.
Daniel moved toward him.
The man removed the mask.
Adrian Grant.
Vanessa’s older brother.
He smiled.
“Your family security is disappointing.”
Daniel looked at the seal.
“Put it down.”
“You are in no position to order anyone.”
Adrian lifted a metal case.
Inside were forged transfer documents.
Charles’s signature appeared beside Daniel’s.
“You cannot move the foundation with those,” I said.
“Not permanently.”
“Only long enough.”
“By the time your attorneys stop it, the money will belong to companies beyond your reach.”
Footsteps sounded behind us.
Vanessa entered holding my hidden recorder.
She had come through the old service tunnel.
The recorder contained the original file proving her assault.
“You left the most valuable evidence inside an unlocked desk,” she said.
“It was copied.”
Her smile flickered.
Daniel looked at her.
“Was any part of our relationship real?”
Vanessa’s expression softened.
“I loved you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because love does not pay for the life you promised me.”
“I never promised you twelve million dollars.”
“You promised me Whitmore.”
Daniel looked as though she had struck him.
Adrian connected a laptop to the vault terminal.
A transfer countdown appeared.
Five minutes.
Thomas’s voice came through the emergency speaker.
“The vault door is locked remotely.”
“Police are approaching.”
Adrian laughed.
“The service tunnel reaches the river road.”
Vanessa held the recorder over a small metal burner.
“Open the outside gate.”
“Or the evidence disappears.”
I looked at her.
“You still think the recording is what exposes you.”
May you like
“What else would?”
“You.”
