Chapter 6 - THE BLUE ROOM
William looked toward the frightened guests.
Many had known him for years.
Investors.
Politicians.
Business partners.
People who praised Isabella’s elegance only an hour earlier.
Now they waited for him to save them from his own house.
Emma studied the tunnel walls.
A thin wire ran beside the speaker.
She followed it with her flashlight.
It disappeared into the passage marked by Ethan’s sneaker.
“The control system is below us,” she said.
Marcus examined the ceiling.
“If we disable it, we may unlock the exits.”
William lowered Ethan carefully onto the stretcher.
“I’m coming.”
The paramedic objected.
“Your son needs oxygen and immediate blood testing.”
William knelt beside Ethan.
“I have to open the doors.”
Ethan gripped his hand.
“She’ll hurt you.”
William looked at Emma.
“Stay with him.”
She nodded.
Marcus and William entered the lower passage with two guards.
Emma remained with the guests and paramedics.
Minutes passed.
The speaker activated again.
“Emma Torres.”
Isabella sounded amused.
“You were always more curious than intelligent.”
Emma looked toward the hidden camera above the tunnel arch.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
A section of wall opened behind the stretcher.
Dr. Wells stepped out holding a gun.
Guests screamed.
He grabbed Emma by the collar.
“Move.”
Ethan sat up.
“Leave her alone.”
The doctor pointed the weapon toward him.
Emma stepped between them.
“I’ll go.”
Wells pulled her through the opening.
The wall closed.
He marched her down another corridor into a large underground chamber painted pale blue.
Medical equipment filled the room.
A hospital bed stood in the center.
Claire’s name had been scratched into the metal frame.
Emma stopped.
Isabella stood beside a control console.
Her ivory dress was stained with soot.
The sapphire ring still glittered on her finger.
“You kept Claire here,” Emma said.
“For three days.”
The same length of time Ethan had been hidden.
Isabella walked toward the bed.
“Claire survived the aneurysm.”
“She woke before the ambulance arrived.”
“Adrian stabilized her.”
Emma felt sick.
“William believes she died at home.”
“She died here.”
Dr. Wells looked away.
Isabella continued.
“She begged me to let her see Ethan.”
“She offered me money.”
“She threatened me.”
“She never understood that money was not the point.”
“What was?”
Isabella looked around the underground room.
“Claire found the Sterling land records.”
“The company’s most valuable properties were never legally William’s.”
Emma frowned.
Isabella activated a monitor.
Old deeds appeared.
Sterling Properties had built luxury towers across land acquired through fraudulent foreclosures.
Thousands of families had been forced from buildings the company never legally owned.
Claire planned to expose it.
“She wanted to destroy William,” Isabella said.
“No.”
Emma looked at the scratched name.
“She wanted him to tell the truth.”
“Truth is what people with no power call revenge.”
Emma’s phone vibrated inside her pocket.
Isabella noticed.
She took it.
The screen showed an active connection.
Emma had secretly called Marcus before entering the chamber.
Isabella smiled.
Then she spoke directly into the phone.
“William, your maid has found the room where your wife died.”
May you like
A gunshot echoed through the speaker.
The connection went silent.
