Chapter 20 - The Night the Lights Went Out
Graham ran.
Vivian followed.
“Miles!”
No answer.
They reached the first floor.
The security system was dead.
A flashlight beam moved near the stairs.
Graham grabbed a fireplace poker.
“Who’s there?”
“Dad?”
Miles.
He appeared wearing dinosaur pajamas and holding a toy flashlight.
Graham nearly collapsed.
Vivian grabbed him.
Then another sound came from the library.
A drawer closing.
Graham pushed Miles toward Vivian.
“Basement. Lock the door.”
“No—”
“Now.”
He entered the library.
A figure stood near Richard’s desk.
“Colin.”
His uncle turned.
He looked twenty years older.
No weapon.
No coat.
Just a tired man holding a stack of papers.
“How did you get in?”
“The old service key.”
“Put the papers down.”
Colin laughed softly.
“You sound like a policeman.”
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to remove something Richard should have destroyed.”
Graham saw the papers.
Copies of Evelyn’s trust.
“You’re finished.”
“Perhaps.”
“Then why come here?”
Colin looked toward the hallway.
“To understand why Richard left everything to you.”
“He didn’t.”
“The company.”
“You still owned more.”
“Not emotionally.”
Graham stared.
This was not about control anymore.
It was about a lifetime of rivalry.
Colin sat.
“Richard always believed you would fix what we broke.”
“You framed a man.”
“Yes.”
“You stole millions.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to frame Vivian.”
Colin looked down.
“Yes.”
The admissions came too easily.
“Did you run Elias off the road?”
A pause.
“No.”
“Who did?”
Colin looked genuinely confused.
“I assumed Marcus.”
Graham frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Marcus works for me.”
The room went silent.
Graham felt cold.
“What?”
“I hired him six months ago.”
Vivian had trusted Marcus.
Marcus had found the microphones.
Marcus had guarded evidence.
Marcus had taken Nora to Vermont.
“Why?”
“To monitor Sarah’s investigation.”
“Then why help us?”
“Because I stopped paying him.”
Graham understood.
Marcus had changed sides.
Or appeared to.
“Did he steal the partnership agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Attack himself?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he?”
Colin smiled bitterly.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here.”
A noise came from the basement corridor.
Graham turned.
Marcus stepped into the library.
He was holding a gun.
Not pointed at anyone.
Yet.
“Move away from him,” Marcus said.
Graham stared.
Colin laughed.
“There he is.”
Vivian appeared behind Marcus.
Miles was not with her.
“Where’s Miles?” Graham demanded.
“With Elias in the safe room.”
Marcus said, “Good.”
Graham’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you have a gun?”
“Because Colin is dangerous.”
Colin shook his head.
“No. Marcus is dangerous.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Colin looked at Vivian.
“Ask him who forced your father off the road.”
Vivian’s face changed.
She turned toward Marcus.
He did not answer.
“Marcus?”
“I was trying to scare him.”
The room went still.
Vivian whispered, “You nearly killed my father.”
“I lost control of the vehicle.”
“You attacked yourself?”
“No.”
“The stolen evidence?”
Marcus looked away.
“Yes.”
Graham understood.
“You wanted both sides dependent on you.”
Marcus raised the gun slightly.
“Everyone calm down.”
Vivian stared at him.
“Why?”
“Money.”
At last, a motive simple enough to fit the damage.
Marcus had been paid by Colin to monitor the investigation.
Then discovered the Vale claim could be worth tens of millions.
He began stealing evidence to sell to whichever side paid more.
Colin stopped paying after suspecting him.
Marcus escalated.
The missing documents.
The staged attacks.
The threats.
Not all of them.
But enough.
“You sent the anonymous emails?” Graham asked.
“Some.”
“Which?”
Marcus smiled.
“That’s the problem with anonymous truth.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Marcus turned toward the window.
Vivian had triggered a silent battery-powered panic alarm in the basement.
Marcus lowered the gun.
Not heroically.
Rationally.
He knew the game was over.
Police entered.
Miles remained safe.
Marcus was arrested.
Colin was taken in for questioning.
As dawn approached, Graham stood beside Vivian in the broken, darkened dining room.
Twenty days earlier, Miles’s question had exposed one secret.
Now they knew something worse.
There had never been one conspiracy.
May you like
There had been layers of people exploiting the same silence for different reasons.
And the final reckoning had begun.
