Chapter 4
Lily fought against Emma’s hand.
“Daddy!”
Emma held her tighter.
Victor Hale’s voice remained calm on the other side of the steel door.
“Bring her upstairs, Brooks.”
Brooks said nothing.
“You have three minutes.”
Emma leaned toward him.
“Don’t believe him.”
Brooks whispered, “I don’t.”
“But Daniel was already shot.”
“I know.”
Lily’s eyes filled with panic.
“He could die.”
Emma crouched.
“Listen to me. If Victor wanted to help your father, he wouldn’t be threatening us.”
“But—”
“He needs you for something.”
Lily stared at her.
Emma hated how much fear she saw in that child.
No nine-year-old should have to decide whether surrendering might save her father.
Outside, Victor tapped on the door.
“One minute gone.”
Brooks looked around the room.
“Secondary exit.”
Emma followed his gaze.
A ventilation grate near the floor.
Too small for adults.
But not too small for Lily.
“No.”
Lily realized immediately.
“No, I’m not going alone.”
Brooks knelt near the vent.
“It connects to the old laundry chute.”
Emma shook her head.
“Where does it come out?”
“Second floor.”
“Near her old nursery?”
Brooks nodded.
Emma understood.
The server.
Daniel’s evidence.
If they could get Lily upstairs while Victor believed she was trapped here…
But sending a child alone through dark tunnels in a house full of armed men was insane.
Then again, every option was insane.
Victor called through the door.
“Two minutes.”
Brooks pulled off the vent cover.
Emma looked at Lily.
“Do you remember your old bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“Can you get there from the laundry room?”
Lily nodded.
“Mrs. Finch’s room is beside it.”
“Who?”
“Our housekeeper.”
Brooks suddenly looked hopeful.
“Margaret Finch?”
Lily nodded.
“She still works here.”
Brooks whispered, “If anyone can hide her, Margaret can.”
Emma turned to Lily.
“Find Mrs. Finch. Tell her Daniel is alive. Tell her Brooks sent you.”
“What about you?”
“We’re going to get your dad.”
Lily stared at her.
“Promise?”
Emma hesitated.
She couldn’t promise Daniel was alive.
She couldn’t promise any of them would make it out.
But Lily needed something.
“I promise I won’t stop trying.”
The child hugged her.
Hard.
Emma hadn’t expected it.
For one second, the mansion disappeared.
The guns disappeared.
There was only a scared little girl holding on to the first adult she had decided to trust.
Then Emma helped her into the vent.
“Keep moving.”
Lily crawled forward.
Before disappearing, she looked back.
“Emma?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t let her put Daddy back in the wall.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
“I won’t.”
Lily vanished.
Brooks replaced the grate.
Victor knocked again.
“Time.”
Brooks looked at Emma.
“You ready?”
“For what?”
He pointed at a rusted lever beside the old electrical panel.
“Fire suppression.”
Emma blinked.
“This room has sprinklers?”
“Not exactly.”
He pulled the lever.
An alarm screamed.
Thick white suppressant blasted through vents in the hallway.
Victor cursed outside.
Brooks opened the door.
White fog filled the basement.
They ran.
Someone shouted.
A gunshot cracked.
Emma ducked.
Brooks fired once toward the ceiling.
“Move!”
They raced around the wine storage.
Two men emerged through the fog.
Brooks slammed one into a rack.
Bottles crashed.
Emma grabbed a fallen metal tray and struck the second man across the face.
He stumbled.
She had never hit anyone before.
There was no time to think about it.
They ran toward the hidden passage.
Behind them, Victor shouted.
“Find the girl!”
Good.
He didn’t know Lily had escaped.
Yet.
Brooks and Emma reached the narrow staircase.
They climbed.
“What’s the plan?”
“Daniel first.”
“What if Evelyn is with him?”
“Then we improvise.”
“That’s not a plan.”
“It’s all I’ve got.”
They emerged through the library fireplace panel.
The room was empty.
Outside, chaos had begun spreading through the party.
The fire alarm was audible upstairs.
Guests were asking questions.
Security guards moved quickly.
Emma looked through the door crack.
The hallway was clear.
Brooks pointed left.
“The passage entrance is behind the painting.”
They reached it.
The painting had been put back.
Emma pulled it aside.
Darkness.
They entered.
Daniel was gone.
Blood marked the floor where he had been tied.
Emma felt sick.
“No.”
Brooks touched the blood.
“Not much.”
“Enough.”
A broken plastic restraint lay beside the pipe.
Brooks picked it up.
“He got free.”
Emma stared.
“After being shot?”
“Daniel has always been stubborn.”
A faint trail of blood continued deeper into the passage.
They followed.
The corridor split.
One direction led toward the library.
The other sloped downward.
Blood marked the downward path.
Brooks whispered, “He went toward the garage.”
Emma followed.
After several turns, they heard voices.
Evelyn.
“You ruined everything.”
Daniel answered.
Weak but alive.
Emma stopped.
Brooks raised a finger to his lips.
They crept closer.
Through a narrow crack in the wall, they saw another hidden room.
Daniel sat in a chair.
His left shoulder was bloody.
His hands were free, but Victor’s security men stood nearby.
Evelyn paced in front of him.
“You could have stayed dead.”
Daniel smiled through the pain.
“You could have stayed human.”
Evelyn slapped him.
Emma flinched.
Daniel laughed softly.
“That all you’ve got?”
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I think you’re scared.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“You lost three years because you underestimated me.”
“I lost three years because I trusted my wife.”
“You were going to divorce me.”
“Yes.”
“And leave me with what?”
“Twenty million dollars.”
Evelyn’s eyes flashed.
“You say that like I should have been grateful.”
Emma could barely believe what she was hearing.
Daniel stared at her.
“You tried to steal my daughter’s inheritance because twenty million wasn’t enough?”
Evelyn leaned down.
“I built your public image.”
“My father built the company.”
“I hosted dinners. I smiled beside donors. I fixed your mistakes.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“You were going to destroy everything.”
“No. I was going to expose Victor.”
Emma glanced at Brooks.
Victor.
That name kept appearing.
Evelyn’s expression changed.
“You should never have looked into his companies.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That’s what this was really about.”
Emma leaned closer.
Daniel continued.
“The stolen pension funds. The shell charities. The medical facilities. Victor wasn’t just using Whitmore Development to move money.”
Evelyn glanced toward the guards.
“Stop talking.”
“He was using you.”
“Shut up.”
“And you were too greedy to notice.”
Evelyn struck his wounded shoulder.
Daniel groaned.
Emma almost rushed forward.
Brooks held her back.
Not yet.
Evelyn crouched.
“Where is the server?”
Daniel smiled.
“Somewhere you’ll never find.”
“She knows.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“Who?”
“Lily.”
He lunged forward.
The guards grabbed him.
“If you touch her—”
“What?”
Evelyn laughed.
“You’ll kill me?”
Daniel fought harder.
“You already tried that.”
Evelyn lifted the pistol.
“Victor wants the server. I want this night over.”
She pressed the weapon against Daniel’s chest.
“So tell me where Lily is.”
Emma’s heart stopped.
Brooks began raising his gun.
Then another voice filled the room.
“Lower the weapon, Evelyn.”
Victor Hale entered.
He looked nothing like a criminal mastermind.
Gray hair.
Perfect tuxedo.
Calm smile.
The kind of man people trusted with companies and charities.
Evelyn turned.
“You found her?”
“No.”
“Then get out.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“You no longer give orders.”
Evelyn stared.
“What?”
Victor nodded to the security men.
They moved away from Daniel.
Toward Evelyn.
She stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Cleaning up your mistakes.”
“I did everything you asked.”
“You lost Daniel.”
“I found him.”
“After he spent six months recording us inside your own house.”
Evelyn looked stunned.
Victor shook his head.
“And tonight a waitress found Lily in a wall during a ballroom full of witnesses.”
“No one saw.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?”
Evelyn’s confidence faltered.
Victor walked toward Daniel.
“You always were difficult.”
Daniel’s breathing was heavy.
“You always were a thief.”
Victor smiled.
“A wealthy thief.”
“You won’t be wealthy at midnight.”
That smile disappeared.
Victor leaned closer.
“Where is the server?”
Daniel remained silent.
Victor nodded.
One guard grabbed Daniel’s wounded shoulder.
Daniel screamed.
Emma’s nails dug into her palms.
Brooks whispered, “We need a distraction.”
Emma looked around the passage.
A breaker box was mounted behind them.
She pointed.
Brooks understood.
He opened it.
Meanwhile, Victor spoke.
“You think an automatic data release saves you?”
Daniel looked up.
“It destroys you.”
“Only if it happens.”
Victor glanced at Evelyn.
“We have thirty minutes.”
Then Evelyn smiled.
Emma didn’t like that smile.
“What?” Victor asked.
“I know where Lily would go.”
Daniel’s face went pale.
Evelyn turned toward the door.
“Her old nursery.”
Emma reacted instantly.
“She knows.”
Brooks pulled the breaker.
The room went black.
Emma shoved open the hidden panel.
Daniel shouted.
Gunfire exploded.
Someone screamed.
Emma crawled through the darkness.
“Daniel!”
“Here!”
She found him by touch.
Brooks fired toward the doorway.
“Go!”
Emma pulled Daniel up.
His weight nearly knocked her down.
“Who are you?” he gasped.
“The waitress.”
Despite everything, Daniel laughed.
“Of course you are.”
They stumbled into the passage.
Brooks followed.
Behind them, Victor shouted orders.
Evelyn screamed.
“Get Lily!”
Emma supported Daniel.
“Can you walk?”
“Ask me tomorrow.”
“If we get one.”
“Fair.”
They moved as fast as his injury allowed.
“Your daughter went to the nursery.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
“She’s trying to protect your server.”
“No.”
“She has help.”
“Who?”
“Margaret Finch.”
Daniel stared.
Then nodded.
“If Margaret’s alive, Lily has a chance.”
Emma grabbed his arm.
“Then move.”
They reached another staircase.
Daniel led them this time.
“I know a faster route.”
They climbed toward the second floor.
The alarm still screamed.
Guests were now shouting downstairs.
Someone pounded on locked exterior doors.
The carefully controlled engagement party was falling apart.
Good.
Emma wanted chaos.
Chaos gave them cover.
They reached a small linen closet.
Daniel pressed a latch.
The door opened.
Margaret Finch stood on the other side holding a baseball bat.
She almost struck him.
Then she saw his face.
The bat fell from her hand.
“Daniel?”
His expression crumpled.
“Hello, Margaret.”
The older woman covered her mouth.
She hugged him.
Then pulled away.
“You’re bleeding.”
“Where’s Lily?”
Margaret froze.
“She isn’t with you?”
Emma’s heart dropped.
“What?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I haven’t seen Lily all night.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
Emma looked toward the nursery.
The door stood open.
They ran inside.
The room was empty.
An old crib sat against one wall.
Dusty stuffed animals filled shelves.
A hidden compartment beneath the window was open.
The server was gone.
On the floor lay Lily’s bracelet.
And beside it was a handwritten note.
Daniel picked it up.
His face turned white.
Emma read over his shoulder.
I have the girl and the evidence.
Come to the ballroom alone.
If anyone follows, everyone learns how far you’re willing to go to protect your daughter.
Daniel crushed the note.
Brooks whispered, “Victor?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Emma saw the handwriting.
Elegant.
Careful.
Feminine.
Evelyn.
Then the house speakers came alive.
Music stopped.
A microphone crackled.
Evelyn’s voice filled every room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience.”
Daniel stared toward the hallway.
Evelyn continued.
“There has been a small security issue.”
A pause.
“And unfortunately, we’ve discovered an intruder inside the house.”
Emma felt dread.
Then Evelyn said the words that changed everything.
May you like
“The man claims to be my dead husband.”
Downstairs, the ballroom erupted.
