Chapter 5
Daniel moved toward the hallway.
Brooks blocked him.
“Think.”
“My daughter is downstairs.”
“And Evelyn wants you angry.”
“She has Lily.”
“That is exactly why you cannot walk into the ballroom without a plan.”
Daniel shoved him aside.
Emma stepped between them.
“Brooks is right.”
Daniel glared at her.
“You don’t know my daughter.”
“No. But I know what Evelyn wants.”
“You’ve known her for an hour.”
“And I watched her point a gun at you instead of killing you.”
Daniel stopped.
Emma continued.
“She needs something.”
“The server.”
“She already has it.”
“Then the password.”
Emma nodded.
“If you go down there alone, she gets both you and the password.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with rage.
“You want me to hide while she holds Lily?”
“I want you to survive long enough to save her.”
For several seconds, Daniel said nothing.
Then Margaret spoke.
“She’s right.”
Daniel looked at the woman who had apparently helped raise him.
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“I mourned you for three years. I am not watching you walk into another trap because you are too angry to think.”
Daniel lowered his eyes.
Brooks checked his weapon.
“We need to know what’s happening in the ballroom.”
Emma looked toward the old nursery monitor mounted near the wall.
“Does that connect to cameras?”
Margaret nodded.
“Baby monitor system. Old, but the ballroom cameras used to run through the same network.”
Daniel crossed to it.
He opened a hidden panel and pressed several buttons.
Static.
Then an image appeared.
The ballroom.
Guests clustered together beneath the chandeliers.
Some were frightened.
Others looked fascinated.
Evelyn stood on the stage.
Victor stood twenty feet away.
Emma noticed something immediately.
Victor was not beside Evelyn.
He looked furious.
Lily wasn’t visible.
Evelyn held a microphone.
“I understand how disturbing this sounds,” she told the crowd. “But the man in question is unstable.”
A guest shouted, “Where is he?”
Evelyn gave a sad smile.
“We believe he is somewhere inside the property.”
Daniel stared at the monitor.
“She’s rewriting the story.”
Emma folded her arms.
“In front of two hundred witnesses.”
Evelyn continued.
“For years, I have struggled privately with the consequences of Daniel’s disappearance. Recently, an individual began contacting me, claiming to be Daniel.”
Murmurs spread through the ballroom.
“He demanded money. He threatened Lily. Tonight, he entered our home.”
Daniel laughed in disbelief.
“She’s saying I kidnapped my own daughter.”
Brooks nodded grimly.
“And when you walk into that room covered in blood, angry and armed men chasing you, half those guests will believe her.”
Emma watched Victor.
He whispered to one of his security men.
The man hurried away.
“Victor didn’t plan this.”
Daniel looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“He wants everyone quiet. Evelyn is making a public spectacle.”
Brooks frowned.
“She’s turning against him.”
“Maybe.”
On the monitor, Evelyn touched her chest dramatically.
“I apologize that my engagement celebration has been interrupted by something so painful.”
Then someone shouted from the crowd.
“Where is Lily?”
Evelyn paused.
Emma leaned closer.
Good question.
“Lily is safe.”
Another guest called out.
“Then bring her down.”
More voices joined.
“Yes.”
“Let us see her.”
“Where’s the child?”
Evelyn’s expression tightened.
Victor stepped forward.
“Ladies and gentlemen—”
Evelyn cut him off.
“My daughter is frightened.”
Daniel whispered, “Stepdaughter.”
Victor reached for the microphone.
Evelyn pulled it away.
That told Emma everything.
They were no longer working together.
The alliance was breaking.
Emma looked at Daniel.
“We can use that.”
“How?”
“Make them fight each other.”
Brooks smiled slightly.
“I like the waitress.”
Daniel almost smiled too.
Then the monitor changed.
Another camera.
Hallway.
A security man was dragging Lily by the arm.
Emma’s stomach dropped.
“There!”
Daniel moved closer.
The man pulled Lily toward a service staircase.
Not the ballroom.
Victor’s man.
Brooks recognized him.
“That’s Keene. Hale’s head of security.”
Daniel went pale.
“Victor doesn’t trust Evelyn with Lily.”
Emma understood.
While Evelyn was making a speech downstairs, Victor was taking the child somewhere else.
“Where does that staircase lead?”
Margaret answered.
“Garage.”
Daniel was already moving.
This time nobody stopped him.
They rushed through the nursery.
Margaret stayed behind.
“I’ll keep watching cameras.”
Emma grabbed her hand.
“If you see Evelyn—”
“I’ll find you.”
Daniel entered the hidden passage again.
“Garage route.”
They ran.
Daniel was weakening.
Blood soaked his sleeve.
Emma noticed.
“You’re slowing down.”
“I’m fine.”
“You were shot.”
“Later.”
“You might not have later.”
“Then stop wasting time arguing.”
They reached the garage passage.
Daniel opened the panel.
A row of luxury vehicles filled the enormous space.
Keene stood near a black SUV.
Lily was beside him.
Another guard opened the rear door.
Daniel whispered, “Two men.”
Brooks nodded.
“One gun visible.”
Emma looked around.
Tools.
Fuel cans.
A rolling mechanic’s cart.
She picked up a wrench.
Daniel looked at it.
“Seriously?”
“You have a better idea?”
“Not really.”
Lily struggled.
“Let go!”
Keene tightened his grip.
“Get in.”
“My daddy will find me.”
Keene laughed.
“Your daddy couldn’t find daylight with a map.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
Brooks grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait.”
The second guard walked toward the garage door controls.
Emma noticed a fire extinguisher near the passage.
She pointed.
Brooks nodded.
He moved left.
Daniel moved right.
Emma stepped into the garage.
“Hey!”
Both guards spun.
Keene looked shocked.
“The waitress.”
Emma threw the wrench.
Not at him.
At the overhead light.
Glass shattered.
Darkness dropped over half the garage.
Brooks fired.
The second guard’s gun flew from his hand.
Daniel slammed into Keene.
Lily screamed.
Emma ran to her.
Keene punched Daniel’s wounded shoulder.
Daniel fell.
Brooks tackled Keene.
The second guard rushed Emma.
She sprayed him with the fire extinguisher.
White powder exploded across his face.
He stumbled backward.
Lily kicked him in the shin.
Hard.
Emma almost laughed.
“That’s my girl.”
The guard swung blindly.
Emma ducked.
He hit the SUV mirror.
Brooks knocked Keene against the vehicle.
Daniel picked himself up.
He grabbed Lily.
“Peanut.”
She stared at him.
Then threw her arms around his neck.
“Daddy!”
Daniel winced from the pain but held her.
“I’ve got you.”
She cried against him.
Emma felt a lump in her throat.
For three years, this child had believed her father was dead.
For three years, Daniel had known his daughter was alive but couldn’t safely reach her.
Now they had seconds.
Maybe less.
Brooks zip-tied Keene with his own restraints.
The second guard groaned on the floor.
Daniel looked at Lily.
“Where’s the server?”
Lily’s face changed.
“She took it.”
“Evelyn?”
Lily shook her head.
“Mr. Victor.”
Everyone froze.
Emma looked at Keene.
“Where is it?”
He smiled through bloody teeth.
“Too late.”
Brooks pressed the gun toward him.
“Try again.”
Keene laughed.
“You think shooting me helps?”
Daniel stepped forward.
“It might make me feel better.”
Keene looked at Daniel.
For the first time, fear appeared.
“Victor has it.”
“Where?”
“He left.”
Emma stared.
“What?”
Keene nodded toward an empty parking space.
“One of the cars is gone.”
Daniel looked around.
A silver sedan was missing.
“But the gates are locked,” Brooks said.
Keene smiled.
“Victor has the master control.”
Daniel cursed.
The evidence was leaving.
If Victor destroyed the server before midnight, Daniel would lose everything.
Emma looked at the clock on the garage wall.
11:38.
Twenty-two minutes.
Lily grabbed Daniel’s hand.
“Daddy.”
He looked down.
“I know the password.”
Daniel went still.
“What?”
“The computer asked me before Evelyn came in.”
Lily reached into her pocket.
And pulled out a tiny black object.
Emma stared.
A memory card.
“Daddy’s box had this sticking out.”
Daniel took it carefully.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
Daniel looked at her.
“The server has a removable encryption key.”
Brooks smiled.
“So Victor has a useless box.”
“Without this, he can’t access or erase the evidence properly.”
Emma felt hope again.
Then Keene laughed.
“You really think Hale needs to read it?”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
“He only needs to destroy it physically.”
Keene nodded.
“And he has twenty minutes.”
Daniel turned toward the garage exit.
“We follow him.”
Brooks shook his head.
“The gates are locked.”
Emma pointed at the catering van.
“What about that?”
Keene laughed again.
“Vehicle barriers.”
Emma looked at the large windows beside the garage doors.
Then at the heavy delivery van.
Daniel followed her gaze.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You have another route?”
“That window opens onto a ten-foot drop.”
“Van has airbags.”
Brooks started laughing.
Daniel stared at both of them.
“You people are insane.”
Emma opened the driver’s door.
“You lived in a wall for six months.”
“Fair point.”
They loaded Lily into the back.
Daniel climbed beside her.
Brooks sat in the passenger seat.
Emma started the van.
The garage door remained locked.
She reversed.
Brooks tightened his seatbelt.
“Please tell me you’ve done this before.”
“I deliver drinks.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Emma hit the accelerator.
The van slammed through the side garage window.
Glass exploded.
The front wheels dropped.
Everyone screamed.
The van crashed onto the lawn.
Airbags burst.
Emma’s ears rang.
But the engine was still running.
She looked at Brooks.
“Still alive?”
He groaned.
“Ask me tomorrow.”
Daniel laughed from the back.
“Now you’re stealing my lines.”
Emma drove.
The mansion grounds were chaos.
Security guards chased them.
Guests pressed against windows.
A gate blocked the road.
Emma accelerated.
Brooks shouted.
“That barrier is steel!”
“I know!”
“Emma!”
At the last second, Daniel yelled from the back.
“Left!”
Emma jerked the wheel.
The van tore across the lawn toward a gardener’s service road.
A narrow wooden gate stood ahead.
They smashed through it.
Then they were outside the estate.
Free.
For the first time all night, Emma saw an open public road.
“Phone!”
Brooks grabbed a backup cell from the van console.
No signal.
“Jammer,” Daniel said.
Emma drove faster.
A quarter mile later, bars appeared.
Brooks dialed 911.
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“This is Daniel Whitmore.”
The dispatcher responded.
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes. That Daniel Whitmore.”
Emma almost laughed.
Then headlights appeared behind them.
A black SUV.
Keene’s remaining men.
And farther ahead, another vehicle sat sideways across the road.
Blocking them.
Victor’s silver sedan.
Victor stood beside it.
He wasn’t running.
He was waiting.
In one hand he held Daniel’s server.
In the other was a metal can of gasoline.
The phone in Daniel’s hand suddenly lost connection.
Victor poured gasoline over the server.
Emma slammed the brakes.
The van stopped fifty feet away.
Victor raised a lighter.
Daniel whispered, “No.”
May you like
Victor smiled.
Then struck the flame.
