Chapter 7 - The Train That Was Not Scheduled
The headlights grew brighter inside the dead tunnel.
Emily’s mind rejected what her eyes were seeing.
That track had been abandoned for years.
No passenger trains.
No freight.
No scheduled maintenance.
Yet something was coming.
Fast.
Agent Brooks shouted into his radio.
“Unscheduled rail movement at Old Union Station, Track 3. I need emergency shutdown now!”
Arthur Bell stood near the platform edge, calm as a man waiting for a limousine.
Richard moved toward him.
“Arthur, what did you do?”
Arthur’s smile was tired.
“What I have always done. Prepared.”
The roar grew louder.
Dust shook from the rafters.
Ava clutched the flash drive against her chest.
Emily grabbed her and pulled her away from the platform edge.
“Move!”
Everyone scattered.
The train burst from the tunnel.
Not a passenger train.
A short maintenance engine pulling two dark cargo cars.
It screamed through the station, brakes sparking, metal shrieking against metal.
For one terrifying second, Emily thought it would derail.
Then it slowed just enough.
A door on the first cargo car slid open.
Two more men stood inside.
Arthur stepped toward it.
Agent Brooks yelled, “Stop!”
Arthur looked back at Emily.
“Tell your mother I’m sorry about Thomas.”
Then he jumped into the moving car.
One of Richard’s security officers ran forward.
A man inside the train shoved him back.
He crashed onto the platform.
Agent Brooks fired one shot into the air.
The train kept moving.
Within seconds, Arthur Bell disappeared into the tunnel on the other side of the station.
Emily stood frozen, rainwater dripping from her hair, her heartbeat louder than the fading engine.
Agent Brooks cursed.
Richard looked devastated.
Ava whispered, “He got away.”
Emily turned on Richard.
“You said it was over.”
Richard’s face was pale.
“I thought it was.”
“You thought wrong.”
Agent Brooks approached Ava.
“The drive.”
Ava hesitated.
Emily touched her arm.
“It’s okay.”
Ava handed it over.
Brooks placed it into an evidence bag.
Emily said, “Make a copy.”
Brooks looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Make three copies. Right now.”
“This is federal evidence.”
“And Arthur Bell just escaped in a private train from an abandoned station after threatening my mother. Forgive me if I don’t trust one bag.”
Brooks held her gaze.
Then he nodded to his partner.
“Duplicate it on-site.”
Richard’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
Emily watched him.
“What happened?”
Richard lowered the phone.
“Arthur called an emergency board vote.”
Ava stared.
“He’s running from the FBI.”
“And still chairman,” Richard said.
Emily shook her head.
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Richard said bitterly. “He’s removing me as CEO before I can freeze more assets.”
Agent Brooks said, “Can he do that?”
Richard’s voice was hollow.
“If he has enough board votes.”
Emily thought of the boardroom.
The executives who had stayed silent.
The people who feared Vanessa.
The people who owed Arthur.
“When is the vote?” she asked.
Richard checked his phone.
“Tonight. Nine o’clock. Remote session.”
Emily looked at the station clock.
8:12 p.m.
Forty-eight minutes.
Richard said, “If they remove me, I lose authority over internal systems. Arthur regains full control before the FBI can secure everything.”
Emily looked at Agent Brooks.
“Can’t you stop it?”
“We can execute warrants,” Brooks said. “We can seize servers. But corporate governance can move faster than law enforcement.”
Ava let out a bitter laugh.
“So rich criminals get conference calls.”
Emily stared at Richard.
“How many votes does Arthur need?”
“Seven.”
“How many does he have?”
“Six guaranteed.”
“Vanessa?”
“Suspended. Her vote is inactive.”
“So he needs one more.”
Richard did not answer.
Emily understood.
“Who’s the swing vote?”
“Margaret Shaw.”
Ava frowned.
“The retired judge on the board?”
Richard nodded.
“She hates Arthur.”
“She hates scandal more.”
Emily stepped closer.
“Call her.”
“I have. She won’t answer.”
Emily looked at Ava.
“Can we reach her another way?”
Ava wiped blood from her lip.
“She has a grandson in legal. Ben Shaw. He helped with document review.”
Emily remembered Ben.
Quiet.
Nervous.
Always looking over his shoulder near Vanessa.
“Can you contact him?”
Ava pulled out her phone.
“Maybe.”
Before she could dial, Emily’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered slowly.
A woman’s voice spoke.
“Emily Parker?”
“Yes.”
“This is Margaret Shaw.”
Emily looked at Richard.
He froze.
Margaret continued.
“I’m told you have information about Westbridge.”
Emily’s voice sharpened.
“I do.”
“Then listen carefully. Arthur Bell is offering the board a story. In that story, you are a disgruntled employee working with Richard to stage a coup.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I assumed so.”
“Then vote against him.”
Margaret paused.
“It’s not that simple.”
Emily almost screamed.
“My father died because of this.”
The line went quiet.
When Margaret spoke again, her voice was softer.
“I knew your father.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Then help me.”
Margaret exhaled.
“I will vote against Arthur if you can prove one thing before nine.”
“What?”
“That Richard Harrison did not approve Westbridge.”
Emily turned slowly toward Richard.
May you like
His face went white.
Margaret said, “Because Arthur has documents showing Richard’s signature.”
