Chapter 4 - The Dead Uncle
Adrian raised his weapon.
Samuel Blackwood did not flinch.
Cole’s gun remained pointed at Adrian.
Marcus stood between them, perfectly still.
“Put it down, Adrian,” Samuel said.
“You first.”
“I’m not holding one.”
“You’re hiding behind a man who is.”
Samuel smiled.
“You really are Richard’s son.”
“Don’t insult me.”
That erased the smile.
Victoria rolled closer.
“You should be dead.”
Samuel looked at her.
“You always were dramatic, Victoria.”
“You murdered Thomas Bennett.”
Clara stiffened.
Samuel’s eyes moved toward her.
“Your mother told you that?”
“My mother told me enough.”
“Your mother was a thief.”
Clara took one step forward.
Adrian blocked her.
“Careful.”
Samuel continued.
“Eleanor stole records that belonged to my family.”
“Records proving you were stealing from Richard,” Marcus said.
Samuel glanced at him.
“And there’s the loyal dog.”
Marcus’s expression remained calm.
“I wondered when you’d crawl back.”
“You knew he was alive?” Adrian asked.
“I suspected.”
“You might have mentioned it.”
“I hoped I was wrong.”
Samuel laughed.
“You always were terrible at lying, Marcus.”
Adrian’s patience snapped.
“What do you want?”
Samuel pointed toward Victoria.
“The key.”
Victoria stared at him.
“I don’t have anything.”
Samuel nodded toward Cole.
Cole walked toward her.
Adrian raised his weapon higher.
“One more step and he dies.”
Cole stopped.
Samuel sighed.
“You won’t shoot him.”
“Try me.”
“I knew you when you were a boy.”
“You knew a boy.”
Adrian’s voice became ice.
“You don’t know me.”
Samuel studied him.
Then he smiled.
“There he is.”
Victoria suddenly coughed.
Once.
Then again.
Her body folded forward.
Clara rushed to her.
“Mrs. Blackwood?”
Victoria struggled for air.
Adrian forgot Samuel instantly.
“Mother.”
He crossed the corridor.
Clara checked Victoria’s pulse.
“We need oxygen.”
Adrian shouted for the medical team.
No response.
The power outage had disabled the internal communications.
“I’ll get them,” Clara said.
Samuel caught her wrist as she passed.
Adrian’s gun was against his uncle’s forehead before anyone could react.
“Release her.”
Samuel slowly let go.
Clara ran.
Adrian crouched beside his mother.
Victoria looked at him.
Her lips moved.
He leaned closer.
“What?”
She whispered.
“Don’t let him get it.”
Then her eyes closed.
“Mother?”
No response.
For the first time in decades, Adrian Blackwood looked terrified.
Clara returned with two nurses and an emergency oxygen unit.
The next ten minutes became chaos.
Victoria was rushed toward the medical suite.
Adrian followed until Marcus grabbed his shoulder.
“Adrian.”
He turned.
Samuel was gone.
So was Cole.
Adrian looked toward the archive.
Richard’s ring was gone with them.
“Lock the estate,” he ordered.
“They’ll already be outside.”
“Then find them.”
Marcus nodded and left.
Adrian went to his mother.
Victoria stabilized after twenty minutes.
The episode had not been a heart attack, but her oxygen level had fallen dangerously.
Her oncologist warned Adrian quietly in the hallway.
“She’s weaker than she appears.”
“How much time?”
“I can’t answer that precisely.”
“You can.”
The doctor hesitated.
“Weeks, perhaps. Maybe less.”
Adrian looked through the glass.
Clara sat beside Victoria’s bed.
Again.
Always there.
Adrian entered.
Victoria opened her eyes.
“Did he get it?”
“No.”
Her hand moved weakly toward her blanket.
Clara understood.
She reached beneath it and removed the brass key.
Victoria had hidden it inside the lining of her wheelchair cushion.
Adrian almost laughed.
His mother smiled faintly.
“You thought I survived forty years with your father by being stupid?”
“No.”
He sat beside her.
“I thought you survived because you were stronger than everyone else.”
Victoria’s smile faded.
“Strength gets lonely.”
Adrian looked down.
After a moment, Clara placed the key on the table.
“We need to find the vault before Samuel does.”
Adrian nodded.
“Marcus said two keys are required.”
Victoria shook her head.
“The ring isn’t a key.”
“What is it?”
“A map.”
She explained.
Richard’s signet contained a rotating Blackwood crest. When aligned correctly, tiny markings around the edge created coordinates.
“Coordinates to what?”
“The original Blackwood estate.”
Adrian frowned.
“The one that burned?”
“Part of it burned.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Victoria looked toward Clara.
“There was an underground wine cellar. Richard converted it into a vault.”
Clara stared at the brass key.
“My mother knew?”
“She helped him organize the documents stored there.”
Adrian stood.
“Then Samuel is heading there.”
“Probably.”
“We leave tonight.”
“No.”
Victoria tried to sit upright.
“You are not going alone.”
“Mother—”
“I’m coming.”
“You can barely breathe.”
“And I’m the only person alive who knows the combination.”
Adrian stared at her.
“You’re telling me this now?”
“I didn’t expect my dead brother-in-law to walk through the hallway.”
Clara looked between them.
“I’ll go with her.”
“No,” Adrian said.
Clara turned.
“You don’t command me.”
“In this situation, I do.”
“You don’t even know what you’re looking for.”
“And you do?”
“My mother left clues.”
“Then tell me.”
“No.”
Adrian stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because I still don’t know if I can trust you.”
The words landed hard.
Adrian stepped closer.
“I protected you from Samuel.”
“Richard protected my mother from Samuel once too. Then he threatened to kill her daughter.”
Adrian had no answer.
Victoria watched both of them.
“Enough.”
She reached for Adrian.
“Son.”
He bent closer.
“If you want Clara to trust you, stop demanding it.”
Adrian looked at Clara.
For once, he listened.
“All right.”
He took his phone out.
“You decide whether you come.”
Clara blinked.
“But if you come, you stay beside me.”
“Why?”
“Because Samuel knows who you are.”
“That sounds like an order.”
“It’s a request.”
Clara studied him.
Then nodded.
They left before midnight.
Victoria traveled in a medically equipped vehicle with Clara and a nurse.
Adrian followed with Marcus and four security vehicles.
The old Blackwood estate stood two hours north of the city, abandoned behind iron gates and acres of forest.
Rain had become snow.
When they arrived, the front gate was already open.
Adrian’s men spread out.
“No vehicles,” Marcus said.
“Samuel beat us here.”
They entered the ruins.
Victoria directed them toward what remained of the western wing.
Beneath collapsed stone, they found an iron door.
Richard’s ring had already been inserted into a circular mechanism.
The door was open.
Adrian drew his weapon.
They descended.
At the bottom waited a narrow underground corridor.
Clara suddenly stopped.
“What?”
She pointed toward the wall.
Someone had written a message in fresh red paint.
WELCOME HOME, CLARA.
Below it was another line.
YOUR MOTHER LIED TO YOU.
Clara stared at the words.
Then they heard a woman screaming somewhere deep inside the vault.
Clara went white.
“That voice...”
Adrian grabbed her before she could run.
“What?”
May you like
Tears filled her eyes.
“That’s my mother.”
