Chapter 8 - The Traitor at the Table
Daniel Mercer survived.
Barely.
The bullet had entered beneath his ribs and missed his heart, but blood loss was severe.
Adrian’s medical team operated inside the mansion because moving Daniel again was too dangerous.
Clara waited outside.
Adrian sat beside her.
Neither spoke for almost an hour.
Finally Clara said, “He knew my name.”
Adrian looked at her.
“He recognized me.”
“He’s your father.”
“I don’t know him.”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
“But I wanted him to recognize me.”
Adrian understood.
Sometimes one word could return twenty-six stolen years and still not be enough.
The surgeon emerged.
“He’s stable.”
Clara stood immediately.
“Can I see him?”
“For five minutes.”
She entered alone.
Adrian watched through the glass as Clara sat beside Daniel.
Her hand hovered over his.
Then finally touched it.
Adrian turned away.
Victoria sat farther down the hallway.
“She deserves this,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“So do you.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“Someone who stays.”
He looked through the glass at Clara.
“Mother.”
“You look at her differently.”
“She is dealing with enough.”
Victoria smiled.
“That wasn’t a denial.”
Before Adrian could respond, Marcus arrived.
“We have a problem.”
“When don’t we?”
“Cole contacted us.”
They went to Adrian’s office.
Cole appeared on a secure video call.
He looked terrified.
“I want protection.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“You pointed a gun at me.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made several.”
“They’re trying to kill me.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Cole looked over his shoulder.
“I opened the vault.”
Adrian froze.
“You what?”
“I found the second mechanism.”
“The archive?”
“I copied part of it.”
“You idiot.”
“I know.”
Cole was sweating.
“There’s something you need to understand. These aren’t just old records.”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone has been adding to them.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“Recently?”
“Yes.”
“How recently?”
“Last month.”
Adrian stared.
Richard had been dead for years.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Cole continued.
“But there are files on you.”
Adrian’s blood ran cold.
“Me?”
“Your meetings. Bank accounts. Properties. Security routes. Even your mother’s treatment schedule.”
Victoria’s treatment schedule.
Only a handful of people had access.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Marcus understood.
The traitor was inside the mansion.
“Where are you?” Adrian asked Cole.
“I’ll send coordinates after you guarantee protection.”
“Done.”
Marcus looked at him.
Adrian ignored it.
Cole sent the location.
An abandoned railway warehouse thirty miles away.
“I’m coming.”
“No police.”
“You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“If I see police, I disappear.”
The call ended.
Adrian turned to Marcus.
“Stay here.”
“You need me.”
“I need someone I trust protecting my mother.”
Marcus nodded.
Adrian went with four men.
Clara intercepted him near the entrance.
“Where are you going?”
“To get Cole.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Adrian sighed.
“Not an order.”
“It sounded like one.”
“Your father just survived surgery.”
Clara looked toward the medical wing.
“You’re right.”
Adrian paused.
“Did you just say I’m right?”
“Don’t get used to it.”
For a moment, the world felt almost normal.
Then Adrian left.
The warehouse was empty.
Cole’s phone lay on the floor.
Blood covered one wall.
No body.
Adrian crouched.
A message had been written in blood.
M.V.
One of Adrian’s men whispered, “Marcus Vale?”
Adrian stared at the letters.
Impossible.
Or exactly what someone wanted him to think.
His phone rang.
Clara.
He answered.
“Adrian.”
Her voice shook.
“What happened?”
“Victoria is missing.”
His heart stopped.
“What?”
“Marcus said he was taking her to the medical suite. They never arrived.”
Adrian ran for the car.
“Where’s Daniel?”
“Still here.”
“Lock his room. Trust nobody.”
“Adrian...”
“What?”
“Marcus’s car is gone.”
Adrian felt something inside him break.
He had trusted Marcus since childhood.
Marcus taught him to drive.
Taught him to defend himself.
Stood beside him at Richard’s funeral.
Protected Victoria for decades.
“Find his vehicle.”
His security team traced it.
Twenty minutes later, Adrian received coordinates.
The old Blackwood estate.
Again.
He drove faster.
When he arrived, flames were visible beneath the ruins.
The underground vault had been opened.
Adrian descended.
Inside the archive chamber stood Marcus.
Victoria sat in her wheelchair beside him.
Clara had followed Adrian despite his instructions.
She entered behind him.
Marcus turned.
Adrian raised his gun.
“Move away from my mother.”
Marcus looked genuinely hurt.
“You think I betrayed you?”
“Cole wrote your initials in blood.”
“Cole is alive.”
“Where?”
Marcus pointed toward the vault.
Cole stumbled out.
Alive.
His face bruised.
“He saved me,” Cole said.
Adrian lowered his weapon slightly.
“Then who attacked you?”
Cole looked toward Victoria.
Nobody moved.
Clara whispered, “No.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
Cole continued.
“The files weren’t being updated by Marcus.”
Adrian stared at his mother.
Victoria looked suddenly older than she ever had.
“Mother?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I had to know what your enemies were doing.”
Adrian shook his head.
“You built a surveillance network?”
“To protect you.”
“You tracked me?”
“I protected you!”
Clara stepped forward.
“And Daniel?”
Victoria’s face changed.
“What about him?”
Cole looked terrified.
“The most recent file wasn’t about Adrian.”
He pulled a folder from beneath his jacket.
“It was about Daniel Mercer.”
Clara took it.
Inside were photographs.
Daniel outside a grocery store.
Daniel entering an apartment.
Daniel sitting in a church.
All taken within the last six months.
Clara looked at Victoria.
“You knew he was alive.”
Victoria began crying.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed the room.
Clara stepped backward.
“You knew.”
“I can explain.”
“You watched me spend months inside your house searching for answers.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You let me believe my father was dead.”
“I was protecting you.”
Clara laughed through tears.
“Everyone in this family says that right before admitting they lied.”
She dropped the photographs.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Victoria jerked forward.
Adrian caught her.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Marcus spun around.
Samuel stood in the tunnel entrance.
Gun smoking in his hand.
May you like
But he wasn’t aiming at Victoria anymore.
He was aiming at Clara.
