Chapter 5 - THE SUBWAY PLATFORM
The explosion was deafening.
Sparks showered from the shattered lock, and for a terrifying split second, the air itself seemed to ripple with heat. A small fireball burst from the gas pipe, blowing Daniel backward. He hit the opposite wall hard, his ears ringing with a high-pitched whine.
But the door was open. The deadbolt had blown clean off.
Black smoke billowed into the hallway. The apartment was fully engulfed in flames now.
"Emily!" Daniel roared, his voice raw from the smoke.
A small, coughing figure stumbled out of the closet. Daniel grabbed her arm, wrapping his suit jacket around her head, and pulled her through the burning doorway. They practically tumbled down the four flights of stairs, the heat chasing them all the way down.
When they reached the lobby, sirens were blaring outside. Red and blue lights flashed through the frosted glass doors. Thomas was likely gone, assuming they were dead.
"The basement," Emily choked out, leaning against the wall. "The note said the basement."
They bypassed the front doors and took a dark, narrow stairwell down into the building’s underbelly. It was damp and smelled of mildew. At the far end of the boiler room, hidden behind a stack of rusted pipes, was an old, heavy iron door. It looked like it hadn't been opened in half a century.
Daniel jammed the heavy iron key from the firebox into the lock. It ground loudly, resisting for a moment, before giving way with a loud clack.
He pulled the door open. A rush of cold, stale air hit their faces.
They stepped through, closing the heavy door behind them, instantly muting the chaotic sirens above. Daniel clicked on his phone’s flashlight.
They were standing on the edge of an abandoned subway platform. Rusted tracks disappeared into pitch-black tunnels in both directions. Water dripped ominously from the vaulted ceiling.
"Rebecca used this to escape Thomas twenty years ago," Daniel murmured, sweeping the light across the tiled walls. "She must have known the city's underground architecture from her days working at the city planning office."
Emily slumped onto a decaying wooden bench, burying her soot-covered face in her hands. She was shaking uncontrollably. "I don't understand any of this. Why me? Why did Richard want me dead? Why did Thomas betray you?"
Daniel sat beside her. He desperately wanted to comfort her, but he knew she needed the truth more than a hug.
"When you were born," Daniel explained softly, "my father changed his will. He loved you more than anything. He stipulated that upon your twenty-first birthday, you would inherit the controlling shares of the Blackwood empire. Not me. Not Richard. You. You were the sole heir to billions."
Emily looked up, her dark eyes wide. "So... if I disappeared..."
"The shares would revert to the next of kin," Daniel finished bitterly. "My brother, Richard. He always resented me for running the company. He must have paid Thomas to kidnap you so he could take control."
The puzzle seemed complete. It made a sickening kind of sense.
But then, a sound echoed from the darkness of the tunnel.
Thump. Thump.
It sounded like someone kicking a metal drum.
Daniel stood up immediately, putting himself between Emily and the noise. He raised the empty silver revolver, bluffing in the dark. "Who's there?"
No answer. Just another muffled thump.
Daniel stepped off the platform onto the tracks, his phone light cutting through the gloom. Walking fifty feet down the tunnel, he found the source of the noise.
Tied to a concrete pillar, bruised, bloodied, and bound with heavy zip-ties, was a man. He had a rag shoved in his mouth, and he was kicking a rusted metal bucket to make noise.
Daniel froze.
It was Richard.
His brother looked up, his eyes wide with terror and relief.
Daniel rushed forward and pulled the gag from Richard's mouth. "Richard? What the hell is going on? What are you doing down here?"
Richard coughed violently, spitting blood. "Daniel... thank God. You have to get out of here. It’s a trap."
"I know it's a trap!" Daniel yelled, the anger returning. "You paid Thomas to kill my daughter! You wanted the inheritance!"
Richard stared at him in utter confusion. "What? No! Daniel, I didn't pay Thomas! Thomas kidnapped me three hours ago! He took my watch. He told me he was going to use it to frame me for Emily's murder!"
Daniel's mind stalled. "If you didn't hire Thomas... who did?"
"Think about it, Daniel!" Richard pleaded, straining against the ties. "Who took over as the CEO of the Blackwood Trust after you stepped down to search for Emily? Who has been managing the company's offshore accounts for twenty years?"
Daniel felt the blood drain from his face.
It wasn't Richard. It wasn't just Thomas acting alone.
It was Arthur Vance.
Daniel's former business partner. His closest friend. The man who had held Daniel while he cried over Emily's empty crib. Vance had orchestrated the entire thing to take control of the company, using Thomas as his enforcer.
"Vance," Daniel whispered, the betrayal cutting deeper than a knife.
"Yes," Richard gasped. "And he's liquidating the company tonight. He’s moving three billion dollars to an offshore account in the Caymans. But he can’t complete the transfer without the primary encryption key."
"What key?" Daniel asked.
May you like
Richard looked past Daniel, his eyes landing on Emily, who had walked up behind her father. Richard’s gaze dropped to the silver necklace resting against Emily’s collarbone.
"You don't know what you're wearing, do you?" Richard whispered to Emily. "That necklace Daniel gave you on your fourth birthday. It isn't just jewelry. It's the master hardware key to the Blackwood Trust."
