Chapter 4 - The Gilded Cage
The next three days were a masterclass in paranoia and precision.
I quit my job at the architectural firm. I withdrew every cent of my savings. I couldn't fight billionaires with money, so I had to fight them with leverage.
Through encrypted messages passed through the sympathetic nanny, Maria, Camila and I coordinated secret meetings. The first time I truly met my daughters was on a rainy Tuesday afternoon inside the Seattle Aquarium. Arthur’s security detail usually stayed near the entrance, allowing the nanny a small radius of freedom inside.
I stood in front of the massive, glowing shark tank when the girls ran up.
"It's the compass man!" Lucy yelled, pointing at me.
I knelt on the carpeted floor as Regina, Lucy, and Valerie stopped in front of me. They looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and awe.
"Hi," I said, my voice cracking under the overwhelming weight of the moment. "My name is Liam."
Valerie, the boldest of the three, stepped forward. She reached out and placed her tiny hand over the faded tattoo on my forearm. "Mommy says this means you know how to find things that are lost. Are you looking for something?"
A tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek. "I was," I smiled, looking at the three beautiful faces that mirrored my own. "But I found it."
For an hour, we watched the fish. I learned that Regina loved science, Lucy was obsessed with painting, and Valerie wanted to be a pilot. They were brilliant, funny, and so full of life despite the suffocating environment they were being raised in. When it was time for them to leave, Regina hugged my leg.
"Will we see you again, Liam?" she asked.
"I promise," I swore, kissing the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere."
But the enemy was not stupid.
That evening, I returned to my apartment to find my front door kicked in.
The interior was completely trashed. My furniture was slashed, my laptop was smashed to pieces on the floor, and the photographs of my mother were torn to shreds. Sitting in the middle of my ruined living room was a single, pristine white envelope.
I opened it. Inside was a cashier's check for one million dollars and a typed note.
Take the money. Leave the city tonight. If you attempt to contact my daughter or my property again, the next visit will be to your mother’s bakery.
Arthur Montgomery knew.
My heart pounded furiously against my ribs. The fear Arthur wanted me to feel was there, but it was immediately swallowed by a raging, uncontrollable fire. I didn't pack a bag. I didn't take the check.
I went to a local electronics store, bought a burner phone and a high-grade digital recorder, and drove to a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city.
I called Camila on the burner phone. She answered on the first ring, her voice trembling.
"Liam, they know," she cried. "My father had his men search Maria’s phone. He fired her. He’s moved the wedding up to this weekend, and Vance is already arranging the private flight to send the girls to Switzerland on Friday. I don't know what to do!"
"Camila, listen to me," I said, my voice steady, projecting a calm I didn't entirely feel. "I need you to be braver than you have ever been in your life. Can you get into your father’s home office?"
"Yes, but the safe requires a biometric scan."
"I don't need the safe," I told her. "Men like your father and Vance don't just commit crimes; they keep records of them to blackmail each other. Vance is running for state senate. Your father is funding him. I need you to find the accounting ledgers on Arthur’s private server. Plug in the USB drive I gave you at the aquarium. It has a program that will copy everything."
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"Liam, if he catches me, he’ll kill you."
"He’s going to try anyway," I said grimly. "We have forty-eight hours to burn his empire to the ground. Let’s get to work."
