Chapter 12 - THE MAN BEHIND THE GLASS
Daniel hit the floor.
“MOVE!”
Noah dragged Lily behind a concrete pillar.
Thomas grabbed Vanessa.
Eric crawled toward Daniel.
Another gunshot.
Concrete exploded near his hand.
“Where is he?” Eric shouted.
Daniel looked up.
There.
Second-floor observation booth.
Behind reinforced glass.
Marcus.
Holding a handgun.
Daniel pointed.
“Above us!”
Marcus fired again.
They scattered.
Vanessa screamed.
Thomas pulled her behind machinery.
Sirens grew louder outside.
Marcus fired at the control panel.
Metal sparked.
A heavy security door began closing.
“He’s sealing the bunker!” Noah shouted.
Daniel ran.
Eric followed.
Together they shoved a steel cart under the descending door.
It slammed down.
Stopped.
Twenty inches from the floor.
“Crawl!” Daniel shouted.
Lily went first.
Noah.
Thomas.
Vanessa.
Eric looked at Daniel.
“You go.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
“Go!”
Marcus fired.
The bullet hit Eric’s shoulder.
He spun.
“ERIC!”
Daniel grabbed him.
Eric screamed.
Blood spread across his tuxedo.
“Move!”
They crawled beneath the door.
Marcus fired again.
The bullet hit the floor behind Daniel.
They rolled into the next corridor.
Noah and Thomas pulled Eric away.
Vanessa pressed fabric against his wound.
Eric stared at her.
“This is your fault.”
She laughed hysterically.
“Pick a number.”
Daniel knelt.
“Can you move your arm?”
Eric winced.
“No.”
“Stay awake.”
His brother smiled weakly.
“Suddenly you care.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Don’t make me regret it.”
Eric laughed.
Then coughed.
Police voices echoed above.
“LAW ENFORCEMENT! SHOW YOUR HANDS!”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“It’s over.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not yet.”
He pointed.
Marcus was moving through a connecting catwalk.
Toward the rear exit.
Daniel stood.
“He’s running.”
Noah grabbed him.
“Let the police handle it.”
Daniel looked toward Eric.
Then toward Lily.
Then at Vanessa.
He knew Noah was right.
But Marcus had killed Claire.
Had terrorized Mia.
Had manipulated his family for years.
Daniel started moving.
Thomas followed.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure he doesn’t disappear.”
They ran upstairs.
Police flooded the main warehouse.
Daniel shouted, “Marcus Vale! Rear catwalk!”
Two officers moved.
Then a loud crash sounded outside.
Daniel reached the loading bay.
Marcus had jumped from the catwalk onto the roof of a parked delivery truck.
He rolled.
Hit the ground.
Kept running.
Daniel followed.
Rain had started.
Hard.
Of course.
Just like the night Claire died.
Marcus looked back.
Saw him.
Stopped.
For the first time, they faced each other without walls, screens or lies.
Marcus held the gun low.
Daniel stopped twenty feet away.
“Put it down.”
Marcus laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
“Put it down.”
“You know what he said when he made you CEO?”
Daniel said nothing.
Marcus smiled.
“He said, ‘Daniel has integrity.’”
The word dripped with contempt.
“I built that company.”
“You helped.”
“I BUILT IT.”
“And then you destroyed everyone around it because you thought that made it yours.”
Marcus lifted the gun.
Daniel didn’t move.
“You want to know what Claire said before she died?”
Daniel’s heart stopped.
Marcus smiled.
“She said your name.”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
Marcus continued.
“She was bleeding, trapped in that car, and she kept saying, ‘Daniel needs to know.’”
“You bastard.”
“She died believing she could save you.”
“She did.”
Marcus frowned.
Daniel looked him in the eyes.
“She saved Mia.”
Sirens surrounded them.
Police spread out.
Marcus’s hand tightened on the gun.
Daniel said softly, “And Mia saved me.”
Marcus looked toward the police.
Then back to Daniel.
His expression changed.
He raised the gun.
Not toward Daniel.
Toward himself.
Daniel shouted, “NO!”
But before Marcus could pull the trigger, a metal object struck his wrist.
The gun flew away.
Marcus screamed.
Daniel looked.
Eric stood behind him.
Pale.
Bleeding.
Holding the same pipe from the tunnel.
Eric collapsed to one knee.
Police rushed Marcus.
Daniel stared at his brother.
Eric looked up.
May you like
“I owed Claire one.”
Then he fell unconscious.
