Chapter 7 - WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
The chapel went dark.
Someone screamed.
Then everyone screamed.
Daniel grabbed Mia.
“Down!”
He pulled her behind the first pew.
Rachel crouched beside them.
Phones lit up around the room, weak beams cutting through darkness.
“Stay calm!” Daniel shouted.
The side exit alarm began beeping.
Then stopped.
No power.
No signal.
No outside contact.
Eric cursed.
“This wasn’t me.”
Daniel’s voice was cold.
“I know.”
Vanessa called from somewhere near the altar.
“Marcus!”
Thomas shouted, “Don’t say his name!”
A crash came from the back.
Glass breaking.
Guests cried out.
Daniel turned his body over Mia.
“Dad, I can’t breathe.”
“You’re okay.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
He touched her face.
“I’ve got you.”
In the darkness, Mia whispered, “Mom would’ve hit Uncle Eric with a chair.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Even now.
That was Claire’s daughter.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “She probably would.”
A flashlight switched on near the altar.
Noah.
“I have battery lights.”
He aimed one toward the side wall.
A stained-glass panel had shattered.
Cold air blew inside.
Thomas looked through the hole.
“No one there.”
Rachel said, “Then who broke it?”
Eric moved toward the window.
“Probably a rock.”
“No,” Mia said.
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed.
“There’s something on the floor.”
Daniel picked it up.
A small black device.
A phone.
Disposable.
Burner phone.
The screen lit.
Incoming call.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
Daniel answered.
“Marcus.”
Silence.
Then a familiar voice.
“Daniel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Marcus Vale.
He had known that voice since he was thirteen.
“Open the doors.”
Marcus chuckled.
“They’re not my doors.”
“Stop playing games.”
“I’m not.”
“You killed the power.”
“I created privacy.”
“You helped kill Claire.”
Silence.
Then Marcus sighed.
“Eric always did have a weak spine.”
Eric shouted, “Go to hell!”
Marcus laughed.
“Ah. There he is.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What do you want?”
“What I’ve always wanted.”
“My company.”
“No.”
“Your father’s company.”
Daniel went still.
Marcus continued.
“You think he built Carter Aerospace alone?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“I designed half the systems that made him rich. I brought in the defense contracts. I saved him during the recession.”
“You were paid.”
“I was robbed.”
Eric shouted, “You told me Daniel stole my future!”
“I told you what you needed to hear.”
Eric’s face collapsed.
Marcus continued calmly.
“Daniel, sign the transfer papers.”
“No.”
“Then perhaps you should ask your videographer why his assistant never came back from lunch.”
Noah stiffened.
“What?”
Daniel looked at him.
Noah grabbed his phone.
“No signal.”
Marcus said, “Her name is Lily, correct?”
Noah’s face went white.
“You leave her out of this.”
“Then Daniel signs.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“You kidnapped someone?”
“I secured cooperation.”
“You’re insane.”
“No. I’m tired.”
Mia suddenly stood.
Daniel grabbed for her.
“Mia!”
But she stepped close to the phone.
“Mr. Vale?”
Silence.
Daniel shook his head.
“No, honey.”
Mia ignored him.
“You knew my mom?”
Marcus’s voice softened.
“I did.”
“Did you kill her?”
The chapel went completely silent.
Marcus did not answer.
Mia repeated.
“Did you kill my mom?”
Finally Marcus said, “Your mother made a dangerous decision.”
Mia’s lip trembled.
“What decision?”
“She chose your father.”
Daniel felt his heart crack.
Mia stared at the phone.
Then her sadness turned into something else.
Anger.
“You sound old.”
Several guests blinked.
Marcus paused.
Mia continued.
“And stupid.”
Daniel whispered, “Mia…”
She stepped closer.
“My mom was smarter than you.”
Marcus’s voice hardened.
“Daniel, control your daughter.”
Mia shouted, “YOU CONTROL YOURSELF!”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
Marcus’s tone changed.
“You have twenty minutes.”
The line went dead.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then Mia tugged his sleeve.
“Dad.”
“What?”
She pointed to the phone.
“There was a picture on it before he called.”
Daniel unlocked the screen.
One image.
Noah’s missing assistant, Lily, tied to a chair.
Behind her was a metal wall.
A number was painted on it.
B-17.
Daniel stared.
Eric whispered, “I know where that is.”
Everyone turned.
May you like
Eric’s face was pale.
“It’s inside our company warehouse.”
