Chapter 14 - BACK TO THE BALLROOM
We returned to the estate at 7:31 a.m.
The gala looked like a battlefield.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Tables were overturned.
The remaining guests had been separated into groups.
Federal investigators were waiting outside.
But we still didn't know which investigators belonged to Crown.
That was the problem.
The enemy wasn't outside the system.
The enemy was the system.
Grant had been brought back under medical supervision.
He was weak.
Furious.
And terrified.
When he saw me, he looked away.
That was new.
I approached his bed.
“You're alive.”
“No thanks to you.”
Some people never learn quickly.
I leaned closer.
“Someone poisoned you.”
“I know.”
“They're threatening to finish the job.”
That got his attention.
“What?”
I showed him the message.
His face went pale.
“Why me?”
“Because you're useful.”
He looked offended.
I almost smiled.
“Welcome to being disposable.”
At 7:58, every screen activated.
Crown appeared.
Not a face.
A distorted silhouette.
A modified voice.
“Claire Bennett.”
I stepped forward.
“I'm here.”
“Good.”
“Grant is alive.”
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“No.”
“Then Grant dies.”
Grant shouted.
“Give it to them!”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His face twisted.
“You'd let me die?”
“No.”
“Then give them the damn archive.”
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“If I surrender it, you die anyway.”
Silence.
Crown's voice returned.
“Smart girl.”
I stared at the screen.
“You don't want the archive.”
“No.”
“You want everyone to believe you do.”
Silence.
That told me I was right.
I looked around the ballroom.
Crown was here.
Not on the screen.
Inside the room.
Watching.
The message had specifically ordered me to lock every exit.
Why?
Because Crown wanted everyone trapped together again.
Unless…
Crown needed one particular person prevented from escaping.
I looked toward my family.
Dad.
Mom.
Grandpa.
Victoria.
Grant.
Marcus.
Then the guests.
Judge Reynolds.
Congressman Vance.
Nathan Cole.
Ryan Mercer.
Dozens more.
I remembered Grandpa's letter.
Never trust the man standing beside your father.
At the gala, I had assumed it meant Daniel Cross.
But perhaps it hadn't referred to twenty-two years ago.
Perhaps it meant tonight.
I looked toward Dad.
Someone stood beside him.
Marcus Vale.
My security chief.
The man controlling every door.
Every camera.
Every barrier.
Every tactical team.
The man who had been beside me from the beginning.
Marcus noticed me staring.
His expression didn't change.
That was the problem.
I whispered.
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
“Move away from Marcus.”
Marcus smiled.
My father froze.
“Claire?”
“Now.”
Marcus drew his weapon.
Everything happened at once.
Dad moved.
I screamed.
Marcus fired into the ceiling.
Security officers raised their weapons.
Half aimed at Marcus.
The other half…
Aimed at us.
My blood ran cold.
Marcus smiled.
“Very good, Claire.”
The screens changed.
The distorted silhouette disappeared.
Marcus's face appeared instead.
Crown.
He had been standing beside me the entire night.
“You?”
He lowered the weapon.
“I told you information was valuable.”
“You poisoned Grant.”
“Yes.”
“You let Cross escape.”
“Yes.”
“You sent the attackers.”
“Yes.”
My father stared at him.
“Why?”
Marcus looked toward Grandpa.
“Because Thomas stole something from me.”
Grandpa stepped forward.
“No.”
Marcus smiled.
“You stole an empire.”
“I dismantled a criminal organization.”
“You stole my father's organization.”
I stared at Marcus.
“Who was your father?”
Grandpa answered.
“Elias Blackwood.”
Marcus smiled.
“Now we're finally telling the truth.”
The room became silent.
Marcus looked toward me.
“Give me the master archive.”
“No.”
He raised his weapon toward Grant.
“Then he dies.”
Grant stared at me.
Fear filled his face.
The man who had attacked me hours earlier was now begging me silently to save him.
Marcus began counting.
“Three.”
I didn't move.
“Two.”
Grant whispered.
“Claire.”
“One.”
I opened my purse.
Then smiled.
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
“You made the same mistake Grant did.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What mistake?”
I lifted my phone.
“You assumed I called my father only once tonight.”
Then every remaining Blackridge officer suddenly turned his weapon.
Not toward me.
Toward Marcus.
His face changed.
I smiled.
“My father doesn't own Blackridge anymore.”
Marcus stared.
May you like
I continued.
“I do.”
