Chapter 7 - THE TRUSTED MAN
Roman stared at Viktor’s gun.
Maya stopped breathing.
Julian moved slowly toward the wall.
Viktor noticed.
“Don’t.”
Julian froze.
Roman’s voice remained calm.
“How long?”
Viktor’s hand did not shake.
“Long enough.”
“You served me for twelve years.”
“I watched you become exactly what your mother wanted.”
Maya looked from one man to the other.
“Did you kill my father?”
Viktor’s eyes moved to her.
For the first time, guilt appeared.
“Yes.”
Roman lunged.
Viktor fired.
The bullet struck the desk beside Roman.
Wood splintered.
Maya screamed.
Roman stopped.
Viktor’s eyes were wet.
“I was ordered to take the ledger.”
“Daniel refused.”
“So you shot him?”
Maya asked.
“He pulled a weapon.”
“You shot him.”
“He left me no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
Maya’s voice was sharp.
Viktor flinched.
Daniel’s recording continued behind them.
“Viktor believes he killed me.”
“But the bullet did not.”
Everyone turned toward the tape recorder.
Maya’s eyes widened.
The message continued.
“Valentina’s doctor kept me alive.”
“They needed the encryption code inside my head.”
“They kept me beneath the estate for six months.”
“Then they moved me.”
Roman looked at Viktor.
“You lied about his body.”
Viktor shook his head.
“I saw him die.”
“No.”
Julian said.
“You saw what Valentina wanted you to see.”
Viktor’s gun lowered slightly.
Roman attacked.
He knocked the weapon aside.
The shot struck the ceiling.
Julian tackled Viktor from behind.
They crashed into the hallway.
Maya grabbed the tape recorder.
Roman pinned Viktor against the floor.
“Where did they take Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman struck him once.
“Where?”
“I don’t know!”
Viktor coughed.
“Valentina handled it.”
Maya stepped closer.
“Is my father alive?”
Viktor looked at her.
“I thought he was dead.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
“It isn’t.”
A speaker inside Daniel’s room crackled.
Valentina’s voice returned.
“You always were a clever child, Maya.”
Roman looked up.
“Where is Daniel?”
“Alive.”
Maya’s knees weakened.
Sarah’s face flashed onto a monitor above the desk.
The collar remained around her throat.
Elena stood beside her.
A knife rested against Sarah’s cheek.
Maya gripped the recorder.
“Let her go.”
Elena smiled at the camera.
“Bring the ledger.”
“We don’t have it,” Roman said.
Valentina laughed.
“You are standing inside it.”
The steel doors along the corridor opened.
Behind each one stood servers filled with encrypted files.
Julian stared.
“This entire level is the Black Ledger.”
Valentina continued.
“Daniel designed it.”
“Only his bloodline can unlock it.”
Maya looked at the key.
“No.”
Roman stepped in front of her.
“She is not opening anything.”
Sarah’s collar tightened on the screen.
She gasped.
Maya shouted.
“Stop!”
Valentina’s voice softened.
“Open the main server.”
“And I will give you both parents.”
Roman looked at Maya.
“There is no guarantee.”
Maya wiped tears from her face.
“There never is.”
She walked toward the largest steel door.
A scanner waited beside it.
She placed her palm against the glass.
The screen turned blue.
Bloodline confirmed.
The main door opened.
Inside, sitting beside the server, was Daniel Vance.
He was older.
May you like
Thinner.
And pointing a gun directly at Roman.
