Chapter 12 - FIRE IN THE RECORDS ROOM
Emily grabbed the extinguisher from the wall.
Daniel pulled the fire alarm while Claire called 911.
Flames climbed the shelves inside the evidence room.
Paper curled black under the heat.
Emily covered her mouth and forced the door open.
“Stay back!” Daniel shouted.
“The original contracts are in there.”
“They’re not worth your life.”
“They’re worth hundreds of families’ lives.”
Emily sprayed the nearest flames while Daniel dragged a metal evidence cabinet away from the burning wall.
The sprinkler system finally activated.
Water crashed from the ceiling.
By the time firefighters arrived, half the room was destroyed.
Claire’s red file box survived because she had never placed it inside.
Security footage showed Peter Lang entering the building twenty minutes earlier.
He wore a maintenance uniform and carried an accelerant.
Police reached his house, but he was gone.
His computer had been wiped.
His passport was missing.
Bennett issued a nationwide alert.
Emily examined the surviving contracts.
One project appeared repeatedly.
Westbridge Towers.
It was Carter Development’s largest building, a forty-story residential tower scheduled to open in six days.
Claire checked the supplier codes.
“These aren’t just counterfeit bolts.”
“What are they?” Daniel asked.
“Structural support cables.”
Emily felt cold.
“If those cables fail?”
Claire looked at her.
“The upper floors could shift under heavy wind.”
A major storm was forecast to reach the city in five days.
Emily immediately ordered the opening canceled.
Investors threatened lawsuits.
The bank warned that canceling could force Carter Development into bankruptcy.
Daniel’s uncle called Emily reckless.
Other board members demanded her removal.
Emily refused to change her decision.
“No one enters that building until every cable is inspected.”
During an emergency board meeting, Daniel stood.
For years, he had allowed Emily to carry the risk while he took the credit.
This time, he faced the room himself.
“Emily’s order stands. If this company collapses because we chose safety, then it collapses.”
The board fell silent.
Emily looked at him, but the damage between them remained too deep for gratitude.
Later, Bennett received a financial alert.
Peter had purchased a private flight to Mexico.
Police surrounded the airport.
They found his suitcase on the plane.
Peter was not there.
Inside the suitcase was a burner phone.
Its last message had been sent to Michael in jail.
WESTBRIDGE WILL FALL BEFORE THEY CAN PROVE ANYTHING.
Then Emily received a call from the tower’s night security guard.
“Mrs. Carter, someone just entered the mechanical level.”
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see his face.”
A deafening crash interrupted him.
May you like
The call ended.
Westbridge’s internal cameras went dark.
