Chapter 10 - The Office I Built
Police wanted me in protective custody.
I refused.
Sofía was safe with Marina and Detective Mills’s partner.
Patricia was taken to the hospital under guard.
I returned to Brickell alone.
The headquarters building stood dark against the Miami skyline.
Daniel had disabled the lower security system.
The elevator opened directly onto the executive floor.
My former office door stood open.
Daniel waited behind my desk.
He had changed into a clean suit.
A glass of whiskey rested beside his hand.
“You always preferred dramatic entrances,” I said.
“You always believed the room belonged to you.”
“I paid for the room.”
“With money we made together.”
“You stole from me.”
“I built half this company.”
“You scheduled meetings.”
“I protected you.”
“You pushed me from a staircase.”
Daniel drank slowly.
“You were going to destroy everything.”
“I was going to stop the Valencia acquisition.”
“Which would have exposed the fuel accounts.”
“And the shell companies.”
“And Patricia.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Patricia was never supposed to know.”
“She was paid.”
“She found the accounts and threatened to expose us.”
“So you bought her.”
“I controlled her.”
“You failed.”
Daniel stood.
“You do not understand what it was like working beside you.”
“Then enlighten me.”
“You walked into every room and people forgot the rest of us existed.”
“You were paid ten million dollars last year.”
“This was never about salary.”
“It was about envy.”
“It was about ownership.”
Daniel opened a drawer.
A small detonator rested inside.
“Every server containing the Valencia records is connected to an incendiary system.”
“You brought me here to watch you destroy evidence?”
“I brought you here to sign the company over.”
He placed a document on the desk.
I almost laughed.
“You think I’ll sign because you threatened computers?”
“No.”
He turned a monitor toward me.
A live camera feed showed Marina’s guest apartment.
She stood beside Sofía.
A man waited outside the door.
Lucas Ferrer.
Daniel smiled.
“You will sign because they are still vulnerable.”
I kept my face still.
“What happens after I sign?”
“You resign permanently.”
“And my daughter?”
“She lives.”
I reached for the pen.
Daniel watched my hand.
“You should have stayed broken, Eduardo.”
I signed the page.
He took it and examined the signature.
Then his expression changed.
The name I had written was not mine.
It read:
LOOK BEHIND YOU.
Detective Mills stepped from the private conference room with his weapon raised.
Daniel grabbed the detonator.
I launched my wheelchair forward and struck the desk.
The detonator fell.
Daniel lunged for it.
I threw myself from the chair.
Pain tore through my shoulder as I hit the floor.
But my right leg moved.
Not much.
Enough.
My foot caught Daniel’s ankle.
He crashed against the glass wall.
Mills tackled him.
The detonator slid beneath the desk.
Daniel screamed.
“You don’t know what Lucas will do!”
My phone rang.
May you like
Marina was crying.
“Eduardo, Lucas has Sofía.”
