Chapter 5 - RUNNING THROUGH THE DARK
Adrian moved before the intruder finished speaking.
He threw the metal box toward the opposite wall and fired once.
The muzzle flash revealed a masked man in the doorway.
The bullet struck his shoulder, but he did not fall. He fired back.
Adrian ducked as the shot shattered a lamp.
Claire pulled Emma beneath the bed.
“Stay down!” Adrian shouted.
Another gunman rushed through the hall.
Adrian grabbed a heavy chair and drove it into the man’s chest. The attacker crashed into the wall. Adrian kicked the weapon away and tackled the first man through the doorway.
The apartment erupted in noise.
Guards shouted. Doors slammed. Glass broke.
Claire crawled out with Emma in her arms.
“Adrian!”
He looked up just as a gunman raised his weapon toward them.
Claire grabbed a fire extinguisher and swung it with both hands.
The metal cylinder struck the gunman’s wrist. His shot hit the ceiling.
Adrian finished him with one punch.
For a moment, everyone stood frozen.
Emma clung to Claire’s neck. “I don’t like Grumpy’s house.”
Adrian almost smiled despite the blood on his knuckles.
Marcus entered the room, breathing hard. “Three men are down. One escaped through the service stairs.”
Adrian looked at him. “You knew about the box?”
Marcus’s expression changed for half a second.
It was enough.
Adrian raised his weapon.
Marcus slowly lifted both hands. “I didn’t betray you.”
“Your name was inside.”
“Then someone planted it.”
Claire stepped between them. “Marcus helped me disappear.”
Adrian stared at her. “You trusted him?”
“He was the only one who believed me.”
Marcus pulled a small key from his pocket. “The list is incomplete. There’s a second box.”
“Where?”
“In the old Vale family cemetery.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “Why would Claire hide evidence there?”
“Because your father built the original Black Ledger network,” Marcus said.
The room went silent.
Adrian’s father had been dead for twelve years. A respected businessman. A generous donor. The man Adrian had spent his life trying to impress.
“You’re saying my father created it?”
Marcus nodded. “And someone inside your company has been keeping it alive.”
A siren sounded below.
Claire looked through the window. Police cars surrounded the building.
Adrian knew instantly something was wrong.
The police had arrived too quickly.
Marcus checked his phone. “They’re not here to help.”
A loudspeaker echoed through the street.
“Adrian Vale, step away from the building. You are under arrest for the murder of Daniel Vale.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Daniel is dead,” she whispered.
Adrian stared at the flashing lights.
Then his phone received a video.
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Daniel Vale appeared on the screen—alive, older, and standing beside Emma’s bedroom door.
Cliffhanger: Daniel smiled at the camera and said, “Come find me, brother.”
