Chapter 7 - The Man Who Kept Arthur Alive
Clara stopped breathing.
Victor Sterling stood above them with one hand gripping Leo’s shoulder.
The gun pressed lightly against the boy’s neck.
Leo was terrified.
But he wasn’t crying.
That frightened Clara more.
Children cried when they still believed adults were coming to save them.
Leo had learned not to count on that.
“Let him go.”
Victor smiled.
“You must be Clara.”
She tightened her grip on the tire iron.
“You’ve been watching me.”
“For years.”
“Why?”
Victor glanced down at Leo.
“Because Arthur trusted you.”
Richard stepped forward.
Victor immediately pressed the gun harder against Leo.
“Don’t.”
Richard froze.
“You want me.”
Victor laughed.
“You always thought everything was about you.”
His gaze shifted toward Leo.
“This is about ownership.”
Leo stared at him.
“I’m not property.”
Victor’s smile faded slightly.
“No.”
“You’re leverage.”
Clara looked toward the upper walkway.
There had to be another way up.
A staircase.
A maintenance ladder.
Anything.
Daniel saw her glance.
He understood.
Victor did too.
“Don’t bother.”
Two men stepped into view behind him.
Both armed.
Clara recognized one.
Graham Pike.
Her stomach dropped.
Leo looked at him.
“You locked me in that room.”
Graham said nothing.
“You took my chair.”
Still nothing.
Victor looked amused.
“Graham has always been excellent at unpleasant work.”
Richard stared at him.
“You worked for my family for fifteen years.”
Graham finally spoke.
“I worked for whoever paid.”
Victor smiled.
“Now that is honesty.”
Clara looked at Leo.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“Where’s Samuel?”
Victor answered.
“Alive.”
Clara didn’t believe him.
Victor continued.
“For now.”
Daniel raised his hands slowly.
“What do you want?”
Victor looked down at him.
“The trust keys.”
Daniel’s expression didn’t change.
“You never had them.”
“No.”
“But Arthur did.”
“And when Arthur refused to give them to me, I learned patience.”
Richard’s voice hardened.
“You tortured my son for years.”
Victor looked at him.
“You say that like your hands are clean.”
Richard flinched.
Victor noticed.
“So Clara doesn’t know everything.”
Clara looked at Richard.
“What is he talking about?”
Victor smiled.
“Ask him who authorized the first freeze on Arthur’s accounts.”
Richard said nothing.
“Ask him who ordered the company jet grounded.”
Clara turned.
“Richard?”
Victor laughed.
“Oh, this is wonderful.”
Richard looked at Clara.
“I was trying to stop Arthur from leaving with company records.”
Victor continued.
“You were trying to control him.”
“I thought he was destroying the company.”
“No.”
Victor leaned against the railing.
“You thought he was embarrassing you.”
Richard’s face tightened.
Clara looked toward Leo.
The boy was listening to every word.
Good.
No more secrets.
Richard swallowed.
“I made mistakes.”
Victor laughed again.
“Mistakes?”
“You trapped your own son financially.”
“You threatened to cut him off.”
“You told him if he exposed Eleanor, the family name would never recover.”
Richard looked away.
Leo’s voice was quiet.
“So Grandpa knew Dad was trying to tell people.”
Richard looked at him.
“Yes.”
Leo nodded once.
“And he stopped him.”
“Yes.”
The word sounded painful.
Leo’s face changed.
Something closed inside him.
Victor saw it.
“That’s right.”
He lowered his face near Leo’s ear.
“Your father didn’t just have one enemy.”
Clara snapped.
“Don’t talk to him.”
Victor looked at her.
“You really do think you’re his mother now.”
Clara didn’t answer.
“Interesting.”
He turned toward Graham.
“Bring them upstairs.”
Graham moved toward the stairs.
Daniel whispered, “We need time.”
Clara nodded almost imperceptibly.
Graham reached the lower floor.
“Drop the tire iron.”
Clara didn’t.
He lifted his gun.
“Now.”
She let it fall.
The sound echoed through the mill.
They climbed.
Victor moved Leo backward toward an office.
Richard followed.
Daniel stayed close to Clara.
She whispered, “Where are the drives?”
“Not all with us.”
“Good.”
Victor opened the office door.
Inside stood a desk.
Three chairs.
An old computer.
And a medical gurney.
Clara stopped.
Restraining straps hung from both sides.
Leo saw them too.
His face went white.
Victor noticed.
“Your father spent a great deal of time in this room.”
Richard lunged.
Graham slammed him against the wall.
“Don’t.”
Victor remained calm.
“I kept Arthur alive because dead men stop being useful.”
Daniel stared at him.
“For three years.”
“Longer.”
Everyone froze.
Leo looked up.
“What?”
Victor smiled faintly.
Clara’s heart began pounding.
“How long?”
Victor didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said,
“Eight years.”
Richard’s knees nearly gave out.
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“Arthur was alive until three years ago.”
Leo stopped breathing.
Clara reached toward him.
Victor pulled him away.
“No.”
Leo’s voice broke.
“My dad was alive when I was eight?”
“Yes.”
“He was alive while I was in that house?”
“Yes.”
Leo stared at Richard.
Richard looked destroyed.
Victor kept going.
“He asked about you constantly.”
“Shut up.”
Clara stepped forward.
Graham raised his weapon.
Victor ignored her.
“He wanted to know whether you were walking.”
“Whether you liked school.”
“Whether you still slept with the stuffed lion he bought you.”
Leo’s eyes filled.
“Stop.”
“He remembered your birthday every year.”
“Stop.”
“He recorded messages.”
Leo broke.
“Stop!”
The sound echoed through the office.
Victor smiled.
That smile changed something in Clara.
This wasn’t about money anymore.
Victor enjoyed breaking people.
Arthur hadn’t simply been leverage.
He had been entertainment.
Clara looked at Graham.
Men like Graham were different.
They did things for money.
And money could change sides.
Victor did things because he liked power.
That meant Graham was the weakness.
Clara turned toward him.
“How much?”
Graham frowned.
“What?”
“How much is he paying you?”
Victor smiled.
“Cute.”
Clara ignored him.
“Ten million?”
Graham’s jaw tightened.
“Twenty?”
“Stop talking.”
“Whatever it is, you know he won’t let you walk away.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Graham looked at him.
Only for half a second.
Clara saw it.
So did Daniel.
Good.
She continued.
“You know too much.”
Victor raised the gun toward Clara.
“That’s enough.”
She looked directly at Graham.
“When this is over, he needs Leo dead.”
“He needs Richard dead.”
“He needs Daniel dead.”
“And he needs you dead too.”
Graham said nothing.
Victor’s voice sharpened.
“Graham.”
Clara smiled.
“There.”
“That tone.”
“You heard it.”
“He doesn’t see you as a partner.”
“He sees you as the last witness.”
Victor fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Clara’s head.
Leo screamed.
Daniel tackled Graham.
Richard lunged for Victor.
Everything exploded at once.
Clara dropped.
The gun slid across the floor.
Leo crawled toward the desk.
Graham punched Daniel.
Richard slammed Victor into the filing cabinet.
Clara grabbed Leo.
“Move!”
They ran toward the door.
A shot cracked behind them.
Richard grunted.
Clara turned.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
“Grandpa!”
Leo screamed.
Richard stayed on his feet.
“Go!”
Victor raised the gun again.
Graham grabbed his wrist.
Victor stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
Graham’s answer came quietly.
“Surviving.”
He twisted the weapon away.
Daniel drove his shoulder into Victor.
Clara pulled Leo toward the stairs.
Then alarms erupted throughout the mill.
Red lights began flashing.
Victor froze.
Daniel looked around.
“What did you do?”
Graham stared at the ceiling.
“I armed the fire system.”
Victor’s face changed.
“You idiot.”
Graham looked at him.
“No.”
“You were right about one thing.”
He looked toward Clara.
“He was going to kill me.”
Sprinklers activated.
Water crashed down.
Then a different sound rose beneath the alarms.
A mechanical hum.
Daniel looked toward the old office computer.
The screen had come on by itself.
A timer appeared.
04:59.
04:58.
04:57.
Graham went pale.
“What is that?”
Victor smiled.
“You really thought I’d leave evidence behind?”
Daniel stared at the timer.
“Bomb?”
Victor laughed.
“Not exactly.”
Clara looked at the industrial floor below.
Then at the old chemical storage signs.
“Oh God.”
Victor had rigged the mill to burn.
Again.
But this time, the fire would destroy everything.
Including Arthur’s evidence.
Including them.
Leo looked at Clara.
“Why is it always fire?”
She took his hand.
“Because cowards like destroying what can speak.”
May you like
Then the timer hit four minutes.
And somewhere beneath the floor, machinery began pumping.
