Chapter 10 - THE FIRE AT HALE TOWER
Margaret Hale was seventy-two years old.
She had buried a husband.
She had believed one son was a criminal disappointment and the other a dependable success.
Now she was trapped on the forty-second floor of Hale Tower with Daniel.
Richard watched black smoke pour from an upper window as police evacuated the street.
His mother’s driver stood beside an ambulance.
“She went upstairs for ten minutes.”
Richard grabbed his shoulder.
“Why?”
“Mr. Daniel called her.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
“He’s her son.”
That answer enraged Richard because it was true.
Brooks approached.
“Daniel contacted negotiators.”
“What does he want?”
“Elena.”
“No.”
“He says he wants to speak with her.”
“No.”
Elena came up behind them.
“Yes.”
Richard turned.
“You’re not going in there.”
“I’m not going inside.”
She looked at Brooks.
“Put me on the phone.”
Daniel called three minutes later.
“Elena.”
His voice was calm.
“You sound better.”
Elena stared at the burning tower.
“Let Margaret go.”
“She is perfectly safe.”
Richard shouted toward the phone.
“You’re setting the building on fire.”
Daniel chuckled.
“Archive sprinklers malfunctioned.”
“Convenient.”
“Elena.”
Daniel ignored Richard.
“Tell me the password.”
“No.”
“Then my mother may have an unfortunate afternoon.”
Margaret’s voice suddenly sounded in the background.
“Don’t give him a damned thing.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Daniel snapped, “Be quiet.”
Margaret laughed.
“You were always bad at intimidating women.”
Richard almost smiled.
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“You have five minutes.”
Elena spoke.
“You killed Nora.”
Silence.
“Your father talked too much.”
“He recorded everything.”
Another silence.
Longer.
Richard knew that hurt Daniel more than the accusation.
Elena continued.
“You were seventeen.”
“She threatened our family.”
“She threatened to tell the truth.”
“She wanted money.”
“Jonathan said she wanted police.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Jonathan spent his entire life rewriting events to make himself feel noble.”
“Did you push her?”
No answer.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Richard stared at the phone.
Daniel continued.
“She grabbed me.”
“I pushed her.”
“She fell.”
“I was seventeen.”
“Then you had thirty-one years to tell the truth.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“You think truth fixes anything?”
“No.”
Elena said.
“But lies destroyed everything.”
Smoke thickened above them.
Brooks signaled firefighters.
Daniel continued.
“Bring the tapes.”
“No.”
“Then Margaret burns with them.”
Richard grabbed the phone.
“You want me?”
“No.”
Daniel laughed.
“You were never the important one.”
That hurt less than Daniel expected.
Richard looked at his daughter through the command vehicle window.
For the first time, he understood how useless pride looked beside family.
“Maybe not.”
Richard said.
“But I’m the one standing here.”
Daniel went quiet.
Richard continued.
“You spent your whole life trying to beat me.”
“No.”
“You wanted Dad to choose you.”
“No.”
“You wanted the company.”
“No.”
“You wanted everything I had.”
Daniel shouted, “He already chose me!”
The change in tone was immediate.
Raw.
Childish.
“Dad chose me for the things that mattered.”
Richard said nothing.
Daniel realized what he had admitted.
Richard lowered his voice.
“He chose you to hide bodies.”
The line went dead.
Brooks smiled faintly.
“You got him emotional.”
“Will that help?”
“It already did.”
“What?”
“He stayed on the call long enough to pinpoint the room.”
Tactical officers entered the building.
For seven minutes, Richard heard nothing.
Then shots.
Three.
A fourth.
Elena gripped his hand.
Richard did not realize they were holding each other until he looked down.
A voice came over the radio.
“Hostage secured.”
Richard exhaled.
“Suspect?”
“Moving.”
“Where?”
“Stairwell.”
Then another voice.
“He’s heading down.”
Richard looked at the tower entrance.
Firefighters rushed outward.
Employees ran into the street.
A man wearing a firefighter jacket moved among them.
Richard recognized the walk.
“Daniel.”
Brooks turned.
“Where?”
Richard pointed.
Daniel saw him.
For one instant the brothers looked at each other across the street.
Then Daniel ran.
Richard chased him.
“Richard!”
He ignored Brooks.
Daniel cut through an alley.
Richard followed.
They reached a parking structure.
Daniel climbed the ramp.
Richard gained ground.
“Stop!”
Daniel laughed over his shoulder.
“You never knew when to stop.”
He disappeared between cars.
Richard reached the next level.
Silence.
Then Daniel struck him from behind.
Richard fell.
Daniel kicked his ribs.
Richard rolled.
Daniel grabbed his coat and slammed him against a car.
“You think you’re the good son?”
Richard tasted blood.
“I think you murdered a woman.”
Daniel punched him.
Richard hit back.
For several seconds they were not wealthy executives or suspects or victims.
They were brothers.
Angry boys who had spent forty years competing for a dead father’s approval.
Daniel drove Richard into the concrete wall.
Richard fell.
Daniel pulled a pistol.
Richard froze.
Daniel pointed it at his chest.
“You should have stayed out of it.”
Richard breathed hard.
“You kidnapped my wife.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“That wasn’t the plan.”
“What was?”
“Three days.”
Richard remembered Elena’s words.
Victoria had said Daniel promised three days.
“You were supposed to scare her.”
Daniel nodded.
“Get the password.”
“Transfer the trust.”
“Send her home.”
“What changed?”
“She lied.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“So you buried her alive for two years?”
Daniel’s finger tightened on the trigger.
“I kept her alive.”
“No.”
“Victoria did.”
Richard saw movement behind Daniel.
Detective Brooks appeared between two vehicles.
Weapon raised.
“Daniel.”
He turned.
Richard tackled him.
The gun fired.
Concrete exploded beside Richard’s face.
Brooks rushed forward.
Daniel shoved Richard away and vaulted over the parking barrier.
Richard thought he had jumped.
Then he heard metal.
Daniel landed on the roof of a delivery truck passing one level below.
The truck continued down the ramp.
By the time officers reached the exit, Daniel was gone.
Brooks returned to Richard.
“You injured?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Elena called.
Richard answered.
“Your mother is safe.”
He closed his eyes.
“Thank God.”
“But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“Margaret says Daniel told her why he needed the red ledger.”
Richard looked at Brooks.
“Why?”
Elena’s voice became quiet.
“Because Nora wasn’t the only name in it.”
Richard waited.
“Whose name?”
“Mercer.”
“No.”
“Another one.”
Richard’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Elena.”
“Calder.”
The mysterious name again.
“What about him?”
“According to Margaret, Calder wasn’t a business partner.”
“Then who was he?”
Elena hesitated.
“Your father’s lawyer.”
Richard looked at Brooks.
“Name?”
Elena answered.
“Thomas Calder.”
Richard knew him.
Everyone in the Hale family knew him.
Thomas Calder had handled Jonathan Hale’s estate.
He had written Lily’s trust.
May you like
He had represented the family for thirty-five years.
And he was still Richard’s personal attorney.
