Chapter 6 - Blackout
Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Someone screamed.
“Stay where you are!” a security officer shouted.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Unsteady.
Daniel looked around.
“Where’s the USB?”
The guard checked his hand.
Empty.
His face changed.
“It was right here.”
Ryan swore.
Patricia backed toward the wall.
Emily grabbed Michael’s arm.
“Lock the building.”
Michael called security.
“No one leaves.”
Daniel turned.
“Claire.”
He ran toward the stairwell.
Ryan followed.
They reached the ground floor as backup generators kicked in.
The lobby lights returned.
Claire was standing near the exit.
Holding her coat.
And a small black USB drive.
Daniel stopped.
“Claire.”
She froze.
Ryan stared at the object.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“It’s not what you think.”
Daniel laughed once.
“What could I possibly think?”
She held up the drive.
“Mom told me to take it.”
Patricia came down the stairs behind them.
“Claire!”
Claire turned.
Patricia’s face said everything.
Claire began crying.
“You said this would protect us.”
Daniel looked between them.
“Protect us from what?”
Patricia said nothing.
Claire did.
“From Emily taking everything.”
Emily reached the lobby.
“I never wanted everything.”
Claire looked at her.
“No. You just quietly owned it.”
Emily didn’t flinch.
Claire’s voice cracked.
“Do you know what that feels like? Finding out your entire life existed because someone else allowed it?”
“Yes.”
Claire stared.
Emily continued.
“I spent eight years sitting at your family table while your mother reminded me I didn’t belong there.”
Claire’s anger faltered.
Emily stepped closer.
“And every time she humiliated me, I knew the mansion, the company, the vacations, the private club membership—none of it existed without the rescue agreement.”
Patricia’s face twisted.
“You enjoyed that.”
Emily looked at her.
“No.”
She paused.
“I hated it.”
Claire looked down at the USB.
Daniel approached slowly.
“Give it to me.”
Claire shook her head.
“Mom said there are records on here that could send her to prison.”
Patricia shouted, “Claire!”
Daniel turned toward his mother.
“You told her?”
“She’s confused.”
Claire backed away.
“No. I’m not.”
She looked at Daniel.
“There are accounts.”
“What accounts?”
“Dad knew about some of them.”
Emily frowned.
“Arthur?”
Claire nodded.
“He confronted Mom years before he got sick.”
Patricia rushed forward.
Claire moved behind Daniel.
“Stay away from me.”
Patricia stopped dead.
Ryan looked at Claire.
“What else is on that drive?”
Claire wiped her face.
“Emails. Transfers. Contracts.”
Michael stepped forward.
“We need it.”
Claire looked at Emily.
“If I give this to you, what happens to Mom?”
Emily answered carefully.
“That depends on what’s on it.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only honest answer I can give.”
Claire stared at her for several seconds.
Then held out the drive.
Emily reached for it.
A gunshot-like crack suddenly echoed through the lobby.
Everyone ducked.
Glass shattered.
Claire screamed.
The USB flew from her hand and skidded across the marble.
Daniel looked toward the doors.
A black SUV was speeding away outside.
Ryan stared at the shattered window.
“What the hell was that?”
A security officer examined the broken glass.
“Not a gunshot.”
He reached down.
A heavy metal bolt lay on the floor.
Someone had fired it through the window.
Michael picked up the USB.
Then Emily’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“Walk away from Whitmore Development.”
Emily’s expression changed.
May you like
The voice continued.
“Or next time we won’t miss.”
