Chapter 10 - major reveal
Daniel caught Lucy against his chest, rolling onto the terrace floor and shielding her with his body as the deafening downwash of the helicopter sent patio furniture skidding across the marble.
Keller scrambled up the metal ladder toward the helipad, clutching his injured knee, disappearing into the blinding spotlight of the descending aircraft.
"Inside! Everyone inside!" Daniel shouted, pulling Lucy to her feet and shoving Ethan and Sarah through the reinforced glass doors.
Daniel slammed the heavy terrace doors shut, locked the deadbolts, and activated the penthouse's emergency blast shutters. Thick steel panels slid down over the glass with a heavy metallic thud, sealing the apartment completely.
Outside, the roar of the helicopter faded into the distance.
Inside the living room, Sarah collapsed onto the floor, pulling Lucy into a desperate, sobbing embrace. Ethan stood beside them, breathing heavily, the bronze poker still clutched in his trembling hands.
Daniel dropped to one knee and pulled Ethan into a fierce hug. "You were incredible, son. But never, ever put yourself in front of a man like that again. Do you hear me?"
Ethan nodded against Daniel’s shoulder, a tear slipping down his cheek. "He was going to hurt her, Dad. I couldn't let him."
Daniel stood up, his jaw set like iron. He turned to Sarah. "The locket. Where is it?"
Lucy reached under her faded yellow collar and pulled out a small, tarnished silver locket hanging from a thin steel chain. She had worn it under her shirt every single day.
"My dad gave it to me right before he got sick," Lucy whispered. "He told me to never take it off."
Daniel knelt down beside Lucy. With gentle hands, he inspected the locket. On the front was the same phoenix crest. He slid his fingernail along the seam and popped the latch open.
Inside, there was no photograph.
Instead, nestled inside the hollow interior was a micro-cut brass key stamped with a three-digit number: *714.* And beneath the key, folded into a microscopic square, was a slip of onionskin paper covered in Julian’s handwriting.
Daniel unfolded the tiny paper.
*Sarah,* the note read. *If you are reading this, I am gone. Drake severed my brakes. But Victoria was the one who signed the transfer orders. The evidence isn't at the company. It's in Safe Deposit Box 714 at First Federal Trust on 5th Avenue. The ledger contains every offshore account Victoria Drake created using Carter shipping manifests.*
Daniel read the words three times. His chest felt hollow, cold, and burning all at once.
Victoria hadn't just covered up Julian's murder.
Victoria Drake was the architect of Julian’s death. She had embezzled forty million dollars eleven years ago to fund her own venture capital empire, and when Julian discovered it, she and her father had Julian eliminated to keep the money.
And Daniel had invited that monster into his home. He had put a diamond ring on her finger.
"Dad," Ethan said, pointing at the security monitor mounted on the kitchen wall.
May you like
The private elevator chime echoed through the penthouse.
The screen flickered, showing the lobby security feed. Standing in the private lobby downstairs, flanked by four armed city police officers, was Judge Thomas Drake.
