Chapter 5 - THE MAN AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS
Z
Daniel moved in front of Maria.
Nathan held no visible weapon, but another man stood behind him, broad-shouldered and dressed in the uniform of Daniel’s security staff.
“Derek Shaw,” Daniel said.
The guard smiled. “You should pay closer attention to your employees.”
Nathan’s hand remained on Lily’s shoulder.
She clutched her rabbit against her chest.
“Mr. Hale,” she whimpered.
Daniel kept his voice calm. “Lily, look at me.”
Her frightened eyes found his.
“Do you remember the blanket?”
She nodded.
“You were brave when that blanket was bigger than you. I need you to be brave again.”
Nathan tightened his grip. “Touching. Give me the rabbit, sweetheart.”
Lily pulled it closer.
Maria stepped forward. “Let her go. I’ll give you the drive.”
“You?” Nathan laughed. “You didn’t even know it existed until tonight.”
His certainty revealed too much.
Daniel saw Maria recognize it too.
“You were listening,” she said.
Nathan’s smile faded.
“The photograph, the reporters, the break-in,” Maria continued. “You wanted us brought here because you knew Daniel would investigate Tomas.”
“I knew guilt would make him predictable.”
“And my husband?”
The question changed the air.
Nathan glanced at Derek.
Maria’s face collapsed. “You killed him.”
“I never touched your husband.”
“No,” Daniel said. “You hired someone.”
Nathan’s composure fractured for half a second.
That was enough.
Maria lunged.
Derek grabbed Lily and dragged her backward. She screamed as the rabbit fell onto the stairs.
Daniel drove his shoulder into Nathan, sending both men into the railing. Maria snatched Lily while Derek reached inside his jacket.
A gun appeared.
“Stop!” Derek shouted.
Everyone froze.
Daniel stood between the gun and Maria.
Derek pointed toward the rabbit. “Pick it up.”
Nathan straightened his coat, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth. “This could have been civilized.”
“You threw a rock through a child’s window,” Daniel said.
“Fear accelerates decisions.”
“So does arrogance.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
Daniel raised his phone. The screen showed an active call.
Owen had been listening.
Nathan laughed. “A phone call proves nothing.”
“No,” Daniel said. “But your confession helps.”
“I confessed to nothing.”
“You confirmed you knew Maria was unaware of the drive. Information you could only possess if you monitored this house.”
Derek pushed the gun closer. “Enough.”
A crash sounded below.
Owen and two officers entered through the study corridor. Derek swung the weapon toward them.
Daniel moved without thinking.
He struck Derek’s arm as the gun fired.
The shot shattered the chandelier.
Glass rained across the staircase. Nathan ran for the east hallway. Owen tackled Derek, while one officer pursued Nathan.
Lily screamed.
Daniel turned toward her just as a heavy shard of glass fell from above. He covered her with his body. The shard cut through his jacket and opened his shoulder.
Pain flashed white.
“Daniel!” Maria caught him as he staggered.
“I’m fine.”
Blood spread rapidly across his shirt.
“You are not fine.”
From the hallway came shouting, then the slam of an exterior door. An officer returned moments later.
“Mercer got out through the service entrance. A vehicle was waiting.”
Owen handcuffed Derek. “We’ll find him.”
Daniel looked at the rabbit lying on the stairs.
Its stomach seam had split during the struggle. White stuffing spilled from the opening, but there was no drive inside.
Nathan had seen it too.
His escape vehicle would already be heading toward an airport or private airfield. Daniel’s only evidence appeared to have vanished.
Maria picked up the rabbit and searched the lining.
“Nothing.”
She turned it over, pressing every section.
Lily, still crying, reached for it. “That’s not Button.”
Maria stared at her. “What?”
“That’s not Button.”
“It looks exactly like him.”
“Button has a blue heart.”
Lily pointed to the rabbit’s left foot. The stitched heart was red.
Daniel understood.
“Someone switched it.”
“At the apartment,” Maria whispered. “During the break-in.”
Owen pulled Derek upright. “Where is the real rabbit?”
Derek said nothing.
Maria crouched in front of Lily. “Sweetheart, when did Button change?”
Lily wiped her face. “At the hospital.”
“What hospital?”
“When Daddy was sleeping.”
Maria’s expression went still.
The day Tomas died, Lily had been taken to the emergency room with Maria after the police notified them. She had carried the rabbit.
“Who gave it back to you?” Maria asked.
“A lady.”
“What lady?”
“The one with yellow hair.”
Daniel and Owen exchanged a glance.
Evelyn Cross, chair of Hale Meridian’s board, had distinctive blond hair. She had also served as the hospital foundation’s vice chair.
“No,” Daniel said quietly.
Maria rose. “What?”
“Evelyn knew Tomas. She recommended Northstar’s acquisition. She also moved my board review forward after the leak.”
His phone vibrated.
A message from Evelyn appeared:
Emergency review. 7:00 a.m. Come alone if you want to save your company.
Attached was a photograph of the original rabbit.
The blue heart was clearly visible.
Daniel showed Owen.
“This is a trap,” Owen said.
“Obviously.”
“You are bleeding, Nathan is missing, and someone inside your board may have ordered a man’s death.”
“All reasons not to wait.”
Maria stepped closer. “I’m coming.”
“No.”
“That rabbit belonged to my husband.”
“And Lily belongs to you.”
The words stopped her.
Daniel looked at the frightened child clinging to Maria’s coat.
“Stay with her. Let me bring back what Tomas died protecting.”
Maria studied him. “Why should I trust you?”
Daniel had spent years answering difficult questions with authority, money, or silence.
Now he gave her the only thing he had left.
“You shouldn’t,” he said. “Not yet. But I am going anyway.”
Before dawn, Daniel entered Hale Meridian Tower with his shoulder bandaged beneath a dark suit.
The boardroom doors stood open on the forty-eighth floor.
Evelyn sat alone at the long glass table. The rabbit rested before her.
“You look terrible,” she said.
“Where is Nathan?”
She smiled.
Behind Daniel, the doors locked.
Then Nathan stepped from the private conference room, holding a gun.
May you like
Evelyn folded her hands.
“Sit down, Daniel. It is time you learned who actually built your empire.”
