Chapter 11 - The Graves Vault
Nathaniel and my mother returned near dawn.
Smoke stained their clothes.
My mother hugged me so tightly I could hardly breathe.
Then Nathaniel saw the photograph Victor had given me.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your uncle.”
Nathaniel turned toward Victor.
“You opened Father’s private safe.”
“Yes.”
“What vault is Calder talking about?”
Victor sat down.
“The Graves Reserve.”
Nathaniel’s expression changed.
“That is a myth.”
“No.”
“It is a contingency fund your father created.”
“How much?”
Victor smiled humorlessly.
“Enough to finance a small country.”
Dante whistled quietly.
Nathaniel looked disgusted.
“Blood money.”
“Much of it.”
“Where?”
Victor pointed toward the bracelet.
“The access system required three biological confirmations.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“Father.”
“You.”
“And?”
Victor looked at me.
“A direct descendant.”
My mother pulled me closer.
“No.”
Victor continued.
“Your father became obsessed with succession before his death.”
“He created the system in case the Graves organization collapsed.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“I had no child.”
“He assumed someday you would.”
My mother looked sick.
“So Calder wants Ruby’s DNA.”
“Exactly.”
Nathaniel paced toward the window.
“Then he doesn’t need the bracelet.”
“The bracelet probably contains location data.”
I lifted my wrist.
“But we took out the chip.”
Dante shook his head.
“The memory chip contained Calder’s evidence.”
“The bracelet itself may be a physical key.”
Nathaniel took it carefully.
Victor examined the clasp.
“There.”
Beneath the silver surface was a small engraved symbol.
A raven.
Nathaniel recognized it.
“My father’s private mark.”
Dante enlarged photographs of Graves properties.
The same raven appeared on an old bank building in Manhattan.
Nathaniel stared.
“The First Continental Bank.”
Victor nodded.
“Your father owned the sub-basement.”
“How do you know?”
“I helped build it.”
The room grew tense.
Nathaniel turned.
“And you never told me?”
“I hoped the vault would stay buried.”
My mother laughed bitterly.
“People in this family hide everything.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“I’m beginning to notice.”
Despite everything, she nearly smiled.
Dante interrupted.
“We have incoming communication.”
Calder appeared again.
Behind him was the interior of the lake mansion from Victor’s photograph.
“You finally figured it out.”
Nathaniel said nothing.
Calder raised a small remote.
“The bank opens at nine.”
“I want Nathaniel.”
“Victor.”
“And Ruby.”
My mother stepped in front of the screen.
“You’re never touching my daughter.”
Calder smiled.
“Elena.”
“You still underestimate what your daughter already started.”
“What does that mean?”
Calder pressed a button.
A live image appeared of the First Continental Bank.
Employees were entering.
Customers waited outside.
Then the camera zoomed toward several maintenance trucks parked beneath the building.
Calder spoke quietly.
“Explosives.”
Nathaniel’s face hardened.
“If the vault does not open by noon, the bank comes down.”
“There could be hundreds of people inside.”
“Yes.”
“And the subway tunnel beneath it.”
My mother whispered.
“My God.”
Calder smiled.
“Bring me the Graves inheritance.”
“Or Manhattan gets a new crater.”
The transmission ended.
I looked at Nathaniel.
“You can open the vault.”
He shook his head.
“Not without you.”
“Then we go together.”
My mother immediately said no.
I turned toward her.
“Mom.”
“No.”
“If we don’t, people get hurt.”
“You are eight years old.”
“And you taught me being scared doesn’t give us permission to do the wrong thing.”
She stared at me.
I had used her own words against her.
Nathaniel looked almost impressed.
May you like
My mother closed her eyes.
“I hate when you remember everything.”
