Chapter 12 - Return to Blackwood Manor
Adrian refused Vincent’s terms.
At least publicly.
Privately, he knew they had to return.
Blackwood Manor contained the first archive copy.
The lake vault contained the decryption route.
Rachel had the external archive.
All three pieces now pointed toward one place.
Truth.
Claire sat beside Sophie while Daniel prepared transportation.
“You’re not bringing her.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“I know.”
“Sophie stays here with Margaret.”
Margaret nodded.
“I’ll keep her safe.”
Thomas objected.
“Vincent knows this cottage.”
“So we move them.”
Daniel spoke.
“I have a secure location twenty miles north.”
“No Blackwood records.”
“No company connection.”
Adrian approved it.
Sophie hugged Claire tightly.
“You’re leaving again?”
Claire knelt.
“Just for a little while.”
“Promise?”
Claire looked at Adrian.
Then back at her daughter.
“I promise I’m coming back.”
Adrian felt the weight of that promise.
They departed in three vehicles.
Margaret and Sophie went north with two security officers.
Adrian, Claire, Thomas, Marcus, and Daniel went toward Blackwood Manor.
Nobody trusted anyone in the vehicle.
That was almost useful.
It kept everyone alert.
Claire sat beside Adrian.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“At me?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You knew about the basement for months.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Vincent might be alive.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew Sophie was being watched.”
“I discovered that two weeks ago.”
“And you told me nothing.”
Claire looked through the window.
“Because I didn’t know if you were part of it.”
Adrian turned toward her.
“You thought I worked with Vincent?”
“I didn’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I had.”
Claire lowered her voice.
“You inherited his company.”
“His staff.”
“His security.”
“His house.”
“His lawyers.”
“His entire network.”
Adrian understood.
“If I were you, I might not have trusted me either.”
Claire looked surprised.
“That doesn’t mean I like it.”
A faint smile touched her face.
It disappeared quickly.
“Thomas told me something while we were hiding.”
“What?”
“Vincent didn’t fake his death alone.”
Adrian looked toward Thomas in the front seat.
“Who helped him?”
Claire whispered.
“Daniel’s father.”
Adrian stared at Daniel.
Daniel continued driving.
“Does Daniel know?”
“I don’t think so.”
Adrian said nothing.
Daniel’s father, Luis Reyes, had been Vincent’s security chief.
He died five years earlier.
At least officially.
Adrian was beginning to hate that phrase.
They reached the estate after midnight.
The outer gates stood open.
No guards.
No lights except the foyer chandelier.
Daniel stopped the vehicle.
“This is wrong.”
Adrian checked the security feed.
Vincent still stood in the foyer.
Alone now.
He appeared to be waiting.
Thomas spoke.
“He wants us inside.”
Marcus nodded.
“Obviously.”
Adrian got out.
“Then we go inside.”
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Adrian.”
Adrian looked at him.
“My father helped Vincent disappear.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“How do you know?”
“Claire.”
Daniel looked toward her.
Claire nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel released Adrian’s arm.
“My father died.”
Marcus spoke quietly.
“So did all of us.”
Nobody laughed.
They entered Blackwood Manor.
Vincent stood at the center of the foyer.
No weapon.
No guards visible.
He looked at Adrian.
“You came.”
“You knew I would.”
Vincent smiled.
“Still predictable.”
Adrian stopped several feet away.
“Where are your men?”
“Gone.”
“Why?”
“Because this is a family matter.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“You lost the right to call it that.”
Vincent looked at him.
“My little brother.”
“You’ve aged poorly.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“So have you.”
Claire entered.
Vincent’s expression changed when he saw her.
“Rachel’s daughter.”
Claire met his gaze.
“My name is Claire.”
“Yes.”
“And you have her eyes.”
Thomas moved beside Claire.
Vincent’s smile vanished.
“Thomas.”
“Vincent.”
Adrian looked toward the basement corridor.
“The archive.”
Vincent lifted the folder.
“Partial.”
“You know that.”
“I do.”
“Then why bring us here?”
Vincent looked toward Claire.
“Because the final archive is not at the lake.”
Everyone went still.
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
Vincent smiled.
“Eleanor moved it the night she died.”
“Where?”
Vincent looked up toward the grand staircase.
“Inside this house.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve searched this house for years.”
“Yes.”
“And failed.”
“Yes.”
Vincent did not seem embarrassed.
“Because Eleanor hid the entrance inside something I could never bring myself to destroy.”
Adrian followed his gaze.
At the top of the staircase hung a massive portrait of Eleanor Blackwood.
Adrian stared at it.
The painting had hung there since his childhood.
Claire slowly walked toward the stairs.
Vincent stopped her.
“It requires Adrian.”
“Of course it does.”
Adrian climbed.
The others followed.
He reached the portrait.
Eleanor’s painted eyes seemed to watch him.
Adrian remembered something from childhood.
His mother used to say:
When you are lost, look behind what everyone else admires.
He placed both hands on the frame.
The portrait moved.
Behind it was a steel door.
A blackbird symbol was engraved at the center.
Claire whispered.
“She hid it in plain sight.”
Adrian reached for the lock.
Vincent spoke behind him.
“Open it.”
Adrian turned.
“No.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“You don’t know what’s inside.”
“That’s exactly why you want me to open it.”
Suddenly Daniel raised his weapon.
Everyone froze.
He was pointing it at Adrian.
Claire gasped.
Adrian stared at him.
“Daniel?”
Daniel’s hand shook.
“I’m sorry.”
Vincent smiled.
“My father helped you disappear.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with conflict.
“No.”
Vincent spoke calmly.
“Your father served me until the day he died.”
Daniel looked at Adrian.
“I didn’t know.”
“Then lower the gun.”
Daniel’s breathing became uneven.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Because my father isn’t dead either.”
A man stepped out from the upstairs hallway.
Older.
Gray-haired.
But Adrian recognized him.
Luis Reyes.
Daniel’s dead father raised a weapon toward Claire.
“Open the door, Adrian.”
Daniel looked devastated.
May you like
Luis continued.
“Or this ends badly for everyone.”
