Chapter 5 - The Father in the Photograph
Adrian stared at the image until the screen dimmed.
For eight years, he had believed Vincent Blackwood was dead.
He had stood beside the coffin.
He had delivered the eulogy.
He had spent years dismantling the darkest parts of his father’s corporate empire.
Now Vincent was sitting beside Claire.
Alive.
Adrian enlarged the photograph.
The room had concrete walls.
One industrial light hung from the ceiling.
Claire looked toward the camera.
Vincent looked directly into it.
Neither appeared physically restrained.
That detail bothered Adrian.
Margaret moved beside him.
“Can I see?”
He handed her the phone.
She stared for several seconds.
“That’s him.”
“You’re sure?”
“I knew Vincent for thirty years.”
Daniel leaned over the screen.
“Could be old.”
Adrian checked the metadata.
The photograph had been taken thirteen minutes earlier.
“It’s current.”
Margaret gave the phone back.
“Then Thomas is playing a dangerous game.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What game?”
“Turning you against everyone.”
“He kidnapped Claire.”
“You don’t know that.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Claire has been missing for seven days.”
“I know.”
“She appeared on a hidden camera.”
“I know.”
“She warned me about Thomas.”
Margaret nodded.
“She also warned you this wasn’t about money.”
Adrian stopped.
Margaret continued.
“What if she was warning you not to believe the obvious story?”
“Then tell me the real one.”
“I can’t.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don’t know all of it.”
Margaret’s frustration finally surfaced.
“Claire stopped trusting me six months ago.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
“She discovered something about her father.”
“Who was he?”
Margaret looked away.
Before she could answer, Daniel’s radio crackled.
“Movement at the north gate.”
Daniel responded immediately.
“Vehicle?”
“Black SUV.”
“Identification?”
“No plates.”
Adrian moved toward the window.
“Lock the property down.”
A security officer’s voice returned.
“They’re not stopping.”
A crash echoed from somewhere outside.
Sophie screamed from the hallway.
Adrian ran.
He found her beside the female security officer.
“Get her to the safe room.”
Margaret grabbed Sophie’s hand.
“I’ll take her.”
Adrian blocked her.
“No.”
“Adrian—”
“I don’t know you.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“You know she trusts me.”
Adrian looked at Sophie.
The child was frightened.
“Grandma stays with me.”
Adrian hated the decision.
But Sophie had already endured enough.
He nodded to Daniel.
“Send two officers with them.”
Margaret took Sophie upstairs.
Adrian and Daniel moved toward the main entrance.
The SUV had struck the outer gate but stopped before entering.
Nobody exited.
Daniel raised binoculars.
“Driver’s seat is empty.”
Adrian frowned.
“Then who drove it?”
A moment later, smoke began leaking from the vehicle.
Daniel immediately turned.
“Back.”
They moved away from the windows.
The SUV suddenly erupted in a bright flash.
The blast shattered part of the gate.
The mansion windows shook.
Adrian’s security team responded rapidly.
No one had been near the vehicle.
The explosion seemed designed as a distraction.
Adrian realized it immediately.
“Check the house.”
Daniel spoke into the radio.
“Every floor.”
“Every door.”
“Now.”
Adrian rushed toward the staircase.
He reached the safe room.
The door stood open.
Two security officers were unconscious on the floor.
Margaret was gone.
Sophie was gone.
Adrian felt something inside him turn ice-cold.
He checked the officers.
Both were breathing.
No visible injuries beyond bruises.
Daniel arrived seconds later.
“What happened?”
Adrian looked toward the open service corridor.
“They took Sophie.”
Daniel grabbed his radio.
“Seal every exit.”
A faint sound came from the safe room.
Adrian entered.
Sophie’s stuffed bunny lay on the floor.
He picked it up.
Attached to one ear was a folded note.
He opened it.
COME ALONE.
OLD LAKE COTTAGE.
BRING THE BLACKWOOD CONTINGENCY.
NO POLICE.
Adrian stared at the words.
The cottage.
The exact place he had planned to take Sophie.
Someone knew his movements before he made them.
Daniel read the note.
“This is a trap.”
“Yes.”
“We don’t know who took them.”
Adrian looked at the unconscious officers.
“I do.”
“How?”
“The handwriting.”
Daniel frowned.
Adrian had seen that handwriting his entire childhood.
Perfect block letters.
Sharp downward strokes.
His father’s.
“Vincent?”
Adrian nodded.
Daniel looked stunned.
“What does he want?”
“The folder.”
Adrian returned to the library.
The BLACKWOOD CONTINGENCY documents sat in his archive case.
Margaret had said the archive was insurance.
Maybe Vincent believed Adrian had the complete version.
He did not.
Only fragments.
Adrian searched the pages again.
A sequence of handwritten numbers appeared at the bottom of one document.
14-5-22-5-18.
He stared at them.
Then realized they corresponded to letters.
N.
E.
V.
E.
R.
Never.
A second sequence followed.
20-18-21-19-20.
Trust.
The complete message read:
NEVER TRUST THOMAS.
Adrian exhaled.
Claire had warned him about Thomas.
The archive warned him about Thomas.
But Thomas had also warned Adrian about Margaret and Vincent.
Everyone was accusing everyone else.
Adrian needed something solid.
He called Thomas.
No answer.
He called again.
This time Thomas picked up.
“They took Sophie.”
Thomas went silent.
“Who?”
“You tell me.”
“I didn’t.”
“Vincent did.”
Thomas swore.
For the first time, Adrian heard genuine panic in his voice.
“Listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“Do not go to the lake cottage alone.”
“They have Sophie.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Because I’m looking at the security feed.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What feed?”
“Vincent’s.”
“Where are you?”
“Trying to find Claire.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Thomas’s voice tightened.
“But believe this.”
“If Vincent has Sophie, he doesn’t want to hurt her.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“You don’t get to tell me what he wants.”
“He wants you.”
“Then he’ll get me.”
Thomas breathed hard.
“Adrian, your father didn’t fake his death to disappear.”
“Why did he?”
“To wait.”
“For what?”
“For you to become exactly the man he needed.”
Adrian looked at the archive case.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas answered quietly.
“He needs a Blackwood heir to open the last vault.”
Adrian felt cold.
“What vault?”
“The one your mother locked before she died.”
Thomas paused.
“And Sophie is the only person alive who knows where the key is.”
The line disconnected.
Adrian stared at the bunny in his hand.
May you like
Then he noticed a new tear in the fabric near its paw.
Something metallic gleamed inside.
