Chapter 11 - Darkness Above Manhattan
The entire forty-second floor went black.
Someone screamed in the hallway.
Emergency lighting activated seconds later.
A dim red glow filled the conference room.
Daniel immediately reached for Mary.
“Stay here.”
Mary pulled away.
“No.”
Security radios crackled outside.
The elevators had stopped.
The security cameras on floors thirty-eight through forty-four had simultaneously gone offline.
That was not a normal outage.
Someone had planned it.
Daniel checked his phone.
“No signal.”
Thomas walked toward the door.
Robert blocked him.
“Nobody leaves.”
Thomas laughed.
“If whoever did this wanted to escape, they are already moving.”
Mary looked toward the table.
Rebecca was gone.
Her chair was empty.
The side door stood slightly open.
“Rebecca.”
Daniel turned.
Mary ran into the hallway.
Robert followed.
Emergency lights cast long shadows across the carpet.
At the far end of the corridor, a stairwell door slammed.
Mary ran toward it.
“Rebecca!”
No answer.
They entered the stairwell.
Footsteps echoed below.
Daniel caught up.
“Mary, stop.”
She continued downward.
Floor forty-one.
Forty.
Thirty-nine.
Then they found Rebecca.
She was sitting against the wall.
Blood ran from a cut above her eyebrow.
Mary rushed toward her.
“What happened?”
Rebecca struggled to breathe.
“Someone was in my room.”
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see.”
Daniel crouched beside her.
Rebecca grabbed Mary’s wrist.
“They took my phone.”
Mary stared at her.
“Why?”
Rebecca looked terrified.
“Because I recorded them.”
“Recorded who?”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears.
“I knew money was missing six months ago.”
Robert stepped closer.
“You knew?”
“I was investigating.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because someone was using your authorization codes.”
Robert froze.
Mary slowly turned toward her father.
Robert shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Rebecca whispered.
“I thought you were involved.”
Mary felt another layer of certainty disappear.
Rebecca continued.
“I started recording conversations.”
“With whom?”
“Board members.”
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
Thomas had arrived behind them.
He folded his arms.
Rebecca looked at him.
“And others.”
Mary asked, “Where are the recordings?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“My phone.”
Daniel cursed quietly.
Whoever attacked Rebecca now possessed the evidence.
Then a security officer came running down the stairs.
“Ms. Whitmore.”
Mary stood.
“What?”
“We found someone trying to leave through the service entrance.”
“Who?”
The officer hesitated.
“Lauren Hayes.”
Mary stared at him.
“Was she alone?”
“No.”
May you like
The officer looked toward Ethan.
“She was with Grant Mercer.”
