Chapter 17 - The Founder
Calder pulled a pistol.
Security reacted.
Too late.
He fired at Arthur.
Damian shoved his father aside.
The bullet struck the marble column.
Chaos erupted.
Calder grabbed a woman and pressed the weapon against her neck.
“Back away.”
Security froze.
I recognized the hostage.
Senator Calder’s wife.
She stared at him in disbelief.
“James?”
He tightened his arm around her.
“Sorry, darling.”
Her face broke.
Thirty-seven years of marriage reduced to one shield.
Elizabeth whispered,
“That’s him.”
My father looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Calder laughed.
“Elizabeth.”
“You should have stayed dead too.”
She stepped forward.
“You built Orpheus.”
Calder smiled.
“I funded it.”
“Halden operated it.”
“Maria covered it.”
“Arthur provided properties.”
“And your prosecutor wife almost destroyed it.”
My father’s fists tightened.
Calder looked at me.
“Then you appeared.”
He smiled.
“The most expensive child in America.”
I felt nothing but disgust.
“Catherine was pregnant with the heir to the Whitmore fortune.”
“Yes.”
“And you decided I was worth more hidden than dead.”
“At first.”
“Then why was there a termination order?”
Calder’s expression cooled.
“Because Catherine refused to sign away your inheritance.”
Arthur stared.
“So you ordered the child killed.”
Calder shrugged.
“Business.”
Damian stepped forward.
“That child is my cousin.”
Calder laughed.
“Now you care about women?”
Damian stopped.
The insult landed because it was true.
Calder moved toward the exit corridor with his wife.
“Open a door.”
My father said,
“No.”
Calder pointed toward Halden.
“If his heart stops, everyone dies.”
“Your weapon does not change that.”
Calder smiled.
“No.”
“But this does.”
He held up a small transmitter.
Elizabeth went pale.
“Secondary trigger.”
Calder nodded.
“Victor never trusted anyone.”
“Neither did I.”
He pressed his thumb against the button.
“Open the east barrier.”
My father looked at security.
Then at me.
I shook my head.
Calder noticed.
“You think you are brave because you locked a few doors.”
I stepped toward him.
“No.”
“I think you’re afraid because one finally closed on you.”
His smile vanished.
I continued.
“You survived for decades because everyone believed you were too powerful to challenge.”
“You bought silence.”
“You threatened children.”
“You hid behind titles.”
“And tonight you’re hiding behind your own wife.”
His wife closed her eyes.
Calder’s hand trembled.
Good.
Keep him angry.
Keep him focused on me.
I saw Rebecca moving behind the orchestra.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Calder did not.
I took another step.
“You know what your problem is?”
“What?”
“You spent your life surrounded by people who looked away.”
I glanced around the ballroom.
This time nobody did.
Phones were recording.
Witnesses stood shoulder to shoulder.
Security had every weapon trained on him.
I smiled.
“Tonight they’re all watching.”
Rebecca struck.
She slammed the transmitter from his hand.
Calder fired.
His wife screamed.
Security tackled him.
The transmitter skidded across the marble.
I ran.
It stopped beneath a table.
I grabbed it.
A red light blinked.
ARMED.
Elizabeth shouted.
“Do not press anything.”
I froze.
Calder laughed from the floor.
“You already lost.”
My father looked at the device.
“Why?”
Calder smiled through bloodied teeth.
“Because the transmitter activates automatically if it loses my biometric signal.”
My stomach dropped.
Security had just pulled Calder’s hand away from it.
The red light began flashing faster.
TEN.
May you like
NINE.
EIGHT.
