Chapter 7 - A Shot in the Dark
People screamed.
Bodies crashed into tables.
Glass shattered.
I dropped instinctively.
My father grabbed my shoulder and pulled me behind a marble column.
“Stay down.”
Emergency lights flashed on.
Red.
Dim.
Chaotic.
Security teams spread through the room.
“Report.”
My father shouted.
Voices answered through his earpiece.
“North balcony clear.”
“West corridor clear.”
“Kitchen team secure.”
“Office team not responding.”
My father looked at me.
Rebecca.
We ran.
Damian shouted after us.
“Where are you going?”
I ignored him.
Arthur did not.
He followed.
Two security officers moved to block him.
My father snapped,
“Bring him.”
We raced upstairs.
The hallway outside Jonathan’s office was empty.
One guard lay unconscious near the door.
Alive.
Breathing.
The second was missing.
The office door stood open.
My father entered first.
I followed.
The computer screen was shattered.
A bullet hole marked the wall behind it.
Rebecca Shaw was gone.
Blood dotted the carpet.
Not much.
But enough.
I crouched beside it.
“Was she shot?”
My father examined the marks.
“Possibly grazed.”
Arthur looked toward a side door.
“That leads to the service stairs.”
Jonathan stared at him.
“How do you know?”
Arthur froze.
Wrong answer.
My father moved closer.
“You’ve been inside this office.”
“No.”
“You knew the service exit.”
Arthur looked toward me.
“This estate belonged to my family for eighty years.”
My father’s expression hardened.
“Security redesign removed that door nine years ago.”
Arthur said nothing.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“You knew because someone told you it was restored.”
His silence confirmed it.
“Who?”
Before he could answer, my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
A photograph.
Rebecca Shaw standing in a narrow concrete hallway.
Blood on her shoulder.
Alive.
Beneath the photograph were five words.
DON’T TRUST YOUR FATHER EITHER.
I looked at Jonathan.
He noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He reached for the phone.
I moved it away.
His eyes narrowed.
“Evelyn.”
I looked at Arthur.
“Who restored the door?”
Arthur whispered,
“Elizabeth.”
My breath stopped.
“My mother died nine years ago.”
Arthur nodded.
“The door was restored ten years ago.”
My father stared at him.
“Why?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Because Elizabeth believed someone would eventually come looking for you.”
“Who?”
Arthur swallowed.
“The person who ordered Subject Seventeen terminated.”
I stepped forward.
“Name.”
He looked toward my father.
Jonathan said nothing.
Arthur’s lips parted.
Before he could speak, a security alarm screamed.
A red warning flashed above the hallway.
SYSTEM BREACH.
My father pulled out his phone.
“What happened?”
The security chief answered.
“Someone just disabled the barriers.”
My heart dropped.
“They’re opening?”
“No.”
His voice sounded confused.
“The controls are gone.”
Jonathan frowned.
“Gone?”
“Whoever breached us didn’t open the doors.”
He paused.
“They permanently locked them.”
My father’s face changed.
“What do you mean permanently?”
“The system no longer recognizes our authority.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
Rebecca’s message appeared again.
This time with one additional sentence.
May you like
YOU DIDN’T LOCK THEM IN, EVELYN.
SOMEONE LOCKED US IN WITH THEM.
