Chapter 10 - The Night the Mansion Went Dark
Emergency lights flashed red.
Daniel heard the first gunshot downstairs.
Then another.
Luke drew his backup weapon.
"Safe room."
"No."
"Danny—"
"Emma."
He looked at her.
"With me."
Luke nodded.
They moved.
The elevator stopped during blackout.
No power.
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
Three floors.
Impossible.
Luke swore.
"Service lift has battery backup."
They turned.
Another shot.
Security radio:
"BREACH WEST WING."
Daniel's mansion had been designed to resist attack.
Someone knew the layout.
Someone inside.
Leonard Blake.
Daniel hadn't seen him in months.
Administrative medical coordinator.
Trusted enough to access private systems.
Emma pushed the wheelchair faster.
"Where is he?"
Luke checked the radio.
"No response."
They reached the service lift.
Locked.
Daniel stared.
"Code changed."
Luke tried override.
Nothing.
Footsteps approached.
Emma looked at the stairs.
Then at Daniel.
"Can Reeves' braces support you?"
Daniel stared.
"What?"
"Can they?"
"For seconds."
Luke realized.
"No."
Emma looked at Daniel.
"Your choice."
Gunfire echoed.
Daniel hated the staircase.
Had hated it for two years.
Now it stood between him and survival.
Luke locked the wheelchair.
Daniel gripped the rail.
Emma brought the emergency braces from a nearby therapy cabinet.
They strapped them on.
Luke supported one side.
Emma the other.
Daniel stood.
Pain tore through his shoulders.
His legs shook violently.
"One step," Emma said.
"This is insane."
"Yes."
He lifted his right foot.
Barely.
Placed it down.
One stair.
His entire body trembled.
"Again."
Luke looked at Emma.
"Are you always like this?"
"Yes."
Second step.
Daniel nearly collapsed.
Emma caught him.
"Again."
"Stop saying that."
"No."
Third step.
Then security arrived from below.
The breach was pushed back.
Daniel dropped onto the stair.
Breathing hard.
Emma laughed from pure relief.
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"You climbed three stairs."
"So?"
"You complained through all of them."
"That's my technique."
Luke laughed too.
For ten seconds, despite the attack, they felt almost human.
Then a guard approached.
"We found Blake's room."
Daniel returned to the wheelchair.
Blake was gone.
His room had been emptied.
Except one laptop.
They opened it offline.
Messages.
Vale.
Hanley.
Voss.
Blake had managed Daniel's medications for eighteen months.
He had also hacked camera systems.
Including the footage from the blue house trip.
"He told Vale," Emma said.
Luke nodded.
Then another folder.
Photographs.
Emma leaving the diner.
Emma visiting her mother.
Emma at the mansion.
Daniel's blood went cold.
"He was watching her."
Luke opened a recent image.
Margaret Carter being moved from the care facility.
Timestamp:
One hour ago.
Emma stared.
"Where is my mother?"
Luke called the secure location.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Emma's face disappeared.
Daniel grabbed her hand.
"We're going."
The safe residence was empty.
Two guards unconscious.
Margaret gone.
A note sat on the bed.
Bring Michael Moretti and the original files.
Emma crumpled.
Daniel caught her.
"No."
"My mother."
"We'll get her."
"You don't know that."
Daniel looked at her.
"I promise."
She stared.
Daniel Moretti did not make promises.
Everyone knew that.
Promises were liabilities.
But he said it again.
"I promise."
Vale contacted them thirty minutes later.
Warehouse district.
Midnight.
Michael for Margaret.
Luke said:
"It's a trap."
Daniel looked at him.
"Obviously."
Michael arrived.
"I'll go."
Daniel's face hardened.
"No."
"Margaret saved me."
"Twenty years ago."
"Yes."
"You're not dying again."
Michael smiled sadly.
"You sound like Mom."
"Don't."
Emma stood.
"This isn't your decision."
All three men looked at her.
"She's my mother."
Daniel said:
"Exactly."
"So I go."
"No."
Emma stared.
Daniel stared back.
Then she said quietly:
"You don't own me."
The words hit.
Because Vale's warning returned.
Men who confuse protection with possession.
Daniel exhaled.
"You're right."
Everyone looked surprised.
Emma included.
He continued.
"But you don't go alone."
Midnight.
Abandoned shipping warehouse.
Rain.
Vale waited inside.
Margaret sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
Emma saw her.
"Mom!"
Margaret looked confused.
Vale smiled.
"Touching."
Michael stepped forward.
"Let her go."
Vale's eyes widened slightly.
"Ghosts everywhere tonight."
Daniel rolled into the light.
Vale looked at him.
"And the king."
Daniel smiled.
"Still sitting."
Vale glanced at Emma.
"For now."
That confirmed something.
Vale knew about Daniel's recovery.
Blake had told him.
Vale wanted the files.
Michael wanted Margaret.
Daniel wanted Vale talking.
Luke had federal investigators listening remotely.
All they needed was confession.
Vale gave it willingly.
Arrogant men often did.
He admitted Thomas Carter's murder.
Michael's warehouse fire.
Daniel's shooting.
Medication manipulation.
Then Emma asked:
"Why my father?"
Vale looked at her.
"He mistook decency for strength."
Emma's eyes filled with rage.
"He was stronger than you."
Vale smiled.
"He's dead."
Daniel's voice changed.
"Not a useful argument."
Vale looked at him.
Daniel continued:
"You tried to kill Michael."
"Yes."
"You killed Thomas."
"Yes."
"You had Voss shoot me."
Vale smiled.
"Yes."
Luke whispered through Daniel's earpiece:
"Enough. We have it."
Federal vehicles moved outside.
Vale heard something.
His face changed.
"Police?"
Daniel smiled.
"Federal."
Vale pulled a gun.
Chaos.
Michael moved toward Margaret.
Luke fired.
Vale grabbed Emma.
Gun to her head.
Daniel froze.
"Nobody."
Vale backed toward the exit.
"Move."
Emma's eyes found Daniel.
She was terrified.
Daniel's chair stood six feet away.
Too far.
His gun inaccessible.
Vale pulled Emma backward.
Then Daniel saw the parallel support rail beside the loading platform.
He grabbed it.
Stood.
Vale stared.
For one second, shock replaced control.
That second saved Emma.
She drove her heel into Vale's shin.
Daniel lunged.
His legs failed.
But momentum carried him.
He hit Vale's arm.
Gun fired into the ceiling.
Luke tackled him.
Federal agents flooded the warehouse.
Daniel hit the floor.
Emma crawled to him.
"Danny!"
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding."
He looked.
Arm cut.
Nothing serious.
Then realized something.
His right leg hurt.
Actual pain.
Not phantom.
He laughed.
Emma stared.
"What?"
"My knee hurts."
She started crying.
"You're insane."
Daniel smiled.
"Probably."
Behind them, Vale was handcuffed.
He stared at Daniel.
"You think this ends it?"
Daniel looked up.
"Doesn't matter."
Vale laughed.
"You still don't know who hired Voss."
The room went silent.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"What?"
Vale smiled.
"I ordered the operation."
A pause.
"But someone else chose the shooter."
Daniel stared.
"Who?"
May you like
Vale's smile widened.
"Ask your family."
