CHAPTER 7 — THE LAWYER’S SECOND CLIENT
Ethan stepped between Adrian and Claire.
“Unlock the door.”
Adrian did not move.
“Noah misunderstood what he discovered.”
“You have ten seconds.”
“I represent more than one member of the Blackwood family.”
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“He means Margaret.”
Adrian removed a second phone from his desk.
“I was hired by Daniel Blackwood three months before his plane disappeared.”
The room went silent.
“He instructed me to protect the trust, the certificates and Ethan. After the crash, Margaret ordered me to declare Daniel legally dead. I refused until she showed me evidence.”
“What evidence?” Ethan asked.
“A body recovered from the wreckage.”
“You said there were no remains.”
“That was the official story.”
Adrian unlocked a file cabinet and removed a sealed folder.
“The body carried Daniel’s wedding ring, dental implants and identification. But Daniel had warned me that someone might attempt to replace him.”
Claire remembered the cassette.
“What happened to David?”
Adrian’s face changed.
“That name was removed from every family record.”
“Who was he?”
Before Adrian could answer, the office windows shattered.
The lights failed.
Ethan pulled Claire behind the desk as glass scattered across the carpet. Vanessa crawled toward the elevator while Adrian activated the building’s security shutters.
No more strikes followed.
It had not been an attack intended to hurt them.
Someone had fired a small metal capsule through the window.
Inside was a memory card.
Adrian placed it into the offline computer.
A grainy recording showed Margaret and Marcus meeting inside an empty conference room.
Marcus’s voice was clear.
“Vanessa failed. Ethan saw the camera.”
Margaret paced near the window.
“Then move Daniel tonight.”
“He is too weak.”
“He only needs to survive until the succession papers are signed.”
“What about Claire?”
Margaret stopped pacing.
“The drug should have bought us more time.”
Ethan’s hands curled into fists.
Vanessa whispered, “She lied to me.”
The recording continued.
Marcus asked, “What if the baby survives?”
Margaret looked directly toward the hidden camera.
“Then we convince Ethan the child is not his.”
Claire recoiled.
The screen went dark.
A final message appeared.
St. Aldwyn. Midnight. Room 913.
Adrian warned them that it was almost certainly a trap.
Ethan did not care.
At eleven forty-five, he, Claire and Vanessa arrived at the abandoned clinic with two security guards.
The front doors were already open.
Inside Room 913, medical equipment was still running.
A cup of tea remained warm.
The bed was empty.
On the pillow rested Daniel Blackwood’s silver watch.
Claire picked it up.
A hidden speaker activated.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“Claire, if you are hearing this, then Ethan has finally learned enough to become dangerous.”
Ethan stared at his wife.
The message continued.
“You kept your promise. Now you must keep the final secret from him.”
Ethan turned toward Claire.
“What promise?”
May you like
Before she could answer, the clinic doors slammed shut.
And someone began locking them inside from the outside.
