Chapter 4 - THE MAN IN THE WATER TOWER
The irrigation tunnel smelled of wet concrete and iron.
Adrian moved through it with Daniel behind him.
Daniel had refused to stay behind.
“My ribs hurt,” he said.
“My eyes still work.”
They emerged beneath the wooded hill.
From there, Adrian could see the old water tower through cedar branches.
A white van sat fifty yards away.
Exactly as Maya had drawn it.
The side door was open.
A man sat inside wearing headphones.
Two monitors displayed live camera feeds.
One showed the mansion entrance.
One showed the caretaker cottage.
Daniel whispered, “Dalton.”
Eric Dalton.
Estate security.
Adrian felt anger rise but kept it contained.
They circled through the trees.
Dalton didn't notice until Daniel pulled the van door open.
His expression changed instantly.
He reached toward the console.
Adrian grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
Dalton stared at him.
“You were supposed to be—”
He stopped.
Adrian smiled coldly.
“On my way to the airport?”
Dalton said nothing.
Daniel removed the man's phone.
Adrian looked at the surveillance screens.
Cameras had been hidden across his own property.
“How long?”
Dalton remained silent.
Adrian leaned closer.
“You participated in kidnapping my driver and attempted kidnapping of me.”
Still nothing.
“I'm giving you one chance to decide whether you're the man who cooperated or the man who planned it.”
Dalton's eyes flickered.
That was enough.
“Who planned it?”
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I don't.”
“Who pays you?”
Dalton swallowed.
“A consulting company.”
“Name.”
“Northstar Risk.”
Adrian knew it.
Northstar had once provided overseas protection for Vale Global.
Simon Hart had recommended them.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“For what?”
“To replace the car. Disable cameras. Keep staff away from the driveway.”
“And Daniel?”
Dalton looked toward him.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Dalton continued.
“He recognized Pike.”
“The fake driver?”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
Daniel answered.
“Northstar.”
Adrian turned.
Daniel explained that years earlier, before working privately for Adrian, he had transported executives during overseas assignments.
Owen Pike had been a contractor.
Dalton wiped sweat from his forehead.
“The plan changed when Daniel recognized him.”
“Who changed it?”
“Raines.”
Victor Raines.
Adrian's head of security.
Another layer confirmed.
“What happens after they take me?”
“I don't know.”
“Dalton.”
“I swear.”
“What is Orchard House?”
Dalton's face immediately changed.
Adrian saw it.
So did Daniel.
“I don't know.”
Adrian reached for Dalton's phone.
Dalton lunged.
Daniel blocked him.
The struggle lasted seconds.
No dramatic fight.
Just three men in a cramped van and Dalton realizing he had lost.
Adrian unlocked the phone using Dalton's thumb.
Messages.
Deleted threads.
Encrypted applications.
Then a calendar notification appeared.
11:30 - MERCER PHASE TWO.
Adrian opened it.
Location attached.
Orchard House.
An abandoned equestrian property twenty-three miles west.
He zoomed in.
A second note appeared beneath the address.
BIO AUTH REQUIRED BEFORE 12:00.
There it was.
They intended to force his fingerprint.
At 11:02, Rebecca called.
“Adrian.”
“Tell me.”
“Fifth vote scheduled in fifteen minutes.”
“Scheduled?”
“Eleanor Shaw wants to hear from Simon first.”
Board chair Eleanor Shaw.
Seventy-three.
Brilliant.
Unsentimental.
If she voted yes, Simon took control.
“Can you stall her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Simon just produced a letter.”
“What letter?”
Rebecca sounded shaken.
“From your personal physician.”
Adrian's stomach dropped.
“What does it say?”
“That you've experienced episodes of confusion, memory loss, and impaired judgment.”
“That is false.”
“I know.”
“Who signed it?”
“Dr. Stephen Lowell.”
Adrian knew him.
His physician for eleven years.
“Call Lowell.”
“I did.”
“No answer.”
Adrian looked toward Dalton.
“How many people are in this?”
Dalton stared at the floor.
Adrian grabbed his collar.
“How many?”
Dalton finally whispered.
“Enough.”
Daniel checked the van monitors.
“Sir.”
One camera showed Thomas and Maya leaving the cottage.
Adrian spun around.
“Why are they outside?”
Then he saw why.
Smoke poured from the cottage roof.
Someone had set the rear storage area on fire.
Thomas held Maya's hand as they ran toward the greenhouse.
Dalton whispered, “Raines knows.”
Adrian turned.
“Knows what?”
“That the recording wasn't destroyed.”
Adrian's phone rang.
Victor Raines.
Adrian answered.
Victor sounded calm.
“Sir, there's been a security incident on the property.”
“You don't say.”
Silence.
Then Victor understood.
“You're alive.”
Adrian smiled.
“Disappointed?”
Victor hung up.
On the surveillance screen, two security SUVs immediately changed direction.
Heading toward Maya and Thomas.
Daniel grabbed the van keys.
Adrian looked at the board clock.
Eleven minutes before the vote.
Then at the screen.
Two armed security teams closing on the gardener and his daughter.
His company or the child who had saved him.
For the old Adrian Vale, the choice might once have been complicated.
May you like
Not anymore.
“Drive.”
