Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN BEHIND JULIAN
Hale Meridian Tower had been evacuated before Karen arrived.
Patricia had triggered a false chemical alarm, clearing forty-eight floors without attracting immediate suspicion.
Police blocked the surrounding streets.
Nathan used his temporary board credentials to get them through a service entrance.
Evelyn remained with Grant, who had suffered a fractured rib during the kidnapping.
Karen and Nathan entered the executive elevator alone.
“You do not have to come,” Karen said.
Nathan checked the magazine in his handgun.
“Yes, I do.”
“This began before you returned.”
“It began before either of us was born.”
The elevator opened onto the forty-sixth floor.
Every light was off except those inside Julian’s office.
Karen entered first.
Lily stood near the windows.
Her hands were tied.
Rebecca sat in a chair with blood running from a cut above her eyebrow.
Patricia Voss stood beside Julian’s desk.
She appeared almost ordinary.
She wore a cream-colored coat and pearl earrings.
Her gray hair was styled neatly around a calm face.
Karen had expected a monster.
Instead, Patricia looked like someone who might organize a church fundraiser.
“You have Robert’s eyes,” Patricia said.
“And you have my daughter.”
“Temporarily.”
“Release them.”
“When I have the drive.”
Karen held it up.
Patricia smiled.
“Place it on the desk.”
“Not until Lily and Rebecca walk out.”
“You are attempting to negotiate from a position you do not possess.”
Karen thought of Julian.
He had learned every gesture from this woman.
“The police are downstairs.”
“Several officers downstairs belong to me.”
“Julian believed that too.”
“Julian confuses access with ownership.”
Patricia admitted she had selected Julian because he was intelligent, patient and hungry for recognition.
He spent years approaching Karen’s father, gaining access to Hale Meridian systems and arranging his introduction to Karen.
“Did you order my father’s death?”
“I ordered Robert stopped.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Answers are luxuries for people without responsibilities.”
Nathan stepped from the hallway.
“My mother died because of you.”
Patricia looked at him without surprise.
“Caroline became sentimental.”
“She was burned alive.”
“She chose a dangerous alliance.”
Nathan raised his gun.
Patricia pressed the knife closer to Rebecca’s throat.
“Shoot me, and your aunt dies.”
Rebecca spoke calmly.
“Do not trade the truth for my life.”
Patricia struck her across the face.
Lily moved forward.
“Leave her alone.”
Patricia turned.
That moment gave Karen an opening.
She threw the silver drive toward the far side of the room.
Patricia instinctively looked at it.
Rebecca seized Patricia’s wrist.
Nathan crossed the room and knocked away the knife.
Karen pulled Lily behind the desk.
Patricia hit an alarm button.
Steel shutters descended over the windows and doors.
A gas hiss began in the ceiling.
“She sealed the room,” Nathan said.
Patricia recovered the knife.
“You still believe escape is victory.”
Karen searched the desk.
Julian had once shown her the office’s security controls.
A hidden panel opened beneath the computer.
It required his fingerprint.
Karen looked at the pieces of Julian’s broken phone she had placed in her coat before leaving the mansion.
One fragment contained a transparent fingerprint protector Julian used for secure banking.
She pressed it against the scanner.
The panel unlocked.
Nathan stared at her.
“Why did you keep that?”
“Because Julian taught me that expensive things usually hide something useful.”
Karen disabled the gas.
Rebecca pulled the fire alarm.
Sprinklers erupted.
The steel shutters opened automatically.
Police surged onto the floor.
Patricia did not run.
She stood beside the desk as officers surrounded her.
“You think arresting me ends anything?” she asked.
“No,” Karen answered.
“But it gives you a smaller room to control.”
Patricia was taken into custody.
Karen untied Lily.
Her daughter wrapped both arms around her.
“I knew you would come.”
“I should never have left you.”
“You did not leave me.”
Rebecca approached unsteadily.
“She chose to draw them away from me.”
Karen looked at Lily.
“You tried to protect Rebecca?”
“She was already hurt.”
Karen wanted to scold her.
Instead, she held her tighter.
Nathan recovered the drive.
Its outer casing had cracked, but the memory appeared intact.
Police searched the office.
Inside Julian’s private wall safe, they discovered passports, cash and evidence linked to the Crown Circle.
Julian was nowhere in the building.
One file revealed that Patricia planned to remove him after securing Lily’s trust.
Julian had become a liability.
“He did not know she was here,” Nathan said.
“Then where is he?” Karen asked.
Her phone rang.
Julian’s name appeared.
Karen answered on speaker.
“Mother always underestimated you,” he said.
“Patricia is not your mother.”
“She made me what I am.”
“She planned to kill you.”
“I know.”
Karen looked around the office.
“Where are you?”
“Correcting her mistake.”
A loud explosion sounded from the street.
The building shook.
Smoke rose beyond the windows.
One of the police vehicles below had erupted in flames.
Julian continued speaking.
“Patricia knows the Circle’s secrets.”
“She will never reach a courtroom.”
Karen looked toward the elevators.
A second alarm began ringing.
Patricia’s transport team had already left the building.
Karen ran to the window.
Far below, the armored vehicle carrying Patricia turned onto the avenue.
A black truck followed it.
May you like
Julian spoke his final warning.
“Tell Lily I am sorry she had to see what comes next”:
