Chapter 9 - THE FAMILY TRAP
No one moved.
The laser remained centered on my chest.
Julian stood above us with the remote in one hand and a pistol in the other.
Celeste’s arms were restrained behind her.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
She looked at me.
For once, there was no amusement in her expression.
Only warning.
“Open the archive,” Julian said.
My mother remained in front of the steel door.
“You cannot use the ledger.”
“I have spent eighteen years preparing to use it.”
“The source identities will become worthless the moment you expose them.”
“I do not need to expose everyone.”
He looked down at my father.
“I only need Elias to believe I might.”
My father’s voice remained steady.
“What do you want?”
“Vale Dominion.”
“You already infiltrated it.”
“I infiltrated a machine.”
“I want the man controlling it to surrender.”
“You cannot control it without my authorization.”
Julian smiled.
“Victoria can.”
We all looked at him.
He pointed the remote toward me.
“Elias transferred emergency succession authority to his daughter three years ago.”
I turned toward my father.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“I hoped you would never need it.”
Julian laughed.
“There it is again.”
“Protection through ignorance.”
He had identified the fracture in our family and pressed directly against it.
“What happens if I authorize the transfer?” I asked.
“Vale Dominion becomes mine.”
“And my family walks out?”
“Your mother does.”
“My father?”
Julian’s smile returned.
“Elias and I have unfinished business.”
“No deal.”
The laser shifted from my chest to my mother’s forehead.
Julian sighed.
“Then choose which parent matters more.”
My mother looked at me.
“Do not give him the company.”
My father spoke at the same time.
“Authorize nothing.”
For once, they agreed.
Julian nodded to one of his men.
A gunshot struck the floor inches from my feet.
The sound echoed violently through the chamber.
Celeste flinched.
I did not.
Nathan had already taught me what fear felt like when it reached its limit.
Beyond that point, fear became information.
I looked at the balcony.
Six armed men.
Two near Julian.
One guarding Celeste.
Three covering the lower chamber.
The remote in Julian’s left hand.
A black cable ran from the remote to a device attached beneath the railing.
Mara followed my gaze.
A signal relay.
Agent Reyes stood slightly behind the mechanical equipment, hidden from half the balcony.
My mother’s fingers rested against the archive door.
My father’s right hand remained inside his coat.
Everyone was waiting for someone else to move.
“What did Nathan know?” I asked Julian.
The question surprised him.
“Enough to be useful.”
“Did you choose him for me?”
“I approved him.”
“Why?”
“He was ambitious.”
“Entitled.”
“Desperate to be admired.”
Julian shrugged.
“The easiest men to control are those who believe manipulation is recognition.”
My father looked away.
The description fit Nathan perfectly.
“Did he know before the wedding?”
“Not everything.”
“But he knew I was the target.”
“Yes.”
The last uncertainty died.
Nathan had not simply accepted a suspicious opportunity.
He knowingly entered my life as part of an operation.
Whatever love had existed between us had been poisoned at the beginning.
“Celeste?” I asked.
Julian tightened his grip on her arm.
“She was more intelligent.”
Celeste’s face hardened.
“You recruited her?”
“Her father owed Meridian twenty million dollars.”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“You promised to protect him.”
“I did.”
“He died in prison.”
“Protection has limits.”
She turned her head toward Julian.
Hatred replaced fear.
“You lied to me.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Everyone in this room has lied to someone they claimed to love.”
The words struck all of us.
He was right.
That did not make us equal.
I looked at Celeste.
“Why did you call me?”
“Because Julian planned to kill everyone after the archive opened.”
“Even you?”
“Especially me.”
A slight movement came from Reyes.
He was positioning himself behind a support column.
Julian noticed.
He raised his pistol toward him.
“Agent Reyes.”
“Step into view.”
Reyes complied slowly.
“Drop your weapon.”
He placed it on the floor.
Julian turned back to my mother.
“Open the archive.”
“No.”
He aimed at Celeste’s leg and fired.
The bullet struck the metal restraint beside her, not her body.
She screamed and fell against the railing.
A warning.
“I will not miss again,” Julian said.
My mother looked at me.
Then at Elias.
Her hand moved across the archive controls.
Five star symbols illuminated.
“What are you doing?” my father asked.
“Ending this.”
The steel door began to open.
Cold blue light spilled into the chamber.
Rows of physical data cores stood beyond it.
At the center was a black console marked MERIDIAN PRIMARY LEDGER.
Julian’s breathing changed.
After eighteen years, his prize was within reach.
He descended the stairs with Celeste in front of him.
His armed men followed.
As he passed the signal relay, Mara pressed a device beneath her sleeve.
The relay light flickered.
Julian stopped.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing yet,” Mara said.
The remote in his hand lost connection for half a second.
That was enough.
Reyes dove toward his weapon.
My father drew his pistol.
My mother struck the archive control.
The chamber went dark.
Gunfire erupted.
I dropped behind the mechanical equipment.
Celeste threw herself sideways.
Someone shouted.
A body hit the stairs.
Emergency lights flashed on.
Julian was gone.
So was my mother.
The lower archive door stood completely open.
At the central console, the Meridian ledger was missing.
My father stared at the empty slot.
Then a speaker crackled above us.
My mother’s voice filled the chamber.
“I am sorry, Victoria.”
A heavy mechanism began turning beneath the floor.
Mara checked the archive system.
Her face changed.
“What is happening?”
“She activated the observatory’s destruction protocol.”
A timer appeared.
Five minutes.
May you like
My mother had taken the ledger.
And she intended to bury the entire observatory with everyone still inside.
