Chapter 15 - The Basement Door
The video showed Maisie alone in a white room, clutching her teddy bear. A voice demanded the ledger at the river warehouse.
Elara stood beside him, pale and silent. Then she straightened.
"They took her from Mrs. Alvarez's house," she said. "They knew where she was because someone on the protection team gave them the address."
Renee called the kidnapping unit and ordered a perimeter. "No one goes in alone."
"I'll give them a copy of the ledger," Julian said. "They won't get the original."
They planned to use a decoy ledger while Renee's team surrounded the warehouse; Warren had secured the original.
Elara insisted on coming. Julian nearly refused, then stopped himself.
"I won't order you to stay behind," he said. "Watch the loading doors and signal Renee if the plan changes."
"That's all I asked."
At the warehouse, Graham waited beside a metal table. Lydia stood near the basement stairs, and Maisie was locked behind a wire door.
Maisie sat behind a locked wire-mesh door. Her teddy bear rested in her lap.
"Give me the ledger," Graham said.
Julian placed it on the table. "First, let her go."
Lydia shook her head. "You still think this is a negotiation. You have always been your father's son. You confuse decency with strength."
"And you confuse control with love."
Her eyes flashed. "I gave you everything."
"You gave me a house full of people afraid to tell the truth."
Graham opened the ledger and flipped through the pages. He stopped at the transfer records and looked up.
"This is a copy."
"Yes," Julian said. "The original is with the district attorney. The recording is authenticated. Dr. Harlan has signed a statement. You have one chance to let Maisie walk out and tell the truth."
Graham laughed, but the sound came out thin. "You think the truth will save you? It will destroy the company, the foundation, the trust, all of it."
"Then we rebuild what deserves to survive."
Lydia took one step toward him. "You would throw away your father's legacy for a woman who ran away and a child you never knew?"
"I would throw away every dollar before I let you use them to hurt my daughter."
Graham pulled a pistol from inside his coat. Julian froze. Outside, Elara saw the movement and tapped the signal twice against the glass.
Before the police could breach the warehouse, Lydia shoved Graham's arm upward. The gun fired into the ceiling. Everyone ducked.
Maisie screamed, and the sound ripped through Julian's chest.
Graham struck Lydia and ran downstairs. Julian rushed to Maisie, but the wire door was locked and smoke drifted up from below.
Lydia lay on the floor, one hand pressed to her cheek. She looked up at Julian, and for the first time, she seemed old.
"The basement door," she whispered. "He has the key."
Julian heard a metal door slam below them.
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Then Maisie called, "Daddy?"
And the lights went out.
