Chapter 10 - Vincent's Father
Vincent Hale did not speak for several seconds.
His father, Raymond Hale, had run security for Dominic's late father before Vincent took over.
He had retired six years earlier after a stroke.
He lived fifteen minutes from the estate.
And he hated Arthur Voss.
At least, that was what Vincent had always believed.
"Call him," Dominic said.
Vincent dialed.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
"I'm going there."
"Not alone."
Vincent looked at Dominic. "If my father is involved—"
"Then you don't go alone."
Clare sat on the pantry floor with Ellie wrapped around her. She looked up at Dominic.
"You said we were safe here."
He did not defend himself.
"I was wrong."
"So what now?"
Dominic turned to the nearest guard. "You take them to the panic suite behind my office. Nobody knows the entry code except me and Vincent."
Vincent shook his head. "If my credentials were compromised—"
"Then I change the code before they enter."
Clare looked at Dominic for a long moment.
"You come back."
It sounded less like a request than an order.
Dominic nodded once.
At Raymond Hale's house, the front door was open.
Vincent entered first.
"Dad?"
The living room lamp was on.
A cup of coffee sat cold beside a recliner.
In the back office they found Raymond on the floor, wrists tied, mouth taped, conscious and furious.
Vincent dropped beside him.
"Dad."
Raymond coughed when the tape came off.
"Took you long enough."
Dominic almost laughed.
Almost.
"Who did this?"
Raymond looked at Vincent. "A man you fired four years ago. Dean Rusk."
Vincent's face changed.
Rusk had been a shift supervisor caught selling information about Dominic's travel schedule. Vincent had fired him personally.
"Why does he have old uniforms?" Dominic asked.
"Because I gave them to him," Raymond said bitterly. "Before I knew what he was. Used to help me clear storage. He kept boxes."
"Arthur?"
Raymond nodded.
"Rusk said Voss wanted a favor. Needed old access routes, old uniforms, old procedures. I told him to go to hell. He hit me from behind."
Vincent looked sick. "Did he say where he was going?"
"Back to the estate."
Dominic's phone rang.
Clare.
He answered instantly.
"We're in the panic room," she whispered. "But someone is outside."
"How do you know?"
A scraping sound came through the phone.
Then Ellie whispered in the background.
"Mommy... the wall is moving."
Dominic remembered the old service shaft behind his office.
A passage not shown on modern blueprints.
May you like
A passage Raymond Hale would know.
And someone outside Clare's safe room had just found it.
