Chapter 11 - Behind the Wall
Dominic drove back to the estate himself.
Vincent objected once.
Dominic ignored him.
Rain hammered the windshield while his injured leg screamed each time he moved from brake to accelerator.
"You wreck the car, I'm killing you," Vincent said.
"Get in line."
They reached the estate in seven minutes.
The panic room sat behind a concealed panel in Dominic's private office. Two guards were unconscious in the hallway, both alive.
The main door to the room remained locked.
But the wall panel beside it stood open.
Vincent swore.
They entered the old service shaft.
A narrow passage ran behind the office walls toward a staircase once used by servants.
From ahead came Clare's voice.
"Stay away from her!"
Dominic moved faster.
He turned the corner and saw Dean Rusk.
Forty-eight. Thick shoulders. Vale Security jacket from another era.
One hand held Clare by the arm.
The other pointed a pistol toward the floor.
Ellie stood behind her mother, crying.
Rusk looked at Dominic and smiled.
"You really should've signed the papers."
Vincent raised his weapon.
Rusk shoved Clare in front of him.
"Drop it."
Vincent did not move.
Dominic's cane clicked against the stone.
"Arthur send you?"
Rusk laughed. "You still need somebody to say it out loud?"
"I like complete records."
"He said you were stubborn."
"He says a lot when he's scared."
Rusk's smile twitched.
That was enough.
Dominic shifted his weight as if his leg gave out.
Rusk glanced down.
Clare drove her heel backward into his shin.
Vincent moved.
The gun fired once into the ceiling.
Stone dust exploded.
Ellie screamed.
Dominic swung the cane hard into Rusk's wrist.
The pistol hit the floor.
Vincent slammed Rusk into the wall and cuffed him before the man could breathe.
Clare dropped beside Ellie.
Dominic leaned against the wall, shaking from pain.
Rusk looked up from the floor and grinned through blood on his lip.
"Doesn't matter."
Dominic stared at him.
"What doesn't?"
"The vote. The brace. Me. None of it matters now."
Vincent tightened the cuffs. "Talk."
Rusk laughed.
"Arthur already has what he needs."
Dominic's phone buzzed.
An alert from Vale Holdings.
Emergency board filing submitted.
A second alert followed.
Banking authority suspended pending confirmation of Dominic's medical incapacity.
Then a third.
Public notice scheduled for release at midnight.
May you like
Arthur had stopped trying to win inside the house.
He had taken the coup outside it.
