Chapter 12 - Blackout
The darkness lasted three seconds.
Long enough for someone to move.
Daniel heard Emma gasp.
He pulled her against his chest.
Grant cursed.
A window shattered in the next room.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Lang was gone.
The balcony door stood open.
Daniel rushed toward it.
Grant caught him. “Don’t. Twenty-two floors.”
They looked out.
A maintenance platform hung one level below, connected to the neighboring suite.
Lang had climbed across.
The unconscious security guard groaned behind them.
Emma tugged Daniel’s jacket.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“The doctor dropped this.”
She held up a small flash drive.
Daniel took it.
Back downstairs, Nathan plugged it into an offline laptop.
The drive contained scanned bank records, emails, and audio files.
One email was from Owen to Crowe.
I DID WHAT YOU ASKED. LEAVE THE CHILDREN OUT OF IT.
Another contained wiring instructions to an offshore account.
Grant read the name of the sender and went silent.
Vanessa saw his face.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
The email account belonged to their father, Charles Hale.
Vanessa’s knees nearly gave out.
“No.”
Grant stared at the screen. “Dad died eighteen months ago.”
Nathan opened the metadata.
“The account was used yesterday.”
Daniel looked at both siblings.
“Who had access after he died?”
Grant swallowed.
“His estate administrator.”
“Who?”
Grant closed his eyes.
“Martin Crowe.”
Nathan opened another file.
It was a spreadsheet showing millions of dollars in transfers tied to a failed investment fund Charles Hale had managed before his death.
Mercer Biotech appeared beside several entries.
Vanessa whispered, “My father stole from your company?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No. He borrowed against fake collateral tied to my company shares.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“And Crowe has been covering the hole ever since.”
Grant stared at the numbers.
“If those loans are called, our father’s estate collapses.”
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“And Crowe needed your trust to cover it.”
Daniel nodded.
Then Nathan opened the final audio file.
Owen’s voice filled the room.
“I’m done helping you, Martin.”
May you like
Crowe answered.
“You’re done when Daniel is dead.”
