Chapter 15 - The Catwalk
Everyone dropped.
A bullet struck the concrete barrier and sprayed dust over Leo’s hair.
Deputies returned fire toward the catwalk.
Martin ran.
Henry grabbed Leo by the back of his jacket and pulled him behind a steel press.
“Stay down!”
Claire crawled beside them.
“Who is shooting?”
“Martin hired people before,” Henry said. “He hired them again.”
Cross shouted orders across the factory floor.
The gunman moved along the upper walkway, firing blindly to keep everyone pinned.
Leo looked through a gap in the machine.
Martin was heading toward the furnace control room.
“He’s going to burn the will!”
Henry shook his head. “Let him.”
Leo stared at him.
“The will is not what matters anymore. Ruth’s files are.”
“Then why did we come?”
“To make him talk.”
Henry looked toward the ceiling.
“And because I wanted him to think the will mattered.”
A siren suddenly screamed through the building.
Sprinklers burst on overhead.
The gunman on the catwalk cursed as water hit him.
Cross’s deputies rushed the stairs.
Martin reached the control room door.
Then it locked from the inside.
He turned, confused.
Henry pulled a small remote from his pocket.
“Still my factory,” he said.
Martin slammed both hands against the glass.
The deputies captured the gunman above.
Cross approached the control room with his weapon raised.
“Martin Pike! Hands where we can see them!”
Martin looked at Henry through the glass.
Then he slowly lifted the will.
“You think this ends with me?”
Henry’s expression changed.
Martin smiled.
“Ask Claire where the original Project Lantern documents are.”
Leo turned toward his mother.
Claire went pale.
Henry whispered, “Claire?”
She looked at Leo first, then her father.
“I destroyed them.”
“What documents?” Henry asked.
Claire’s voice shook.
“The first trust draft. The one that didn’t make Leo your heir.”
Martin laughed behind the glass.
Henry stared at his daughter.
“Who did it name?”
May you like
Claire swallowed.
“Me.”
