Chapter 13: The Man Everyone Trusted
Chapter 13: The Man Everyone Trusted
The words settled over the vault like a heavy fog.
"He was Richard's best friend."
No one spoke.
Even Agent Sloan seemed caught off guard.
Charles Whitmore slowly removed his glasses.
"There has to be some mistake."
Cynthia looked at him with hollow eyes.
"I've spent fifteen years hoping there was."
Preston stared at his mother.
"Who?"
She closed her eyes.
"The senator's name is..."
Before she could finish—
A sharp electronic beep interrupted her.
One of the FBI technicians looked up from the laptop connected to Richard's flash drive.
"Agent Sloan."
She turned immediately.
"What happened?"
"The drive is encrypted."
"Can you open it?"
"Yes..."
He frowned.
"But there's something unusual."
He rotated the screen toward everyone.
A message had appeared in white letters against a black background.
WELCOME, IF YOU HAVE COME THIS FAR.
Beneath it...
A countdown clock began ticking.
09:59
09:58
09:57
Emma's heart skipped.
"What is that?"
The technician typed rapidly.
"It's not deleting the files."
"So what is it?"
He swallowed.
"It's waiting."
"For what?"
Another line appeared on the screen.
THE LAST NAME MUST BE SPOKEN BEFORE THE CLOCK REACHES ZERO.
The room became eerily still.
Harold stared at the monitor.
"Richard..."
Charles let out a quiet laugh despite the tension.
"Even after fifteen years, he still loved dramatic entrances."
Sloan looked at Cynthia.
"You were about to tell us the senator's name."
Cynthia nodded slowly.
"I know."
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Tears rolled down her face.
"I..."
Preston stepped closer.
"Mom."
"Please."
She looked at her son.
"I was afraid of him."
Charles frowned.
"You?"
She nodded.
"You've never seen what he becomes when someone stands in his way."
The countdown continued.
08:41
08:40
Thomas suddenly spoke.
"I met him."
Everyone turned.
"Only twice."
Harold looked surprised.
"You never told me."
"I wasn't supposed to."
Thomas stared at the floor.
"Daniel arranged the meetings."
"He said the senator wanted to protect Vale Development."
Charles folded his arms.
"Protect it?"
Thomas laughed bitterly.
"No."
"He wanted to own it."
The technician interrupted.
"I've decrypted part of the drive."
The screen flickered.
A folder appeared.
PRIVATE RECORDINGS
Another folder.
BOARD MEETINGS
Another.
FOUNDERS
Then one final folder.
Locked.
Its name read:
THE LAST NAME
The countdown continued.
07:12
Emma looked around the room.
"Richard wanted someone to say the name."
Harold nodded.
"He believed truth should be spoken."
"Not discovered by accident."
Agent Sloan turned back to Cynthia.
"This is your opportunity."
"If you know the name..."
"Say it."
Cynthia's breathing became uneven.
She whispered,
"If I do..."
"He'll come after Preston."
Preston shook his head.
"He already has."
Silence.
Suddenly, one of the agents guarding the tunnel entrance shouted into his radio.
"Movement!"
Sloan grabbed her weapon.
"Report."
"Unknown individuals entering the tunnel."
"How many?"
"At least six."
Charles looked toward the steel door.
"They found us."
Sloan immediately issued orders.
"Seal the vault entrance."
Agents rolled heavy steel cabinets across the opening.
Others took defensive positions behind stone pillars.
Emma's pulse quickened.
"We're trapped."
Harold quietly corrected her.
"No."
He looked toward the shelves lining the vault.
"Richard never built only one exit."
Emma remembered the hidden tree.
The secret staircase.
The concealed mechanisms.
Of course.
There had to be another way.
The countdown continued.
05:59
Gunfire suddenly echoed from the tunnel.
One shot.
Then another.
Stone chips exploded from the wall near the entrance.
The agents returned fire.
"Federal agents!"
"Drop your weapons!"
The only response was more gunfire.
Thomas looked stunned.
"Daniel brought mercenaries."
Charles nodded grimly.
"He isn't trying to escape anymore."
"He's trying to erase every witness."
The technician looked up from the computer.
"I need the name."
"If the timer reaches zero..."
"The encryption key self-destructs."
Emma looked desperately at Cynthia.
"Please."
Cynthia's entire body trembled.
"I can't."
Preston knelt beside her.
"You spent years protecting the wrong people."
He gently took her hand.
"Protect me now."
Tears streamed down her face.
She looked at her son...
Then at Richard's empty chair in the video.
Finally...
She whispered,
"I'm sorry."
She stood.
Faced the computer.
And spoke a single name.
"Senator William Ashcroft."
The vault fell silent.
The countdown froze.
04:18
The screen flickered.
Then the locked folder slowly opened.
Dozens of video files appeared.
Contracts.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Audio recordings.
One file immediately began playing automatically.
Richard sat across a conference table.
Beside him...
Daniel Mercer.
Across from them...
A distinguished man in an expensive navy suit.
The video quality was crystal clear.
The man smiled warmly.
He extended his hand toward Richard.
Richard did not shake it.
Instead, he looked directly into the hidden camera and calmly said:
"If anyone is watching this recording..."
"...the man sitting across from me is Senator William Ashcroft."
The senator smiled.
Then uttered the sentence that made every person in the vault stop breathing.
"You'll either sign the land over to us today, Richard..."
"...or your family will spend the rest of their lives burying each other."
At that exact moment—
Agent Sloan's radio crackled violently.
The dispatcher sounded panicked.
"Agent Sloan!"
She grabbed the radio.
"Sloan."
The dispatcher spoke only four words.
"They've breached the tunnel."
A deafening explosion shook the underground vault.
The lights flickered.
Dust poured from the ceiling.
The steel cabinets blocking the entrance slid several inches across the stone floor.
May you like
Daniel Mercer's men...
Had arrived.
