Chapter 9 - The Man Outside The Door.
Adrian put Elena on speaker.
"Stay away from the door."
His voice remained calm because panic would travel faster than instructions.
At the tower, Elena backed into the far corner of the lounge with Noah against her shoulder.
The knock came again.
"Elena, it's Walter. Mr. Vale sent me."
The voice was muffled through the door.
It sounded close enough to Walter's to fool someone who had met him only briefly.
The real Walter stared at Adrian.
"Mason has heard me on the radio for years."
Priya called the outside team stationed in the lobby.
One answered immediately.
The other did not.
"North service elevator is moving."
Priya said.
Adrian's chest tightened.
He had frozen the main executive elevators, but the service car remained active for emergency access.
He made a decision.
"Cut power to twenty-two."
Priya looked at him.
"That also kills the electronic lock."
"The door has a mechanical deadbolt from inside. Elena can set it."
He spoke into the phone.
"Elena, turn the silver lock above the handle."
She did.
"Done."
"Now move into the washroom and lock that door too."
The hallway lights outside the lounge went dark.
The knocking stopped.
For five seconds, there was no sound.
Then footsteps moved quickly away.
Adrian's outside security team reached the twenty-second floor moments later using the stairs.
They found the corridor empty.
The service elevator had stopped on eighteen.
A uniform jacket lay inside.
Mason Trent was gone.
Adrian returned to the tower before two.
Elena opened the lounge door only after she saw Walter beside him through the glass.
Her face was pale with anger.
"You said this building was safer."
Adrian did not defend himself.
"I was wrong."
That answer stopped her.
He continued.
"We're leaving."
Priya arranged a private apartment in a building owned by none of the Vale companies.
The lease would be in Elena's name, paid for temporarily through Priya's law firm, with no family-controlled entity involved.
Elena agreed only after reading every page herself.
That made Adrian respect her more.
Before they left, Walter searched the lounge.
Behind an unused side table, he found a small adhesive device no larger than a coin.
Priya examined it without touching.
"Audio transmitter."
Elena stared at it.
"How long has that been there?"
No one knew.
Adrian looked around the room they had considered private.
Every conversation from the night might have been heard.
Including locker 417.
Including Nora Hayes.
That explained why the storage unit had been accessed only minutes before they arrived.
Someone had been listening.
Priya immediately changed the plan.
They would not discuss addresses, travel routes, or legal strategy inside any Vale property.
Margaret, who had remained upstairs in Adrian's office, came down as Elena prepared to leave.
Her face looked older than it had hours earlier.
"Adrian, I need to speak with you alone."
"Not tonight."
"It's about Richard."
Adrian stopped.
Margaret glanced at Elena.
Then at Priya.
"He lied to me about the family-services company."
Elena's expression did not soften.
"You still signed it."
Margaret accepted the blow without arguing.
"Yes."
She looked at Adrian.
"But there's something you don't know."
Adrian waited.
Margaret lowered her voice.
"The night before Julian's accident, he came to my house."
Elena froze.
"Why?"
Margaret looked directly at her.
"He said he had proof Richard had been moving money through the foundation."
Priya stepped closer.
"What kind of proof?"
Margaret swallowed.
"I never saw it."
May you like
She looked at Adrian.
"Because Richard arrived ten minutes later."
