Chapter 8 - When the Lights Went Out.
Adrian did not believe in ghosts.
He believed in forged documents, hidden tunnels, bribed employees, and frightened people telling partial truths.
But the possibility that his father had been involved in the theft from Lily's trust disturbed him more than any supernatural explanation could have.
Arthur Vale had ruled the family with polished cruelty.
He had disowned Julian, controlled Adrian's career, and treated Evelyn as an outsider until the day he died.
According to the official record, Arthur died from a heart attack in a private clinic in Switzerland.
Adrian had identified the body himself.
"A.V. cannot be my father," Adrian said.
Martin kept his voice careful.
"The note may have been written before he died."
That was possible.
It was also worse.
If Arthur had helped create the scheme, Julian and Gideon might simply have continued it after his death.
Adrian called the bank holding Lily's primary trust accounts.
The bank froze all outgoing transfers immediately.
Twenty minutes later, every light in the mansion went out.
Not one wing.
Not the cellar.
Everything.
The backup generator failed to engage.
A crash sounded from the grand hall.
Lily screamed from the kitchen.
Adrian reached her in three strides and pulled her close.
"Stay with me."
Nora switched on her phone flashlight.
Martin moved toward the hall.
"No one follows me."
"You're not armed," Adrian said.
"Neither is whoever cut the power if we're lucky."
They were not lucky.
A gunshot cracked somewhere near the staircase.
Glass shattered.
Lily buried her face against Adrian's chest.
He carried her into the pantry, where the walls were thick and there were no windows.
Nora came with them.
"Lock this door," Adrian told her.
Nora caught his sleeve.
"Don't go."
"Martin is out there alone."
"And Lily needs you here."
The words stopped him.
He looked down at his daughter.
For years, Adrian had solved every crisis by running toward it.
This time, staying was the braver choice.
He sat on the pantry floor with Lily in his arms while footsteps moved through the hall outside.
The doorknob turned once.
Then twice.
Lily's breathing quickened.
Adrian covered her ears and whispered into her hair.
"Listen to me, Princess."
"I'm listening."
"Count with me."
They counted slowly to ten.
The footsteps moved away.
A minute later, emergency lights flickered on.
Martin knocked three times, paused, then twice, the security signal they had agreed upon.
Adrian opened the door.
Martin's sleeve was torn and blood marked his shoulder, but the injury appeared shallow.
"What happened?"
"Someone came through the west service entrance."
"Who?"
"Masked."
"Did you see anything?"
Martin held out a piece of fabric torn from the intruder's coat.
A small metal button was attached.
The button carried the same crest as the gold ring.
The Vale crest.
A police officer entered from the hall.
"Mr. Vale, you need to see this."
The shot had struck the enormous portrait of Arthur Vale above the staircase.
The bullet punched through the painted chest.
Behind the canvas, hidden inside the wall, was a steel door.
Adrian stared at it.
May you like
The attacker had not fired at a person.
He had fired at a secret.
