Chapter 7 - THE NAME ON THE OLD ACCOUNT
The vehicles moved without headlights.
Grant watched them through the greenhouse glass as they crossed the snow-covered service road. The estate's outer alarm should have detected them, but no warning sounded.
"They are inside the second fence," Mara said.
"How many guards do we have?" Grant asked.
Victor checked his phone. "Not enough."
Grant's gaze cut toward him. "You arranged the security."
"And someone has removed half the team from the system."
The first vehicle stopped near the north stable. Doors opened. Men in winter clothing spread across the grounds.
Claire pulled Lily away from the window. Atlas lowered his head and nudged the child's hand.
"He wants us to move," Lily whispered.
"Where?" Claire asked.
Lily pointed toward the greenhouse floor.
The star-shaped box had closed again. A small light blinked beneath the metal.
Mara picked it up. "There is a signal."
The box projected a thin red line across the floor. It ended at a row of dead citrus trees.
Atlas walked to the trees and scratched the frozen soil.
Grant and Victor moved a planter aside. Beneath it was another hatch.
"Julian built more exits than a prison architect," Mara said.
"He was afraid of our father," Grant replied.
The first gunshot sounded outside.
Grant opened the hatch. "Everyone down."
They descended into a narrow maintenance shaft just as bullets tore through the greenhouse glass. The cold air filled with shattering crystals. Atlas pushed Lily forward with his shoulder.
The shaft led beneath the north stable. A metal ladder rose into a tack room. Grant opened the hatch carefully.
The stable was empty except for two frightened horses. The black vehicles were visible through the windows.
Mara checked the recording device. "The signal is still active. The old account may be a digital key."
"The name on the account?" Claire asked.
Grant had taken the paper from the box. It showed a bank number and one name.
ELIAS VANE.
Victor stared at it.
"You know him," Grant said.
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
Victor's voice lowered. "Your father's private accountant."
"He died with Henry."
"That is what everyone was told."
Another shot struck the stable wall.
Grant looked at the horses, then at the side door. "We need to get back to the house."
"The attackers are between us and the east lawn," Mara said.
Lily tugged Claire's sleeve. "Atlas knows another way."
Atlas had moved to the rear stall. He pressed his nose against a loose wooden panel.
Grant pulled it away. Behind it was a crawl space leading toward the old kennel.
"That passage was supposed to be sealed," Victor said.
"Apparently nothing in this estate stays sealed," Mara replied.
They crawled through one at a time. Claire went first with Lily. The space was so narrow that Atlas had to turn sideways. His injured hip scraped the stone, but he kept moving.
When they emerged into the old kennel, Claire saw fresh footprints in the dust.
Someone had been there recently.
A voice spoke from the shadows.
"You found the account."
The woman in the pale coat stepped into view.
Miriam Cole held a pistol against Victor's chest.
Grant raised his weapon.
"Drop it," Miriam said. "Or the man who lied to you dies first."
Victor looked at her with bitter recognition. "You should have stayed outside."
"You should have killed the child when you had the chance."
Claire moved Lily behind Atlas.
Miriam's eyes settled on the dog. "Atlas. You remember me."
Atlas growled.
Miriam smiled. "You remember the night Evelyn screamed."
Grant's finger tightened around the trigger. "What did you do to her?"
"I did what I was paid to do."
"By whom?"
Miriam looked at the account paper. "The same person who paid you to inherit a criminal empire."
The stable doors burst open behind them.
Armed men entered.
Atlas lunged at the nearest attacker. Grant fired at the ceiling, forcing the men to duck. Mara threw a metal bucket into the lights. Darkness swallowed the kennel.
Claire grabbed Lily and followed the sound of Atlas's barking. Something heavy crashed. A man shouted. Miriam fired twice.
The beam from the recording device swept across the darkness.
It illuminated a hidden wall mural.
The mural showed four names connected by lines: Henry Whitmore, Elias Vane, Miriam Cole, and Victor Hale.
Beneath them was another name.
JULIAN WHITMORE.
Grant saw it.
"You were all working together," he said.
Victor's voice came from somewhere near the horses. "Not together. Against one another."
Miriam shouted, "Do not listen to him!"
The sound of a dog snarling moved closer.
Atlas emerged from the darkness with a torn sleeve hanging from his teeth. He had blood on his muzzle, but none of it appeared to be his.
Miriam backed toward the exit.
Lily stepped around Claire.
"You are the camera lady."
Miriam pointed her gun at the child.
Atlas moved between them.
Grant fired.
The bullet struck Miriam's weapon, knocking it from her hand. She fled through the stable doors as the attackers ran after her.
Victor sat against the wall, blood soaking his shoulder.
Grant approached him. "You knew she was coming."
"I knew she would come for the account."
"Why did you let her get this close?"
Victor pressed a hand over his wound. "Because the account is a trap."
Mara looked at the paper. "What kind of trap?"
Victor pointed to the name Elias Vane.
"That account does not contain money. It contains the location of a witness."
Grant turned to Lily. "Who?"
Victor's eyes moved toward Atlas.
"The person who can prove Evelyn was alive after the night everyone says she died."
The recording device crackled.
Evelyn's voice returned, faint and distorted.
"If Atlas chooses the child, trust the child. She will know who is lying."
Lily looked at Victor.
"You are lying," she said.
Victor's face went blank.
Grant raised his weapon.
"About what?" he asked.
Lily pointed toward the old kennel door.
"He is not hurt in the shoulder. He has something under his shirt."
Mara searched Victor.
Beneath the blood-soaked fabric was a small transmitter.
The transmitter was active.
From the speaker came Miriam's voice.
"Thank you, Lily. Now we know exactly where you are."
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The old kennel doors locked automatically.
Smoke began pouring through the vents.
