Chapter 7 - The Man Beneath Whitmore TowerSamuel Blake had served on Whitmore Global's board for nineteen years.
Maya was brought inside without seeing another employee.
The man with the gun took her phone.
Then he escorted her into a library.
Harrison Harrington stood beside the fireplace.
"You kidnapped me."
"Such an ugly word."
"You put a gun beside me."
"I didn't."
"Your employee did."
"He isn't my employee."
Maya's stomach tightened.
Plausible deniability.
This man had practiced it for decades.
"Where's my father?"
Harrison poured himself a drink.
"Alive."
"How do you know?"
"Because Thomas and I have maintained an inconvenient relationship for many years."
"Where is he?"
"I'll tell you when you help me."
Maya laughed.
"You tried to destroy Adrien."
"I tried to protect my family."
"By stealing his company?"
"You know almost nothing about what happened."
"I know enough."
Harrison looked tired.
Not frightened.
Tired.
"Do you know why Thomas disappeared?"
"Because your family framed him."
"Partially."
Maya hated that word.
"Explain."
"Your father stole evidence from men far more dangerous than Charles Harrington."
"Who?"
Harrison smiled slightly.
"You still think this is about two families."
He opened a folder.
Inside were photographs of senators, bankers, judges, and executives.
Some were dead.
Others remained powerful.
"The money Charles stole was not simply spent."
"It was distributed."
"To whom?"
"People who ensured contracts were awarded, investigations disappeared, and regulations became convenient."
Maya stared at the photographs.
"A bribery network."
"An empire."
"And my father found it."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you expose it?"
Harrison's face hardened.
"Because I was twenty-nine years old with a pregnant wife when my father told me that if I spoke, she would die."
For the first time, Maya saw something human beneath Harrison's arrogance.
Fear.
Old fear.
Then it disappeared.
"That's not an excuse."
"No."
He took a drink.
"It's an explanation."
"Celeste knew?"
Harrison's jaw tightened.
"Not everything."
"She planned to marry Adrien and take his company."
"She believed she was reclaiming family property."
"You taught her that."
"I taught her what I was taught."
"And Marcus?"
Harrison laughed.
"Marcus Vale is more dangerous than Celeste could ever be."
"Did he attack her?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I don't need to lie about that."
Maya studied him.
Something did not fit.
If Harrison wanted the original agreement destroyed, why abduct Maya rather than send someone to the cemetery?
Unless he wanted something else.
"What do you want from me?"
Harrison placed a document on the table.
A nondisclosure agreement.
And another paper.
A sworn statement claiming Maya had invented the conversation she overheard.
"You retract everything."
"No."
"I pay your mother's hospital bills."
Maya's entire body went still.
Harrison continued.
"Every treatment. Every specialist. Lifetime care."
"No."
"Five million dollars."
"No."
"Ten."
"You think everyone has your price."
"Everyone does."
Maya stepped closer.
"Maybe that's why you don't understand Adrien."
Harrison's expression changed.
"You believe he loves you?"
Maya said nothing.
"He kissed you because you remind him of childhood."
"That isn't why I'm here."
"You'll become a symbol to him. A rescue mission."
Maya hated how precisely the words struck her insecurities.
Harrison saw it.
"Men like Adrien love saving people because it makes them feel powerful."
"You don't know him."
"I've known his family longer than you've been alive."
Maya pushed the papers away.
"I'm not signing."
Harrison sighed.
"Then your father remains missing."
Maya turned toward the door.
It opened before she reached it.
Marcus Vale stepped inside.
Maya backed away.
Harrison looked equally surprised.
"What are you doing here?"
Marcus held a gun.
"Finishing what our fathers started."
Harrison's face changed.
"You attacked Celeste."
Marcus ignored him.
"Maya, come with me."
"No."
"If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be hurt."
"Comforting."
He looked exhausted.
His shirt was clean now, but a cut crossed his cheek.
Harrison moved toward a desk drawer.
Marcus aimed the gun.
"Don't."
Harrison stopped.
"You're making a mistake."
"I made my mistake twenty-two years ago."
Marcus looked at Maya.
"Adrien needs you."
"Adrien needs the truth."
"Exactly."
Marcus tossed her a phone.
"Call him."
Maya dialed.
Adrien answered immediately.
"Maya?"
His voice nearly broke.
"Where are you?"
"I'm okay."
"Where?"
Before she could answer, Marcus took the phone.
"Listen carefully."
Adrien's voice became cold.
"If you touched her—"
"I didn't."
"Where is she?"
"With Harrison."
Adrien went silent.
Marcus continued.
"Harrison isn't the person you should fear."
Harrison laughed.
"Still protecting your father, Marcus?"
Marcus's hand tightened around the weapon.
"My father died because of you."
"No. Robert died because he became sentimental."
Maya stared between them.
"Robert Vale is dead?"
Marcus nodded.
"Three months ago."
Adrien heard.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because his last words were instructions."
"What instructions?"
Marcus looked at Maya.
"Find Thomas Keene."
Maya's heart stopped.
"You know where my father is."
"I do now."
"Where?"
Marcus answered:
"Whitmore Tower."
Adrien almost shouted.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Marcus looked toward Harrison.
"Thomas Keene has been living under your headquarters for seventeen years."
Maya laughed in disbelief.
"What?"
"The original Whitmore building has a private sublevel. It was removed from construction records during the 1989 renovation."
Adrien whispered, "Sublevel C."
Marcus looked surprised.
"You know?"
"My father once told me never to go there."
Marcus nodded.
"Thomas has been there under a protected identity."
Maya felt physically ill.
Her father had lived beneath Adrien's office while she spent decades believing he was dead.
"Why?"
Marcus's face softened.
"Because Edward Whitmore hid him where nobody would think to search."
Maya's eyes filled.
"Take me there."
Marcus nodded.
A gunshot exploded.
Marcus staggered.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
Behind him stood the man who had brought Maya to the estate.
He aimed again.
Harrison shouted, "NO!"
A second gunshot shattered the window.
Maya dropped behind the sofa.
Marcus fired back.
The armed man collapsed.
For seconds, nobody moved.
Then Harrison stared at the fallen man.
"I told him not to shoot."
Marcus pressed his hand against his shoulder.
"He doesn't work for you, remember?"
Harrison looked toward the doorway.
His face went pale.
"That wasn't my man."
Maya froze.
"Then whose was he?"
Harrison stared at the dead attacker.
"I have no idea."
Marcus struggled upright.
"Now you understand."
He looked at Maya.
"Harrison isn't controlling this anymore."
"Who is?"
Marcus swallowed.
"My father left one name."
Adrien's voice came through the phone from the floor.
"What name?"
Marcus answered:
May you like
"Samuel Blake."
The Whitmore board member who had spent the morning trying to remove Adrien as CEO.
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