Chapter 6 - The Boardroom TrapAt 8:52 the next morning, Harrington Tower looked like a fortress.
One second he was standing beside the truck outside Rebecca Shaw’s office.
The next, heat slammed into his back and drove him onto the pavement.
Glass rained across the alley.
Someone screamed.
Daniel rolled over.
Flames swallowed the Ford.
“Emma!”
He couldn’t hear himself properly.
A high ringing filled his ears.
Then Grace appeared through the smoke, carrying Emma against her chest.
“I have her!”
Daniel crawled toward them.
Emma was crying but alive.
Grace’s cheek was bleeding.
Malcolm stumbled from behind a parked van.
Elliot followed.
Nobody had been inside the truck.
That was the only miracle.
Rebecca rushed through the rear door.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel grabbed Emma.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
He checked her arms, face, legs.
Nothing.
Just fear.
Then Daniel saw Grace.
Her sleeve was burning.
He slapped the flame out with his hands.
She winced.
Sirens already sounded in the distance.
Malcolm stared at the wreckage.
“That wasn’t an accident.”
Daniel slowly looked at him.
“You think?”
Malcolm ignored the anger.
“Victor knew where we were.”
Grace shook her head.
“Robert knew.”
“Both.”
Rebecca pulled them inside.
“We need police.”
Grace stopped.
“No.”
Rebecca stared.
“Your vehicle just exploded.”
“And Robert has people everywhere.”
“He doesn’t own the entire police department.”
“No. But we don’t know which part.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
His daughter’s small body trembled against him.
He had reached his limit.
“I’m done.”
Grace went still.
Daniel turned toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I have a kid.”
“I know.”
“I brought you home because you were barefoot and scared. Now somebody blew up my truck.”
“I know.”
“My daughter was ten feet away.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
Daniel hated the hurt in her face.
But he hated Emma’s fear more.
“I can’t do this.”
Grace nodded.
“You shouldn’t.”
Malcolm stepped forward.
“We can compensate—”
Daniel rounded on him.
“This isn’t about money.”
Malcolm shut up.
Grace crouched in front of Emma.
“You were very brave.”
Emma sniffled.
“Are you leaving?”
Grace forced a smile.
“Yes.”
“Because Daddy’s mad?”
“No.”
Grace looked at Daniel.
“Because your daddy is doing what a good father does.”
Emma hugged her.
That nearly broke Daniel.
Grace closed her eyes and held the little girl tightly.
Then she stood.
“I’ll disappear.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“That’s not a legal strategy.”
“It’s what kept me alive before Daniel found me.”
“You won’t last a day.”
“Then I’ll last twelve hours.”
Malcolm looked toward the burning truck.
“We need to get the video copied.”
Elliot nodded.
“Multiple locations.”
Rebecca reached for the phone.
Grace stopped her.
“We don’t know what else is on it.”
“Then we find out.”
The fire department arrived.
Police blocked the alley.
Daniel gave a statement saying he had no idea why the truck exploded.
The officer clearly didn’t believe him.
Then one detective arrived and changed everything.
Her name was Lena Ortiz.
Forty-five.
Gray streak in dark hair.
No expensive suit.
She looked at the wreckage, then at Grace Harrington.
“I wondered when your family would finally set something on fire.”
Grace stared.
“You know who I am.”
“Half the country knows who you are.”
“No. You said my family.”
Ortiz looked toward the uniformed officers.
Then quietly said, “Your father contacted me four years ago.”
Grace’s breath stopped.
“What?”
“I was financial crimes then.”
“About Robert?”
Ortiz’s face gave nothing away.
“He contacted me about suspicious charitable transfers.”
Grace looked at Elliot.
“The foundation.”
Elliot nodded.
Ortiz continued.
“Before we could meet again, your father died.”
“Did you investigate?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“My supervisor closed it.”
“Why?”
“Insufficient evidence.”
Daniel muttered, “Convenient.”
Ortiz looked at him.
“And you are?”
“The guy whose truck is on fire.”
“That answers less than you think.”
Despite everything, Rebecca almost smiled.
Ortiz lowered her voice.
“Whatever you’re carrying, don’t hand it to anybody wearing a badge until you know who they are.”
Grace stared.
“Can I trust you?”
“No.”
Ortiz handed her a card.
“Trust evidence.”
Then she walked away.
Daniel watched her.
Rebecca whispered, “I like her.”
Malcolm didn’t.
“I don’t trust anyone my father secretly contacted.”
“That narrows our options,” Elliot said.
The police eventually allowed Daniel to leave.
His truck was gone.
His apartment was compromised.
He had nowhere safe to take Emma.
Rebecca offered her place.
Daniel refused.
“If they found my house and office, they’ll find yours.”
Grace said quietly, “I have somewhere.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You’re leaving.”
“I know.”
“Then where?”
“There’s a property nobody associates with me.”
Malcolm frowned.
“All your properties are documented.”
“Not mine.”
Grace looked at him.
“Mom’s.”
Malcolm stared.
“The lake house?”
“She never transferred it to Dad’s holding company.”
“That place has been abandoned for twenty years.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel hesitated.
Grace saw the conflict.
“You can take Emma somewhere else.”
“Where?”
She didn’t answer.
He hated that.
The practical truth was brutal.
His truck was destroyed.
His apartment had been watched.
Someone had photographed his daughter.
And the only people who seemed to understand the danger were the people bringing it.
So an hour later, they squeezed into Rebecca’s SUV and drove north.
The Harrington lake house stood near Lake Geneva, hidden behind pine trees and an overgrown stone wall.
It was not what Daniel expected.
No mansion.
No marble.
Just a weathered cedar house with a deep porch and shutters faded by twenty winters.
Grace stood in the driveway.
“I haven’t been here since I was seventeen.”
Malcolm looked toward the porch.
“Mom loved this place.”
Grace nodded.
Their hostility softened for one second.
Then disappeared.
Inside, dust covered everything.
Emma immediately sneezed.
Daniel looked around.
“This is the secret billionaire hideout?”
Grace shrugged.
“My mother hated extravagance.”
Malcolm stared at a faded sofa.
“She once made Dad sleep out here because he tried replacing this couch.”
“What was wrong with it?”
“It was ugly.”
“It’s still ugly.”
For the first time, Grace and Malcolm laughed together.
Then they remembered why they were there.
Rebecca connected the old phone to an offline laptop.
They copied everything.
Seven videos.
Thirty-eight scanned documents.
Bank records.
Trust papers.
Medical results.
And one encrypted folder they couldn’t open.
They watched the second video.
Arthur appeared weaker.
“Robert became obsessed with the company after our father died,” he said. “He believed I stole his birthright. I did not. Our father left me control because Robert had already lost millions gambling.”
Malcolm swore.
Grace kept watching.
“I concealed my suspicion because Robert had access to your lives. Your homes. Your schedules. Your security.”
Video three contained dates.
Video four contained account numbers.
Video five was different.
Arthur looked directly into the camera.
“If I die before I can finish this, do not fight each other.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Malcolm looked down.
Arthur continued.
“Robert will encourage that. He knows your weaknesses. Grace, your need to protect everyone. Malcolm, your need to prove you are enough.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“Do not give him what he wants.”
The video ended.
Silence filled the room.
Daniel glanced at brother and sister.
“You two did exactly what he predicted.”
Grace stared at Malcolm.
“We did.”
Malcolm said nothing.
Daniel’s phone rang.
He almost laughed.
“I don’t even know why I still have this thing.”
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A familiar voice came through.
His landlord.
“Daniel?”
“Mr. Ellis?”
“Yeah. There are people in your apartment.”
Daniel stood.
“What?”
“I thought they were cops. They showed paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
“Search warrant or something.”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
She was already reaching for her phone.
His landlord continued.
“They took boxes. Clothes. Computer.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
Then Mr. Ellis said something worse.
“And Daniel?”
“What?”
“They found drugs.”
Silence.
“What drugs?”
“I don’t know. Bags of pills. Police said enough to charge you with distribution.”
Grace stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel’s face went cold.
“They planted them.”
Rebecca grabbed her keys.
“We need Ortiz.”
The landlord lowered his voice.
“One officer told me you should turn yourself in.”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
She was asleep on the sofa beneath a blanket.
“They’re trying to arrest me.”
Grace whispered, “To get you away from me.”
Malcolm looked at the old phone.
“Or force Grace to surrender.”
Daniel ended the call.
His hands shook.
Not because he feared jail.
Because suddenly he understood the game.
Robert Harrington didn’t have to kill everyone.
He only had to destroy them one at a time.
Grace approached Daniel.
“I’m going back.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You go back, he wins.”
“If I don’t, you could lose your daughter.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“What?”
“If you’re arrested on felony drug charges, child services could place Emma temporarily.”
He stared at her.
Grace’s voice broke.
“I will not let that happen.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You think surrendering fixes it?”
“It removes the reason they’re targeting you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know my family.”
“No.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You know how your family used to work.”
Grace went silent.
“This is different. Your father left proof. Someone tried to blow us up. They framed me. That means they’re scared.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He’s right.”
Malcolm added, “Robert never attacks from weakness.”
Grace looked around the room.
“So what do we do?”
Daniel looked at the documents spread across the table.
Then at Emma.
Then at the old video of Arthur Harrington frozen on the laptop screen.
“We stop running.”
Malcolm frowned.
“How?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“You said the board meeting is tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“And the whole point is to declare Grace incompetent?”
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Then we let them have their meeting.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“We let Robert stand in front of every powerful person he trusts.”
Daniel pointed at the phone.
“And then we make him explain why a dead man left a video calling him a murderer.”
Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.
Malcolm began to understand.
Grace whispered, “You want to walk into Harrington Tower?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
May you like
He looked at the Chicago skyline visible faintly across the lake.
“I want the billionaire who owns it to walk in.”
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