Chapter 6
The first person I thought about was Emily.
I turned immediately.
She was standing beside me.
Safe.
Then I thought about Michael.
Karen.
Daniel.
My employees.
Eight hundred people Thomas might see as pieces on a board.
Alvarez ordered Hartwell Manufacturing evacuated.
Within minutes, managers were calling employees off the production floor.
Police moved toward the plant.
I called our security director.
“No one stays inside.”
“Mr. Hartwell, we have active production lines—”
“I don’t care.”
“But—”
“Shut everything down.”
My voice cracked through the storage unit.
“Get every person out.”
He obeyed.
Then I remembered something.
“Our server room.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What about it?”
“Thomas has full financial access.”
“Not anymore.”
“No. Physical access.”
Hartwell’s central server room contained years of engineering files, contracts, payroll data, and proprietary manufacturing designs.
If Thomas wanted revenge, he didn’t need to hurt a person.
He could destroy the company another way.
I told Alvarez.
She dispatched officers.
But by the time they arrived, smoke was coming from the east side of the building.
My heart stopped.
We raced back.
Fire crews surrounded Hartwell.
Employees stood behind barricades watching smoke rise from a second-floor window.
I got out of the car.
A supervisor ran toward me.
“Everyone’s accounted for.”
That was all I cared about at first.
“All eight hundred?”
“Day shift, yes.”
“Contractors?”
“Checking.”
“Check again.”
Firefighters entered.
Police blocked me from following.
I stood in the parking lot watching thirty-one years of my life disappear behind smoke.
Emily arrived with Nathan.
She ran to me.
“Dad.”
I stared at the building.
“This is because of me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“He’s attacking you because he’s losing.”
I turned.
“How did you get here?”
“Daniel called Nathan.”
I looked around.
“Where is Daniel?”
“He was with you.”
“No.”
I hadn’t noticed in the chaos.
I called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Alvarez approached.
“Robert, we found the source of the fire.”
“Server room?”
“Yes.”
“Accelerant?”
“Too early to say.”
“Where’s Daniel?”
She frowned.
“I thought he was here.”
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
“Where are you?”
A strange voice replied.
“He’s busy.”
Thomas.
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Where is he?”
“You always were dramatic.”
“Thomas.”
“It’s just a company.”
“You set it on fire.”
“I built half of it.”
“You stole from it.”
“I took what I earned.”
“Where is Daniel?”
“He kept choosing you.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Even this was about competition.
“Thomas, listen to me.”
“No. You listen.”
His voice shook with decades of rage.
“Dad gave you everything.”
“Dad left us the same inheritance.”
“I’m not talking about money!”
Employees nearby were watching me.
Alvarez signaled technicians to trace the call.
Thomas continued.
“He respected you.”
“He respected you too.”
“No.”
“You became CFO of a company I built.”
“Exactly!”
He shouted so loudly I pulled the phone away.
“Your company! Your name on the building! Your decisions! Your charity dinners! Your interviews!”
I felt sadness beneath the anger.
Not sympathy.
Sadness.
My brother had destroyed his life because he spent it measuring himself against mine.
“You could have left.”
“And let you win?”
“This was never a contest.”
“It was always a contest.”
A muffled sound came through the line.
Daniel.
I heard him say my name.
“Let him go.”
Thomas laughed.
“Meet me at the old plant.”
I knew exactly which one.
Our first warehouse.
Abandoned for nearly fifteen years.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of living in your shadow.”
“Thomas—”
“Come alone.”
The call ended.
Alvarez said immediately, “You are not going alone.”
“He has Daniel.”
“And he wants you.”
“He can’t have me if I don’t go.”
“You’re not trained for hostage negotiation.”
“I’m trained to care about my friend.”
“You going in there may get both of you killed.”
I stared at her.
“Then get your people there before I am.”
She cursed under her breath.
We drove separately.
Police stayed several blocks back.
I approached the abandoned warehouse alone.
Rain had started.
The building looked smaller than I remembered.
Thirty-one years earlier, I had unlocked those doors with shaking hands on the first morning Hartwell Manufacturing existed.
Thomas had been twenty-two.
He had helped me paint the office.
I remembered buying pizza and cheap beer after our first profitable month.
Back then, I thought we would always be close.
I entered.
“Thomas?”
A light turned on.
Daniel sat in a chair near the middle of the warehouse.
His wrists were tied.
His face was bruised.
But he was alive.
Thomas stood behind him.
He held a gun.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
“You always have to be the hero.”
“No. I came for Daniel.”
Thomas smiled bitterly.
“Exactly.”
I took another step.
“Let him leave.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“A confession.”
I stared at him.
“To what?”
“That you stole my life.”
I almost couldn’t believe it.
“Thomas.”
“Say it.”
“You had a good life.”
“Because you allowed it?”
“No. Because you built one.”
“You gave me a job.”
“I offered you a job. You accepted.”
“As CFO.”
“Because you were good at it.”
He laughed.
“Was.”
“You were.”
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
I continued.
“You were better with numbers than I ever was.”
His gun lowered slightly.
“You helped Hartwell survive 2008.”
He stared at me.
“You negotiated our largest supplier contracts.”
Silence.
“You saved the Connecticut plant when I wanted to close it.”
Daniel watched carefully.
Thomas’s eyes became wet.
Then rage returned.
“And no one knew.”
“I knew.”
“No one else.”
“I told the board.”
“You took the interviews.”
“I was CEO.”
“You took everything.”
He raised the gun again.
Daniel suddenly said, “Thomas, Victor played you.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Shut up.”
“He never intended to give you Hartwell.”
“I said shut up.”
Daniel continued.
“He was going to foreclose through Westbridge and remove you with everyone else.”
Thomas’s face changed.
“That’s a lie.”
I said, “It’s true.”
“No.”
“Victor wanted the patents and government contracts.”
“No.”
“He didn’t care about you.”
“Stop.”
“He didn’t care about Laura.”
“Stop!”
“He didn’t care about Richard.”
Thomas fired.
The bullet struck the concrete floor near my feet.
Police remained outside.
They couldn’t enter until they knew where Daniel was positioned.
I stayed still.
Thomas was breathing hard.
“You always think you know everything.”
“I know Victor Hale.”
“You rejected him.”
“Because he would gut the company.”
“He promised me control.”
“He promised you whatever he needed.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
I reached slowly into my coat.
He pointed the gun at my chest.
“Don’t.”
“It’s my phone.”
“Drop it.”
I did.
The screen lit when it hit the floor.
A message from Alvarez appeared.
WE HAVE VICTOR.
Thomas saw the name.
“What does that mean?”
“Police arrested Victor.”
“You’re lying.”
“Read it.”
He stared at the phone.
Then at me.
“Why?”
“Fraud. Conspiracy. Attempted takeover.”
“No.”
“He talked, Thomas.”
That part was a bluff.
I didn’t know whether Victor had talked.
But Thomas didn’t know that.
“What did he say?”
I saw fear.
Real fear.
“He said you were responsible.”
Thomas began shaking his head.
“No.”
“He gave them documents.”
“No.”
“He says the forged signatures were your idea.”
“No!”
“He says Richard was your recruit.”
“Richard came to me!”
There.
I had him talking.
Thomas continued.
“He was broke. He wanted money. Laura wanted revenge.”
“And Victor?”
Thomas realized what he was doing.
He stopped.
Daniel said, “It’s over.”
Thomas pressed the gun to the side of Daniel’s head.
“No.”
I froze.
“Let him go.”
“You first.”
“What?”
“Say I built Hartwell too.”
“You did.”
He stared at me.
“Say it.”
“You built Hartwell too.”
His face collapsed.
For one second, I saw my little brother again.
Then Daniel moved.
He threw his body sideways.
I lunged.
Thomas fired.
Police crashed through the doors.
I hit Thomas around the waist.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Officers piled on us.
Someone pulled me away.
I looked for Daniel.
He was lying on his side.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Daniel!”
I crawled toward him.
His eyes were open.
He gasped.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“Shoulder.”
Paramedics rushed in.
Thomas was handcuffed.
He screamed at me as officers pulled him away.
“You ruined me!”
I stared at him.
“No, Thomas.”
He stopped struggling.
“You did.”
His face twisted.
Then he was gone.
I thought the worst was finally over.
I was wrong.
While paramedics treated Daniel, Alvarez walked toward me holding Thomas’s phone.
“We found messages between Thomas and Victor.”
“Good.”
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
She turned the screen toward me.
An exchange from two months earlier.
Victor: If Robert dies before transfer, does the trust still control?
Thomas: Yes.
Victor: And if Laura is implicated?
Thomas: Emily becomes successor trustee.
I stared at the words.
Alvarez continued.
“There’s another message.”
Victor: Does Emily know?
Thomas: Not yet.
Victor: Then make sure she signs before the wedding.
My chest tightened.
Emily had not just been used to steal the company.
May you like
She had been positioned to inherit the entire conspiracy.
And according to another message on the screen, Thomas had planned to frame her for it.
