Chapter 13 - The Voice in the Shadows
The voice sent a jolt of ice straight down Julian’s spine. It wasn't Marcus, and it wasn't Victoria. It was a voice he had trusted with the most sensitive legal and financial operations of Blackwood Enterprises for over a decade.
"Attorney Vance," Arthur Pendelton said smoothly, stepping out from the shadows of the maintenance corridor and aiming a silenced pistol directly at the open ventilation junction. "I must admit, you are far more resilient than your late wife. Unfortunately, persistence is a very dangerous trait in this family."
Clara gasped, clamping her hand over her mouth to silence any sound as she stared down at the polished corporate lawyer standing below them in an expensive charcoal suit that looked entirely out of place in a dusty basement corridor.
"Pendelton," Julian snarled, his voice vibrating with restrained fury as he peered down from the duct opening. "You orchestrated the entire offshore embezzlement scheme. You helped Victoria and Marcus forge the land deeds and frame Sarah for a crime she never committed."
"I merely facilitated the natural transition of power," Pendelton replied with a cold, professional smile, adjusting his gold-rimmed spectacles. "Blackwood Enterprises was stagnant under your father, and your late wife was too soft to expand our international portfolio. Victoria and Marcus understood the necessary sacrifices required to build an empire. You, however, became a liability the moment you started asking questions about the smart-home logs."
"You're the one who locked us in the vault," Clara whispered angrily from beside Julian, her voice carrying down through the metal grate. "You were the accomplice waiting outside while the federal raid went down!"
Pendelton glanced up toward the duct, his eyes narrowing slightly as he cocked the hammer of his silenced pistol. "Ah, the observant maid. I was wondering when you would realize that low-level employees should stick to cleaning floors rather than meddling in corporate espionage. Step back away from the opening, Julian. If you drop down peacefully, we can negotiate terms for your retirement in a tropical facility far away from here. If you resist, well... accidents happen in old mansions all the time."
Julian looked sideways at Clara, his dark eyes communicating a silent, desperate plan. He shifted his weight slowly, pretending to prepare to drop down into the corridor, while his right hand slid down to his ankle holster where a small backup hunting knife was securely strapped.
"You really think the federal police won't trace this back to you, Pendelton?" Julian stalled, keeping the lawyer's attention fixed upward. "The entire archive in the sub-basement has already been accessed and logged by the investigative team."
"The archive was set to incinerate the moment the secondary door was locked," Pendelton corrected with a confident smirk. "By now, the entire vault—along with every piece of incriminating evidence—has been reduced to ash."
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As Pendelton finished the sentence, Julian drew the hunting knife from his ankle sheath with blinding speed and hurled it directly downward like a thrown spear.
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