Chapter 5 - Before Sunrise
Lucas had no intention of going alone.
He also had no intention of refusing.
Nathan called federal agents.
The plan formed quickly.
Too quickly for Lucas's liking.
But dawn was less than six hours away.
The industrial property was an abandoned aircraft-parts warehouse once owned by a Vale subsidiary.
Martin knew every entrance.
Every camera angle.
Every weakness.
Nathan knew enough of Martin's methods to understand the obvious approaches were likely watched.
“You walk in,” Nathan said. “We stay invisible until we have confirmation Robert and Peter are alive.”
“And if Martin searches me?”
“He will.”
“So no transmitter.”
“Not one he'll find.”
Nathan opened a small case.
Inside was a button.
It looked ordinary.
“Passive beacon. No transmission until remotely activated.”
Lucas replaced one coat button with it.
Claire watched from the doorway.
“You're actually doing this.”
Lucas looked at her.
“Yes.”
“That wasn't a question.”
“I know.”
She walked closer.
“What happens if he kills you anyway?”
Lucas had no answer.
Claire's eyes were angry.
Not because she wanted to control him.
Because she was afraid.
For him.
That realization did something painful and hopeful at the same time.
“I spent three years hating you,” she whispered.
Lucas looked at her.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
Her voice trembled.
“I hated you every time Evan got sick and I sat alone in an emergency room. I hated you when Lily said ‘daddy’ because she heard another child say it. I hated you every birthday.”
Lucas swallowed.
“You had every reason.”
“And now I find out you didn't know.”
He said nothing.
Claire wiped one tear away angrily.
“I don't know where to put all that hate.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“You don't have to put it anywhere tonight.”
“What if tonight is all we get?”
The question hit him harder than Martin's threats.
Lucas looked upstairs.
“My children are asleep.”
“Yes.”
“I've known they're mine for a few hours.”
“Yes.”
“And I've already missed almost three years.”
Claire's face softened.
Lucas continued.
“I won't choose to miss the rest.”
“Then don't go.”
“My father came looking for you because he was trying to protect them.”
“That doesn't mean he wants you dead.”
“No.”
Lucas touched her hand.
“But it means I don't leave him there.”
Claire closed her fingers around his.
For several seconds, they stood without speaking.
Then she stepped forward and hugged him.
Lucas held her.
It was not romantic.
Not yet.
It was two people standing inside the ruins of what someone else had destroyed.
When they separated, Claire said, “Come back.”
Lucas nodded.
“I will.”
He left at 3:48 a.m.
The warehouse sat near frozen railroad tracks.
Snow had begun falling.
Lucas parked where Martin instructed.
He carried the flash drive.
Not the original.
Nathan had cloned it.
Lucas entered through a side door.
Martin waited inside.
He looked older than Lucas remembered.
Gray hair.
Heavy coat.
No visible weapon.
Which meant nothing.
“Lucas.”
“Where's my father?”
Martin smiled.
“Always impatient.”
“Where is he?”
“Flash drive.”
“Father first.”
Martin studied him.
“You've changed.”
“No.”
“You have children now.”
Lucas's jaw tightened.
Martin noticed.
“That made it real, didn't it?”
“What?”
“The vulnerability.”
“You watched them.”
“I watched everyone.”
“You threatened Claire.”
“I warned her.”
“You stole letters.”
“Yes.”
The casual admission almost caused Lucas to cross the distance between them.
Martin saw it.
“Don't.”
Lucas stopped.
“You manipulated her phone.”
“Yes.”
“Filed false security reports.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Martin shrugged.
“Because you were useful when isolated.”
Lucas stared.
“Useful to who?”
“To a great many people.”
“Armitage?”
“Among others.”
“What did Peter have to do with it?”
Martin's expression showed contempt.
“Peter is weak.”
“Yet you used him.”
“Weak people are extremely useful.”
“Did you kill Daniel?”
For the first time, Martin's expression changed.
Not guilt.
Annoyance.
“Your brother was reckless.”
“Did you kill him?”
“He found information that would have destroyed several powerful men.”
“He was nineteen.”
“He was old enough to understand warnings.”
Lucas's hands clenched.
“What did you do to his car?”
Martin smiled.
That smile gave Lucas his answer before words could.
“I loosened a brake line.”
Lucas crossed the room.
Martin produced a pistol.
“Stop.”
Lucas stopped.
Every part of him wanted to keep moving.
Martin held the weapon steadily.
“He wasn't supposed to die.”
Lucas stared at him.
“You expect that to matter?”
“No.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because truth matters to you.”
Martin smiled faintly.
“That's why you're so easy to manipulate.”
“Where is my father?”
“Upstairs.”
“And Peter?”
“Alive.”
“Show me.”
Martin gestured with the gun.
Lucas climbed.
At the mezzanine level, Robert sat tied to a chair.
Peter was beside him.
Blood marked Peter's forehead.
Robert looked at Lucas.
Anger filled his face.
“I told you not to come.”
Lucas almost laughed.
“Good to see you too.”
Martin followed.
“Family reunions are touching.”
Robert glared at him.
“You're finished.”
“No.”
Martin lifted the pistol.
“You are.”
Lucas held up the flash drive.
“If you kill him, you don't get this.”
Martin looked at it.
“Give it to me.”
“Let them go.”
“No.”
“Then shoot me and spend the rest of your life wondering where the other copies are.”
Martin's expression tightened.
Lucas smiled.
“You didn't think my father kept one copy, did you?”
Robert caught on immediately.
“He doesn't know.”
Martin looked between them.
Lucas continued.
“The FBI has Daniel's files.”
That was not entirely true.
Not yet.
Nathan's team had transferred copies to federal agents less than an hour earlier.
By now, perhaps it was true.
Martin raised the pistol toward Lucas.
“You're bluffing.”
“Pull the trigger and find out.”
Silence.
Then a sound came from below.
Metal striking concrete.
Martin turned instinctively.
Lucas moved.
He slammed into Martin's gun arm.
The weapon fired.
Robert shouted.
Peter threw himself sideways.
Lucas and Martin crashed into a railing.
Martin was stronger than his age suggested.
He drove his elbow into Lucas's ribs.
Lucas hit him back.
The pistol slid across the floor.
Martin reached for it.
Lucas caught his coat.
Martin twisted.
A second gun appeared from his ankle holster.
Then windows shattered.
Nathan's team entered from two sides.
“DROP IT!”
Martin grabbed Lucas.
Gun against his throat.
Everyone froze.
Martin backed toward the stairs.
“Stay where you are.”
Nathan held his weapon steady.
“It's over.”
“Nothing is over.”
Martin dragged Lucas backward.
Then Robert did something insane.
He kicked the loose pistol across the floor.
Peter grabbed it.
Martin turned.
That half-second saved Lucas.
Lucas drove his head backward into Martin's face.
The gun discharged into the ceiling.
Nathan's team rushed them.
Seconds later, Martin lay face-down on the floor.
Handcuffed.
Bleeding from the nose.
Alive.
Lucas knelt.
Not beside Martin.
Beside Robert.
Nathan cut the restraints.
Robert grabbed Lucas's shoulders.
“You idiot.”
Lucas laughed breathlessly.
“Genetic.”
Robert hugged him.
For seventeen years, the Vale men had handled grief by refusing to touch it.
Now they held each other while federal agents filled the warehouse.
Peter sat nearby, crying.
Martin said nothing.
When dawn arrived, Lucas walked outside.
Snow covered the cars.
Claire called.
Lucas answered.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Your father?”
“Alive.”
Peter had surrendered documents.
Martin had confessed enough on recorded surveillance to connect himself to Daniel's sabotaged vehicle.
There would be investigations.
Trials.
Shareholder chaos.
Headlines.
Lucas did not care.
Not yet.
“I'll be there soon.”
Claire exhaled.
“Evan woke up.”
Lucas smiled.
“Did he?”
“He wants to know whether you have pancakes.”
“I can buy pancakes.”
“He says buying them doesn't count.”
Lucas laughed.
For the first time in years, it felt real.
Then Claire became quiet.
“What?”
“Lucas…”
Her tone changed.
“What happened?”
“I went to wake Lily.”
Lucas stopped smiling.
“What?”
“She wouldn't wake up properly.”
His heart froze.
“Claire.”
May you like
“Her lips looked blue.”
Lucas dropped everything and ran toward Nathan's car.
