Chapter 3 - The Secret Beneath Ashford House
Damon recognized Walter before the old man spoke.
Age had carved deep lines into his face, but the eyes were unchanged.
“Hello, Damon.”
Marcus moved between them.
Walter lifted both hands.
“I’m not armed.”
“Eleven years dead and you’re concerned about manners?” Damon said.
Walter looked tired.
“My death was necessary.”
“For whom?”
“You.”
Eleanor closed the door.
Damon stared at her.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because keeping you angry was safer than keeping you informed.”
Damon laughed once without humor.
“Try again.”
Walter placed his cane against the desk.
“Your father discovered someone was systematically stripping Ashford companies through hidden accounts. He asked me to investigate.”
“The protection fund.”
“Was money your parents moved beyond the reach of the person stealing from you.”
“Who?”
Walter looked toward Lily.
“Not in front of the child.”
Naomi immediately picked Lily up.
“We’ll go.”
Lily protested.
“But I’m boss.”
Despite everything, Damon almost smiled.
“You’re on lunch break.”
Naomi carried her out.
Walter waited until the door closed.
“Your grandfather.”
Damon stared at him.
“My grandfather died twenty years ago.”
“Officially.”
Marcus stiffened.
Damon’s patience snapped.
“Stop speaking in riddles.”
Walter explained.
Arthur Ashford had built the family empire but had become obsessed with controlling it. When Damon’s father Thomas tried to separate the legitimate companies from Arthur’s hidden financial operations, father and son became enemies.
Arthur disappeared during an overseas sailing accident.
No body had been recovered.
Two years later, Damon’s parents began receiving threats.
“They were going to expose him,” Walter said.
“And their plane crashed.”
“Yes.”
“Did Arthur kill them?”
“We never proved it.”
Damon looked at Eleanor.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“And you let me believe my parents died in an accident.”
“You were fifteen.”
“I’m forty-one now.”
“And until yesterday, Arthur believed you knew nothing.”
Damon understood.
“Lily saw someone else.”
Walter nodded.
“The man entering the archive wasn’t always me.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Who?”
Walter opened his coat and removed a small notebook.
“Arthur has people inside the household.”
Names filled the pages.
Contractors.
Security employees.
Accountants.
Executives.
Damon scanned them.
Then stopped.
Marcus Reed.
Damon slowly raised his eyes.
Marcus stared at the notebook.
“That’s not possible.”
Walter stepped back.
Damon looked at the man he had trusted for six years.
“Marcus?”
“I’ve never worked for Arthur Ashford.”
Walter said quietly, “Someone using your credentials has.”
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“We can verify every access.”
The lights went out.
Lily screamed somewhere down the hall.
Naomi shouted.
Damon ran.
Emergency lighting flickered on.
Naomi stood outside her room.
“Lily!”
Damon’s blood turned cold.
“Where is she?”
“She was right beside me!”
A small pink bow lay on the floor.
The service passage stood open.
Damon grabbed it.
Then they heard Lily’s voice from somewhere below.
“Mama!”
They ran toward the hidden stairs.
At the bottom sat Lily.
Alone.
Unhurt.
Naomi swept her into her arms.
“Why did you come down here?”
Lily pointed into the tunnel.
“The other boss told me.”
Damon crouched.
“What other boss?”
“The old man.”
“Walter?”
“No.”
She pointed into the darkness.
“The older one.”
A light appeared at the far end of the passage.
A wheelchair rolled slowly into view.
An elderly man sat inside it.
Damon had seen that face in portraits his entire childhood.
Arthur Ashford smiled.
“My grandson.”
May you like
Then he lifted a remote control.
And every steel security door in the tunnel slammed shut.
