Chapter 53 - Father’s Sins
Arthur led us not toward the elevator, but deep into the labyrinth of the cold annex from which he had emerged. Behind a stack of rusted steel barrels containing emergency rations dated 1968, he operated a hidden lever disguised as an electrical conduit. A vertical crawlway opened into the living bedrock, equipped with a counterweighted wire basket designed for emergency egress.
"This shaft bypasses the cellar entirely," Arthur explained as Evelyn stepped into the cage, holding her rifle ready. "It terminates inside the hollow cavity of the great stone fireplace in the master study. Richard thinks he’s hunting rabbits in a hole. He doesn't know the rabbit has a tunnel into his bedroom."
We squeezed into the narrow cage, the wire rope groaning under our combined weight as Arthur released the manual friction brake. We began to rise slowly through the absolute dark of the mountain's core. The smell of burning wood and cordite grew stronger with every foot we ascended.
Through the stone wall, I could hear voices. My father’s voice, sharp, terrified, and hysterical, came echoing down the chimney flues.
"I don't care if there are bodies down there, Sterling!" Richard was screaming. "Blow the foundation if you have to! The boy is down there with the master codes! If he leaks the second tier of the broadcast, my name is on the front page of the Washington Post by sunrise!"
A colder, smoother voice replied—the man named Sterling, the Syndicate's field commander. "Your name is already worthless, Richard. The broadcast dumped your private transactions with the cartel three minutes ago. The only reason you are still breathing is because your wife convinced our board that she knows the combination to Arthur Vance’s personal safe."
"She does!" Richard shouted desperately. "Eleanor knows everything Arthur kept in that desk!"
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Inside the ascending cage, Arthur leaned toward my ear. His breath was cold, his voice a ghost’s whisper against my skin. "Your mother never knew the combination, Julian. Because what was in the safe wasn't a code. It was a mirror."
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