Anna asked. “We can’t go back to your penthouse. They’ll know we’re there.”
“No,” Arthur said. “We’re officially dead, at least for tonight. Silas, do you know a safe place? Somewhere with no cameras, no technology.”
The old man nodded slowly.
“I know an abandoned farm about twenty miles north. No one ever goes there. It belonged to an old friend who passed away years ago.”
“Take us there,” Arthur said. “Tomorrow, we start a war. But tonight, I need my daughter to get some sleep.”
They climbed back into the battered truck. As they drove away under the cover of the trees, Anna rested her head on her father’s shoulder. For the first time in her life, she was in mortal danger, but for the first time, she also felt completely safe.
The abandoned farmhouse was cold and silent. Arthur kicked in the lock on the front door, and they went inside. There was no electricity, but moonlight streamed through the broken windows.
“Don’t start a fire,” Arthur warned. “If they have drones looking for us, the heat signature will give us away.”
Anna sat on a dusty chair, hugging herself.
“Dad, you said Sterling knew where we were going. But he’s your lawyer. Why would he want you dead?”
“Because Sterling manages your mother’s trust,” Arthur said, checking his weapon. “With Eleanor and her heir presumed dead, full control of her shares defaults to the board of directors. Sterling has been voting my shares for twenty-three years, thinking there were no heirs.”
“And now I show up,” Anna realized, “and his game is over.”
Suddenly, Silas, who had been keeping watch by the window, made a sharp gesture.
“Mr. Blackwood, come here.”
Arthur went to his side. In the distance, on the dirt road they had come down, headlights were visible, approaching slowly.
“They found us,” Silas said, his voice trembling. “But how? We ditched the phones.”
Arthur looked at Anna, then at Silas. He walked over to the old man and ripped the leather jacket he was wearing off him.
“Hey!” Silas protested.
Arthur felt around the jacket, pulled a knife from his pocket, and slit the fabric in the collar. A small, black metal disc fell to the floor.
“A tracker,” Arthur said, crushing it with his boot. “They planted it on you at the warehouse years ago, Silas. They’ve been monitoring you all this time, waiting for someone to come asking questions.”
“We’re surrounded,” Anna said, looking out the window. Three black vehicles were encircling the house.
Arthur handed his weapon to Anna.
“Do you know how to use this?”
“No,” she said, her hands shaking.
“Point and pull the trigger if anyone comes through that door,” Arthur said. “Silas, barricade the back entrance. I’m going out.”
“They’ll kill you!” Anna cried.
“No,” Arthur said with a cold smile. “They want me to come out. Sterling wants to make sure I’m dead, and I’m about to give him the surprise of his life.”
Arthur walked out the front door with his hands raised. The headlights of the vehicles illuminated him.
“Sterling!” Arthur shouted into the darkness. “I know you’re out there. Let’s finish this.”
A figure emerged from the central vehicle. It was Sterling, immaculate even in the middle of a field, holding a pistol with a silencer.
“Nothing personal, Arthur,” the lawyer said. “But business is business, and your daughter is a billion-dollar loose end.”
“She doesn’t know anything about the business,” Arthur said, walking slowly toward him. “Let her go. Kill me, Sterling.”
Sterling laughed.
“Oh, Art, you always were sentimental. Kill them all!”
Before Sterling could finish the order, the roar of helicopter blades filled the air. A black helicopter appeared from behind the trees, flying low. A blinding searchlight illuminated the mercenaries.
“State Police!” a voice boomed from the helicopter’s loudspeaker. “Drop your weapons!”
Sterling looked up at the sky in confusion.
“What the hell…”
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