Chapter 14
THE SECRETS OF THE EAST WING
The midnight air inside Calder Manor was chillingly silent.
The tactical sweep team moved ahead with flashlights drawn.
Bastian and Mira walked closely behind the armed security guards.
They descended the steep, stone stairs leading into the sub-basement.
The air down here smelled damp, ancient, and metallic.
Cobwebs hung heavily from the exposed brick arches overhead.
They reached the heavy iron door that was supposedly locked.
It stood slightly ajar, a faint sliver of yellow light spilling out.
"Hold your positions," the head security officer whispered.
He pushed the heavy iron door open with the barrel of his rifle.
The beam of tactical light swept across the hidden room.
It wasn't a dungeon or a torture chamber as they feared.
It was a high-tech surveillance and communications command center.
Countless computer monitors lined the damp stone walls.
Live feeds of every room in the mansion blinked on the screens.
Including Evan’s hospital room at St. Jude’s Memorial.
At the center of the room sat an elderly man in a wheelchair.
He wore an expensive cashmere sweater, his back turned to them.
A rhythmic tapping of a cane echoed off the stone floor.
"Welcome back to my ancestral home, Bastian," the old man rasped.
He slowly wheeled his chair around to face them.
His face bore a striking, chilling resemblance to Rosalyn.
Arthur Voss.
The man supposedly dead in a Zurich hospital bed.
Bastian stepped forward, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Arthur," Bastian said, his voice deadly and cold.
"You staged your own death to orchestrate this petty revenge."
Arthur Voss let out a wheezing, triumphant laugh.
"Death is such a useful tool when you want to disappear, Bastian."
"You thought you won the corporate war three years ago."
"You stripped my company, broke my heart, and left me to rot."
"So I decided to strip you of everything you hold dear."
"First your fiancée turned against you."
"Then your archive curator betrayed your trust."
"And now... your precious little boy."
Arthur pressed a red button on the control console beside his chair.
Mira gasped as one of the monitors flared red.
"What did you do?" Mira screamed, stepping forward.
"Nothing yet," Arthur smiled wickedly.
"Just a remote timer set to trigger a localized gas valve at St. Jude’s."
"Unless you sign over full control of Calder Enterprises to me right now."
Bastian stared at the old man with absolute, chilling calm.
He didn't panic. He didn't hesitate.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out his own phone.
"You made one fatal miscalculation, Arthur," Bastian said smoothly.
Arthur frowned, his smile faltering slightly.
"What are you talking about?"
"I knew you were alive the moment Rosalyn mentioned Zurich," Bastian replied.
"My private security team traced your offshore communications two hours ago."
"The tactical team didn't just clear the manor tonight, Arthur."
"They raided your primary broadcast relay station in Geneva thirty minutes ago."
Bastian tapped his screen and held it up for the old man to see.
A live video feed showed federal agents dismantling Arthur’s server farm.
Arthur’s face drained of every last drop of color.
His hands trembled violently against the armrests of his wheelchair.
"No..." Arthur whispered in absolute disbelief.
"That’s impossible... I encrypted everything!"
"Not against a Calder," Bastian said coldly.
Mira looked at Bastian with profound respect and admiration.
The tactical officers moved in instantly, slapping cuffs on Arthur Voss.
May you like
The mastermind of the entire conspiracy was finally defeated.
[Cliffhanger: As Arthur is dragged away, he whispers one final warning about a hidden safeguard that will detonate the entire estate at dawn.]
