Chapter 6 - Plant FourVance Aeronautical Plant Four sat twenty miles outside town behind rusted fencing and a row of dead security lights.
Officially, it had closed nine years earlier after production moved to a larger facility.
Unofficially, someone had been paying the electricity bill.
Agent Chen discovered that before dawn.
By 5:30 a.m., federal agents had surrounded the property.
Audrey was ordered to remain behind the perimeter.
She obeyed.
For almost six minutes.
Then an explosion shook the eastern side of the building.
Flames erupted through an upper window.
Audrey jumped from the command vehicle.
“Stay back!” an agent shouted.
She ignored him.
Julian grabbed her arm.
“Audrey!”
“My grandmother could be inside!”
Chen ran past them toward the entry team.
Smoke began pouring through the roof.
Fire crews moved forward.
Then a man staggered from a side door.
Audrey recognized him.
Dr. Malcolm Reed.
Blood ran from his temple.
His shirt was torn.
He collapsed on the pavement.
Audrey ran.
Reed looked up.
“Don’t…”
“What happened?”
He grabbed her sleeve.
“Arthur.”
Audrey froze.
“He’s here?”
Reed coughed.
“Was.”
Chen knelt beside him.
“Where did he go?”
Reed struggled to breathe.
“South tunnel.”
Julian arrived.
“There’s a tunnel?”
Reed nodded weakly.
“Old utility access.”
Audrey stared.
“My grandmother?”
Reed closed his eyes.
“Alive.”
Audrey nearly collapsed.
“Where?”
“Arthur moved her.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“Where?”
Reed’s grip tightened.
“I don’t know.”
Audrey’s fury surged.
“You helped him hide her.”
Reed opened his eyes.
“Yes.”
Colonel Hale arrived behind them.
His expression turned hard.
“Malcolm?”
Reed looked at him.
“I deserve that.”
Audrey stepped closer.
“You signed papers saying my grandmother was incompetent.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a coward.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only honest one.”
Audrey wanted to scream.
Instead, she knelt.
“Tell me everything.”
Reed looked toward the burning plant.
“Your grandfather Samuel discovered Arthur was using company vendors to launder money. He planned to remove Arthur as CEO.”
“Then Grandpa died.”
“Yes.”
Audrey stared.
“Was it natural?”
Reed looked away.
That was the answer.
Julian whispered, “Oh God.”
Audrey’s voice became barely audible.
“Did my father kill him?”
“I don’t know.”
“But?”
“Samuel’s heart medication was missing after his death.”
Audrey went cold.
Arthur had told everyone Samuel died peacefully in his sleep.
Reed continued.
“Eleanor became suspicious.”
“So you helped Arthur discredit her.”
“I signed documents.”
“Why?”
“He had evidence against my son.”
Audrey stared.
“Your son?”
Reed nodded.
“He had gambling debts. Arthur arranged loans. Then my son embezzled money trying to repay them.”
The pattern.
Desperation.
Debt.
Blackmail.
Control.
Arthur had built his empire from other people’s weakest moments.
Reed coughed again.
“I told myself I was protecting my boy.”
“And you destroyed my grandmother.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
No defense.
For some reason, Reed’s admission made Audrey angrier.
“Where is she?”
“I helped Eleanor escape eventually.”
Audrey blinked.
“What?”
“Three years ago.”
“Grace said Peter did.”
“Peter drove. I provided access codes.”
Audrey stared.
“Then why didn’t you report Arthur?”
“Because Eleanor asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“She believed Arthur would retaliate against you.”
Audrey stood.
“Everyone keeps saying they protected me while making decisions that ruined my life.”
Reed looked ashamed.
“She planned to wait until your graduation.”
“The inheritance condition.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew I was at Westbridge.”
“From the day you applied.”
Audrey stared.
“You accepted me?”
“You earned admission.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because if Arthur learned Eleanor and I were communicating—”
Audrey turned away.
She could not hear more justifications.
Chen’s radio crackled.
“Agent Chen, we found the south access.”
She stood.
“Talk later.”
Firefighters entered the building as tactical agents moved toward the tunnel.
Twenty minutes later, they discovered two underground rooms.
One contained financial servers.
The other contained surveillance equipment.
Hundreds of files.
Audio recordings.
Photographs.
Arthur had been collecting information on employees, politicians, vendors, attorneys—even family members.
Julian stared at a wall of photographs.
His own face appeared dozens of times.
College parties.
Restaurants.
Hotel entrances.
Audrey stood beside him.
“He was watching you too.”
Julian’s voice cracked.
“All these years.”
Audrey looked at her own file.
Westbridge schedules.
Dorm photographs.
Medical visits.
Exam dates.
Even a photograph of Paige hugging her after a difficult field exercise.
Arthur had turned their lives into intelligence reports.
Chen approached carrying a folder.
“You both need to see this.”
Inside were financial transfers.
Millions had moved through North Meridian Holdings.
Payments to officials.
Attorneys.
Private investigators.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Victoria Vance.
Audrey stared.
“My mother wasn’t just signing papers.”
“No.”
Chen pointed.
“She appears to have controlled several accounts.”
Julian whispered, “Mom hates business.”
“Apparently not enough to avoid profiting from it.”
Audrey turned pages.
Then found another name.
A trust account.
Beneficiary: Audrey Vance.
Balance: $3.8 million.
She stared.
“What is this?”
Chen looked closer.
“It appears money was being accumulated under your identity.”
“I didn’t create this.”
Julian frowned.
“Why would Dad put money in Audrey’s name after stealing from her?”
Audrey understood first.
“He wasn’t saving it for me.”
Chen nodded slowly.
“He may have been using your identity as a future scapegoat.”
Audrey felt nauseated.
If authorities ever discovered the laundering, Arthur could point toward accounts under Audrey’s name.
The unstable daughter.
The dropout.
The failure.
The child he had publicly discredited for years.
That was why they told everyone Audrey had failed.
They had been building a narrative.
Julian saw it too.
“You weren’t just supposed to lose Westbridge.”
“No.”
Audrey stared at the documents.
“I was supposed to take the fall.”
A computer technician called Chen.
“We recovered deleted files.”
“What kind?”
“Video.”
One clip displayed a date from eight years earlier.
The night Samuel Vance died.
Audrey stared at the screen.
The footage came from inside Samuel’s home office.
Arthur entered.
Samuel stood beside his desk.
There was no audio.
The two men argued.
Samuel pointed toward the door.
Arthur refused.
Then Victoria entered.
Audrey’s mother.
She carried a glass of water.
Samuel took it.
The video jumped.
Ten minutes later, Samuel collapsed.
Audrey stopped breathing.
Julian whispered, “Mom gave him that.”
Chen’s expression hardened.
“Video alone won’t establish what was in the glass.”
“But—”
“I know.”
Another recovered file appeared.
Audio.
Different date.
Eleanor’s voice.
Audrey recognized it instantly.
“I know what you did to Samuel.”
Arthur answered.
“You know nothing.”
“I saw Victoria replace his medication.”
Audrey gripped the table.
Arthur’s voice sharpened.
“You need rest.”
“I need police.”
“You will never make that call.”
The recording ended.
Julian sat down.
Audrey felt hollow.
Her parents had not simply stolen.
They may have killed.
Chen’s phone rang.
She answered.
Then her posture changed.
“Repeat that.”
Audrey watched.
Chen turned toward them.
“Arthur’s vehicle was found abandoned.”
“Where?”
“Outside the county.”
“Any sign of Grandma?”
“No.”
Audrey clenched her fists.
Then Chen continued.
“There was blood in the back seat.”
Audrey’s chest tightened.
“How much?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Julian asked, “Whose?”
“Testing.”
Another agent hurried into the room.
“Chen.”
He handed her a printed alert.
Chen read it.
Her face hardened.
“What?”
Audrey demanded.
Chen looked up.
“A private jet registered to a Vance subsidiary filed an emergency flight plan forty minutes ago.”
“Destination?”
“Montreal.”
Julian shook his head.
“Dad’s running.”
Chen pointed to another line.
“The manifest lists three passengers.”
Audrey already knew.
“Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Chen hesitated.
Then gave her the name.
May you like
“Eleanor Vance.”
Audrey ran for the door.
