Chapter 12 - The Shadow in the House

Clutching a brass fireplace poker, Daniel crept down the silent, dark hallway. A sliver of cold blue light spilled from the cracked door of his study. Someone was inside his home, using his private terminal. Daniel kicked the door wide open, his voice roaring through the hallway. "Freeze!" The figure turned around slowly, bathed in the glow of the monitor. It was not an intruder or a hired thug. Standing beside the open floor safe was Arthur Pendelton—Daniel's personal attorney, financial executor, and closest friend of thirty-five years.