Chapter 5 - The Descent"Find her!" Richard barked at the guards. "The basement leads to the lower service tunnels! If she gets out to the main road with those notes, the board will delay the stock transfer!"
Two guards bolted out of the room, their heavy boots thundering down the carpeted hallway.
I struggled against the two guards holding me down, but their grip was iron-clad. Martin wiped a line of sweat from his forehead, his face pale. "Richard, if the kid reaches the green books in the air duct before we catch her..."
"Shut up, Martin!" Richard hissed. He turned to look at me, his eyes full of long-simmering resentment. "You always thought you were the smart one, didn't you, Andrew? The visionary. The builder. You built an empire and left me to handle the scraps. You gave me a title with no real power."
"I gave you everything you asked for!" I said, straining against my captors. "I paid off your debts! I gave you a seat on my board!"
"You threw me scraps from your table!" Richard yelled, his composure breaking for a fraction of a second. "Well, tonight I take the table."
He pointed to Helen. "Take her down to the wine cellar. Lock her in. If the child doesn't come out voluntarily, we'll see how long the mother stays quiet."
"No! Andrew, please!" Helen cried as a guard grabbed her arm, dragging her out of the study.
"Richard, don't do this!" I shouted. "She has nothing to do with this!"
"She's the reason you found out, Andrew," Richard said coldly. "She brought the poison into your house."
Richard pulled a small syringe from an inner pocket. He stepped toward me while the two guards held my arms locked tightly behind my back.
"What is that?" I demanded.
"A mild sedative," Richard said, tapping the needle to clear air bubbles. "Just enough to make you look thoroughly unhinged and incoherent when the police arrive to report your 'breakdown'. By the time it wears off tomorrow afternoon, the emergency voting paperwork will be filed with the SEC."
He stepped forward, plunging the needle into my neck.
A burning sensation shot through my shoulder, followed by a wave of intense, icy coldness that spread rapidly down my spine. My knees buckled. My vision began to blur at the edges, darkening like a dying lightbulb.
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"Get him to the master bedroom," I heard Richard command from a great distance. "Lock the doors. Set the scene."
As my body hit the floor, my senses fading into blackness, the last thing I heard was the distant, echoing sound of a heavy steel door slamming shut in the basement below.
