Chapter 13 - Five Minutes of Air
Chloe cursed and ran to the ventilation controls. “He has access to the building systems.”
“Can you override him?” Elena asked.
“Not from here.”
Oliver examined the console. The archive's old wiring connected to Aurelia's lighting system, which connected to the public grid. A narrow status line blinked across the screen.
“The oxygen isn't being cut,” he said. “The system is cycling into maintenance mode.”
“Which still means people stop breathing,” Chloe replied.
“Unless the alarm is false.”
He found a second connection hidden behind the fire-control panel. The system was broadcasting a prerecorded warning to every floor while the ventilation remained active.
“He wants us to panic,” Oliver said.
Elena reached for the emergency release. “Then we give him panic.”
She triggered the tower's full evacuation alarm. Doors opened throughout the basement. Thousands of people began moving toward the exits, forcing Sebastian's control system to unlock every public channel.
Chloe seized the console. “I can trace the signal.”
They followed it to a remote server registered to a Vale Meridian charity in Portland. The charity appeared legitimate, but its directors were three shell companies listed in Peter's ledger.
“Voss built a private bank,” Oliver said. “Sebastian signed the approvals.”
“And my father let it happen,” Elena said.
They escaped the basement as firefighters entered. On the plaza outside, workers streamed from the tower beneath umbrellas. Reporters gathered behind barricades, already hungry for the story.
Sebastian stood among them in a navy coat, calm as a man watching weather.
“Elena,” he called. “You should resign before the board removes you.”
“You set the fire.”
“Prove it.”
Oliver stepped beside her. “We can prove more than that.”
Sebastian looked at him. “You are Peter Parker's son.”
The knowledge in his eyes confirmed everything Oliver feared.
“You knew my father,” Oliver said.
“I knew of him.”
“You knew he was investigating Voss.”
Sebastian smiled. “Your father was not a hero. He wanted money.”
Grace pushed through the crowd. “You are lying.”
Sebastian's gaze moved to her. “You always did confuse guilt with virtue.”
Elena's hand found Oliver's. It was not a romantic gesture. It was an admission that she needed someone beside her.
“The board meets tomorrow,” Sebastian said. “When I become interim chief executive, your family will lose everything.”
“Not everything,” Chloe said.
She held up the memory chip.
Sebastian's face changed.
Oliver looked at her. “I thought Elena had it.”
“She gave it to me.”
Elena nodded. “We split the evidence. No one person can be forced to surrender all of it.”
For the first time, Oliver saw the beginning of a different Elena: still powerful, still frightening, but learning not to hold every weapon alone.
A police cruiser pulled up. Two detectives approached Grace.
“Mrs. Parker,” one said, “we need you to come with us. Robert Kincaid has been found alive.”
Grace's knees nearly gave way.
May you like
“Where?” Oliver asked.
The detective glanced at Elena. “He was discovered inside the Vale family mausoleum.”
