Chapter 5 - The Voice Inside the Walls
Ethan lunged toward the wall.
The portrait had returned to its original position.
The painted face of his mother stared down at him.
Lily’s scream came from behind it.
“Daddy!”
He struck the canvas with both hands.
“Lily!”
A heavy locking mechanism turned inside the wall.
Victor grabbed the edge of the frame.
“It sealed automatically.”
“Open it.”
“I can’t.”
Ethan seized him by the throat.
“Open it!”
Victor struggled to breathe.
“The key.”
Ethan released him.
The brass key lay beneath the desk where Marcus had dropped it.
Naomi picked it up.
She pressed it against the metal crown hidden in the painted lily.
Nothing happened.
She turned it.
Still nothing.
Victor stepped closer.
“It resets from inside.”
Ethan struck the wall.
“Lily!”
Her voice came faintly through the stone.
“I’m here!”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What do you see?”
A pause followed.
“Grandpa is sleeping.”
The machine had stopped beeping.
Ethan looked at Victor.
“What happens when the medication stops?”
Victor wiped blood from his mouth.
“He dies.”
“Then get the room open.”
“I told you I can’t.”
Price examined the frame.
“There has to be another entrance.”
Victor looked toward the floor.
Ethan saw it.
“There is.”
Victor remained silent.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Where?”
“The gallery was designed with two exits.”
“And the second one?”
Victor looked toward the western wall.
“Inside my mother’s chapel.”
Ethan remembered the private chapel near the rose garden.
It had been locked since their mother’s death.
“How do we get there?”
“Through the courtyard.”
Price spoke into his radio.
“Send two deputies to the chapel.”
Static answered.
He tried again.
No response.
Naomi checked her phone.
“No signal.”
The lights flickered.
Then the entire gallery went dark.
Emergency lights glowed red along the floor.
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
“He started the lockdown.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
Ethan stared at the hidden wall.
“You said he was dying.”
“He has been dying for six years.”
A mechanical voice sounded through hidden speakers.
“Security protocol initiated.”
Steel shutters descended over the gallery windows.
Doors slammed throughout the estate.
The floor vibrated.
Price tried his radio again.
Only static responded.
Victor backed away from the portrait.
“No.”
Ethan turned.
“What is happening?”
“The house is sealing.”
“Why?”
Victor’s face had gone pale.
“Because Charles thinks the ledger has been compromised.”
Ethan looked at the memory card trapped inside with Lily.
“What does the security protocol do?”
Victor stared toward the hallway.
“It removes evidence.”
A deep explosion sounded beneath the floor.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Naomi looked toward the foyer.
“The basement.”
Another explosion followed.
Closer.
Ethan pressed his hands against the portrait.
“Lily!”
“I’m here!”
“Listen carefully.”
His voice remained calm despite the panic tearing through him.
“You need to find another door.”
“I can’t see.”
“Use the light on the desk.”
“It won’t turn on.”
Charles groaned faintly behind the wall.
Lily’s voice trembled.
“Grandpa woke up.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“Can he speak?”
A long pause.
Then Charles’s voice came through the wall.
“Ethan.”
“Open the door.”
“I cannot.”
“Then tell Lily how.”
“The room is under manual seal.”
Ethan struck the wall.
“You built it.”
“Yes.”
“Then unbuild it.”
Charles began coughing.
The sound became wet and violent.
Lily started crying.
“Grandpa has blood on his mouth.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Charles, listen to me.”
His father’s breathing came weakly through the stone.
“You will not die with my daughter in that room.”
Charles laughed faintly.
“You sound like me.”
“I am nothing like you.”
“No.”
Charles paused.
“You are better.”
The words gave Ethan no comfort.
“Tell her how to escape.”
“The memory card.”
Ethan looked at the blank ledger on the floor.
“What about it?”
“It contains the override.”
Lily spoke from inside.
“I have the little black piece.”
Charles coughed again.
“Place it inside the desk.”
Ethan pressed closer.
“Lily, look at the desk.”
“I see a small hole.”
“Put the card inside.”
Silence followed.
Then Lily spoke.
“It went in.”
A soft electronic tone sounded behind the wall.
The portrait remained closed.
Charles whispered.
“It needs authorization.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Ethan waited.
Nothing happened.
“Then authorize it.”
Charles’s voice weakened.
“I no longer have access.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“He locked himself out of his own empire.”
Ethan turned on him.
“Who has access?”
Victor looked away.
“Marcus.”
Naomi shook her head.
“He was taken into custody.”
A gunshot sounded from somewhere near the front of the estate.
Then several more.
Price raised his weapon.
“He may not be in custody anymore.”
The hidden speakers crackled.
Marcus’s voice filled the gallery.
“Charles.”
Everyone looked upward.
“You really should have updated your security.”
Victor moved toward the door.
Steel bars dropped across the exit.
They were trapped.
Marcus continued.
“You kept the old family protocols because you thought tradition made you immortal.”
Charles answered through the wall.
“You will never control the Crown.”
Marcus laughed.
“I already do.”
The red emergency lights pulsed.
Ethan shouted toward the speaker.
“Let Lily out.”
“Give me the card.”
“It is inside the room.”
“I know.”
“Then you cannot have it.”
Marcus’s voice became colder.
“I do not need to enter the room.”
A metallic hiss sounded from behind the portrait.
Lily coughed.
Ethan’s blood turned cold.
“What did you do?”
Marcus spoke calmly.
“The hidden room has an air filtration system.”
Victor stared at the wall.
“No.”
Naomi looked at him.
“What?”
Victor stepped backward.
“He is flooding it.”
“With what?”
Victor whispered.
“Sedative gas.”
Ethan slammed both fists against the portrait.
“Lily, cover your mouth!”
“I’m sleepy.”
“Do not close your eyes.”
Charles’s voice came faintly.
“Ethan.”
“Save her.”
“I can.”
“Then do it.”
“I need your authorization.”
Ethan stared at the wall.
“For what?”
“To activate the final protocol.”
Victor’s expression changed instantly.
“No.”
Ethan turned toward him.
“What is it?”
Victor shook his head.
“Do not answer.”
Charles’s voice came again.
“Ethan Cole.”
The formal use of his name felt ceremonial.
Old.
Dangerous.
“Do you accept control of the Whitmore Crown?”
Victor moved toward Ethan.
Naomi blocked him.
“Do not say yes.”
Ethan looked at the portrait.
Lily coughed again.
“Does accepting open the room?”
“Yes.”
“Then I accept.”
Victor screamed.
“No!”
The estate went silent.
Even the alarms stopped.
A blue light appeared beneath the portrait.
Hidden locks disengaged one by one.
The wall opened.
Cold air spilled into the gallery.
Ethan rushed inside.
Lily lay beside the desk.
He lifted her.
She was conscious but weak.
Charles remained in the wheelchair.
Blood covered his shirt.
The black memory card had disappeared into a slot on the desk.
A screen had risen from beneath the wooden surface.
Lines of text scrolled across it.
AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED.
SUCCESSOR RECOGNIZED.
ETHAN COLE.
Ethan looked at Charles.
“What did you do?”
His father smiled through the pain.
“I gave you the house.”
Victor entered the room.
“You gave him everything.”
Charles looked toward him.
“You proved you could not be trusted.”
Victor laughed in disbelief.
“I spent six years protecting your secrets.”
“You spent six years selling them.”
“I kept this family alive.”
“You destroyed it.”
Victor stepped closer.
“I became exactly what you raised me to be.”
Charles’s expression softened.
“That is why I chose Ethan.”
Victor stared at his father.
Something inside him broke.
He reached beneath his coat.
Price shouted.
“Hands where I can see them!”
Victor pulled out a small silver device.
He pressed a button.
The screen on the desk turned red.
SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE RESUMED.
Ethan tightened his hold on Lily.
Naomi grabbed Victor’s wrist.
He struck her.
Price tackled him against the bookcase.
The room shook.
An explosion sounded beneath them.
Charles looked at Ethan.
“You have seven minutes.”
“To do what?”
“Stop the purge.”
“How?”
Charles pointed toward the screen.
“The card will guide you.”
Ethan placed Lily in Naomi’s arms.
“Take her outside.”
“The doors are locked,” Naomi said.
Ethan touched the screen.
A map of the estate appeared.
Red sections flashed across the underground levels.
Three white symbols remained.
A crown.
A lion.
A lily.
Charles pointed toward the lily.
“Your daughter’s route.”
Lily looked at the screen.
“That is the game Mommy taught me.”
Ethan crouched in front of her.
“Can you follow it?”
She nodded weakly.
“Where does it go?”
She traced the line with one finger.
“Through the walls.”
Victor laughed from beneath Price.
“You are going to trust a child?”
Ethan looked at him.
“She has been more honest than every adult in this house.”
Lily touched the next symbol.
“The lily path goes to the garden.”
Naomi lifted her.
“Can you show me?”
Lily nodded.
Ethan looked at Naomi.
“Get her out.”
“What about you?”
“I stop the purge.”
Price pulled Victor to his feet.
“I’m taking him with us.”
Charles shook his head.
“No.”
The sheriff looked at him.
“Victor knows the system.”
“He knows how to destroy it.”
Victor smiled.
“He also knows where Elena’s father is.”
Ethan turned sharply.
“What?”
Victor wiped blood from his mouth.
“Alive.”
Charles closed his eyes.
Victor continued.
“Your wife was not imagining him.”
“Where is he?”
“Below the north wing.”
The timer on the screen reached six minutes.
Charles looked at Ethan.
“If you go after him, the estate burns.”
Victor smiled.
“If you stop the purge, Elena’s father dies.”
Ethan stared at his brother.
May you like
Victor leaned closer.
“Choose which family you want to save.”
