PART 31
The realization hit me like a physical wave,
making me sit back in the leather chair.
The fire that Judge Vance had set to destroy my father’s house and his body,
had actually cleared the rubble above the true vault.
Ethan and Vance had been looking all over the country for the syndicate’s missing millions,
blaming each other,
killing each other,
while the fortune was sitting right beneath our feet the entire time.
"We need to get back,"
Sarah stood up,
already dialing her federal contact.
"If Vance’s remaining associates figure this out,"
"they’ll be digging up that property by tonight."
We raced back to our hometown,
the sun setting behind the mountains,
casting long,
bloody shadows across the highway.
When we arrived at my father’s old property,
the scene was surreal.
The blackened foundation of the house was surrounded by high weeds,
the air still smelling faintly of ash and burnt pine.
But there were no diggers.
No shadow operatives.
Just a quiet,
empty field of ruin.
We walked into the center of the basement ruins,
our flashlights cutting through the twilight.
The concrete floor where my father’s workbench had stood was cracked and buckled from the intense heat of the fire.
I looked at the blueprints my grandfather had left in the box.
"There,"
I pointed to a specific marking near the old drainage pipe.
"The blueprint says the mechanism is heat-activated."
"A safety fire-safe safe,
built to open only if the structure above it collapsed."
Sarah moved her flashlight over the area,
revealing a perfectly square section of concrete that had dropped three inches into the ground,
revealing a hidden iron seam.
I stepped forward,
my heart hammering against my ribs.
I knelt in the dirt,
brushing away the loose ash with my bare hands.
Beneath the debris was a heavy steel ring.
I gripped it with both hands,
May you like
bracing my feet against the broken concrete,
and pulled with every ounce of strength I had left.
