Chapter 5 - The Night the Tower Went Dark
The building descended into chaos.
Employees screamed.
Emergency lights flickered red.
Security doors slammed shut.
Gabriel grabbed Khloe’s hand and pulled her toward the private stairwell.
“Stay behind me.”
She followed.
“What happened?”
“Someone breached the power system.”
“Marcus?”
“Probably.”
They reached the lower security level.
Jackson appeared with two guards.
“Main elevators are offline.”
“Any casualties?”
“Not yet.”
Gabriel looked at Khloe.
“Take her to the safe room.”
“No,” Khloe said.
Everyone turned.
Gabriel stared.
“You're safer there.”
“I know where the blue ledger is.”
Jackson’s eyes widened.
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“Khloe.”
“I saw it in your office six months ago.”
“You shouldn't have.”
“I didn't open it.”
“Then how?”
“Because someone moved it.”
Gabriel paused.
She continued.
“Marcus.”
The lights flickered.
Jackson swore.
“Boss, we have movement on twenty-four.”
Gabriel immediately understood.
Marcus wasn't after the ledger anymore.
He was after Khloe.
They moved.
The next ten minutes became a blur of locked doors, alarms, footsteps, and darkness.
Gabriel kept Khloe close.
Not because he wanted to control her.
Because he knew exactly how dangerous the building had become.
They reached the executive floor.
A bullet struck the wall several feet away.
Khloe gasped.
Gabriel pulled her behind a concrete column.
Jackson returned fire from the opposite corridor.
Then silence.
“Everyone okay?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes.”
Khloe’s hands were shaking.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You don't have to be brave.”
She gave him a strained smile.
“I don't think I have another option.”
“You always have options.”
She looked at him.
That sentence would stay with her.
They found Marcus in the executive conference room.
He was standing beside the windows.
The city behind him glittered.
“Gabriel.”
Marcus held a gun.
“You should have taken the twenty million.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You thought fear was the strongest force in the world.”
Marcus laughed.
“What is stronger?”
“Loyalty.”
Marcus looked at Khloe.
“Her?”
“Yes.”
Khloe's heart pounded.
Marcus shook his head.
“You know what she's done?”
Gabriel frowned.
“What?”
Marcus smiled.
“Ask her.”
Khloe looked confused.
Marcus continued.
“She wasn't just your secretary.”
Gabriel turned toward her.
“What does he mean?”
Khloe looked at the floor.
Marcus laughed.
“She has been talking to someone inside your company for months.”
Gabriel stared.
“Khloe?”
She shook her head immediately.
“No.”
“Then explain.”
She struggled to breathe.
“I wasn't spying on you.”
“Then why did you copy those files?”
“I didn't.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“She did.”
Gabriel looked at her.
Khloe’s voice broke.
“I copied one file.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you were planning something against me.”
Gabriel froze.
She continued.
“I found financial transfers with my name attached to them.”
Marcus smiled.
“She thought you were setting her up.”
Gabriel looked at Jackson.
“Show me.”
Jackson pulled out the investigation folder.
The transfers were real.
Khloe had been listed as the beneficiary of several suspicious payments.
It looked like someone had deliberately framed her.
Gabriel finally understood.
Marcus had been manipulating the entire situation.
He had used Khloe’s identity to create fake transactions.
Then he had used David to pressure her.
Then he had leaked pieces of Gabriel’s criminal network.
The goal was not merely money.
It was control of Mercer Corporation.
Marcus wanted Gabriel destroyed and Khloe blamed.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Give me the ledger.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“No.”
Marcus aimed at Khloe.
Gabriel’s entire body went still.
Then Khloe did something unexpected.
She stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
Gabriel turned.
“Khloe.”
“I know where the ledger is.”
Marcus smiled.
“See?”
Gabriel looked at her.
He understood what she was doing.
She was buying time.
He gave the smallest possible nod.
Khloe walked toward Marcus.
Three steps.
Two.
One.
Then the fire alarm triggered again.
Sprinklers exploded from the ceiling.
Water rained down.
The lights flashed.
Jackson tackled Marcus.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Gabriel grabbed Khloe and pulled her away.
Marcus fought violently.
Then he was subdued.
It was over.
Or so they thought.
Hours later, the investigators reviewed the recovered files.
Marcus had not been working alone.
There was another name buried in the encrypted records.
A name Gabriel recognized instantly.
His older brother.
Elliot Mercer.
But Elliot had been dead for seven years.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
“How is that possible?”
Jackson shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Khloe looked at him.
Gabriel whispered:
“Because if Elliot's name is in those files, someone has been using a dead man's identity.”
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The real enemy had not been exposed.
Only the first layer had.
