Chapter 16 - The Midnight Intruder
At four in the morning, a heavy thud echoed from the ground floor of the mansion.
Adrian, who was sitting in his study reviewing Claire's USB files on his laptop, immediately stood up.
He pulled a loaded black hand pistol from his desk drawer.
"Stay upstairs!" Adrian ordered Natalie, who was sitting in the hallway armchair.
He tiptoed down the dark grand staircase.
The front foyer was lit only by the distant streetlights outside.
The heavy glass doors on the side terrace were swinging open in the cold night wind.
A dark shadow moved quickly across the dining room floor.
"Don't move!" Adrian shouted, raising his firearm and pointing it directly at the figure.
The intruder froze in place.
The moonlight caught the glint of a silver knife held in the intruder's right hand.
"Drop the blade!" Adrian commanded forcefully.
The figure slowly raised both hands into the air.
As the moonlight shifted, Adrian recognized the face beneath the black ski mask.
It was Victor Vance—Madison Cole’s personal head of security and former private investigator.
"Who sent you, Victor?" Adrian demanded, his finger resting firmly on the trigger.
"Madison?"
"Or my mother?"
Victor let out a cold, raspy laugh.
"Neither of them, Mr. Westwood," Victor said with a raspy sneer.
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"I came for the USB drive."
"My real boss wants it destroyed before the federal grand jury meets tomorrow morning."
