Chapter 8: Brooks Tower
Brooks Tower had been abandoned for almost a decade.
Yet every window on the thirty-second floor was glowing.
Ava stared upward from the back seat of Thomas's car.
“That's impossible.””
Thomas kept his eyes on the road.
“The building still has emergency power.””
“Who owns it?””
“You do.””
Ava looked at him.
“What?””
“Your grandfather transferred the building into the same trust.””
Lily sat beside Ava.
“So everything we're seeing tonight belongs to Ava?””
Thomas nodded.
“Technically.””
Ava looked through the window again.
“Then why does it feel like I'm walking into someone else's house?””
Her father answered from the front passenger seat.
“Because you are.””
They stopped two blocks away.
Thomas turned around.
“We walk from here.””
Robert looked at Ava.
“You still have time to change your mind.””
Ava opened the door.
“No.””
They moved through the dark street.
The tower's lobby was empty.
The doors opened automatically when Ava approached.
A voice echoed through the speakers.
“Welcome home, Ava.””
She stopped.
Lily grabbed her hand.
“That's creepy.””
Ava looked around.
“Who are you?””
The voice didn't answer.
Instead, the elevator doors opened.
Ava stepped inside.
The others followed.
The elevator began rising.
Floor after floor.
Twenty-eight.
Twenty-nine.
Thirty.
Thirty-one.
Then the lights went out.
Maya gasped.
Ava heard a click.
The elevator stopped.
A red emergency light flickered on.
A voice came through the speaker.
“Only Ava may continue.””
Her father immediately stepped forward.
“No.””
The voice replied calmly.
“If you enter the room, the evidence will be destroyed.””
Thomas whispered, “Ava, don't.””
Ava stared at the elevator doors.
“Why me?””
“Because the trust belongs to you.””
She looked at her father.
He didn't want to let her go.
But he knew they were trapped.
Ava took a breath.
“Stay here.””
Lily squeezed her hand.
“If you're not back in ten minutes, I'm coming.””
Ava smiled.
“Deal.””
The elevator doors opened.
Ava stepped into darkness.
The doors closed behind her.
A single light turned on.
At the center of the room stood a long glass table.
On it were dozens of photographs.
She approached slowly.
Photographs of her as a child.
First day of school.
Christmas.
Her twelfth birthday.
Graduation.
Pictures she had never seen.
Pictures taken from a distance.
Someone had been watching her.
Ava picked up one photograph.
She was six years old, standing beside Denise at a playground.
On the back:
*Subject remains unaware.*
Another photograph showed Robert watching from inside a parked car.
Ava's stomach tightened.
Then she found one of Lily.
She was eight years old.
Standing beside their grandfather.
Ava stared at the picture.
Then she noticed a second person in the background.
A man.
Robert.
Her stepfather.
Ava's breath caught.
She grabbed another photograph.
Robert was speaking to her grandfather.
On the back:
*Robert Brooks — compromised.*
Ava whispered:
“No.””
A screen on the wall suddenly turned on.
Her grandfather appeared.
Older.
Serious.
Sitting behind the same desk.
Ava stood frozen.
“If you're watching this,” he said, “then you're twenty-five.””
Ava's eyes filled with tears.
“I know you hate me.””
The recording continued.
“You should.””
Ava stepped closer.
“I took Lily because I believed your father would destroy everything I built.””
He paused.
“I was wrong.””
Ava's breath caught.
“I destroyed it myself.””
The video changed.
A bank statement appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Her grandfather continued.
“I framed your father.””
Ava covered her mouth.
“I ordered the transfer of money. I paid witnesses. I controlled the judge.””
She whispered:
“Oh my God.””
“I thought power made me untouchable.””
The screen changed again.
A photograph of Denise appeared.
Then Robert.
Then Maya.
Then Lily.
“Everyone around you was placed into your life for a reason.””
Ava's heart pounded.
“Some betrayed you.””
“Some protected you.””
“And one person…”
The screen went black.
Ava waited.
Then another sentence appeared.
*One person was never supposed to be there.*
The door behind Ava clicked.
She spun around.
A man stepped into the room.
Ava froze.
It was Daniel Reed.
The man from the photographs.
“You?””
Daniel closed the door.
“I’m sorry.””
Ava backed away.
“Why are you here?””
Daniel looked at the screen.
“He left something for me too.””
“What?””
Daniel walked toward her.
“Your grandfather knew the trust would eventually reach you.””
Ava shook her head.
“Then why bring me here?””
“Because the final test requires a witness.””
“A witness to what?””
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small key.
“Your father's innocence.””
Ava stared at it.
“What does that open?””
Daniel looked directly at her.
“A vault.””
Ava's heart raced.
“Where?””
“Beneath this building.””
Before she could respond, the entire floor shook.
A distant explosion thundered through the tower.
Ava stumbled.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Move!””
“What happened?””
“They found us.””
“Who?””
Daniel's face turned pale.
“The people who killed your grandfather.””
May you like
Ava looked toward the door.
“And they're already inside.””
