Chapter 1 - The Dead Man's Switch
The piercing wail of the security siren tore through the humid night air, vibrating against the stone walls of the estate. On the marble patio, the EMT, a stern-faced man whose nametag read Miller, didn't flinch. He kept his hands steady on my cervical collar, his eyes locked on my cousin Julian.
Julian was hyperventilating, his manicured hands slick with sweat. "It's a malfunction," he stammered, backing away from the patio's edge. "The alarm—it's just a glitch. She slipped!"
"Nobody moves," Miller barked into his radio, his voice cutting through the chaos of murmuring guests on the lawn. "Dispatch, I have a potential crime scene. Suspect is on the premises. Lock the gates."
Above us, the heavy oak doors of the mansion burst open. Julian’s fiancée, Chloe, rushed out. Her designer silk gown was disheveled, her face a mask of sheer panic. She locked eyes with Julian and gave a microscopic, terrified shake of her head.
She hadn't been able to wipe the servers.
Before Julian could process this, a sleek, black town car tore up the gravel driveway, ignoring the valet. The doors opened, and Marcus Thorne stepped out. Thorne wasn’t a detective; he was my late grandmother’s personal attorney and the executor of her estate. He was a ruthless corporate shark who never smiled and never lost.
Thorne walked past the bewildered guests, past my pale, trembling aunt and uncle, and stopped right next to the EMT. He looked down at me, his expression unreadable, before turning his gaze to Julian.
"Julian," Thorne said, his voice smooth and deadly quiet. "Did you really think Eleanor Vanguard would leave her billion-dollar empire unguarded against parasites?"
Thorne held up a heavy, vintage-looking brass key. "The digital servers in the mansion were a decoy. Your grandmother anticipated your greed. The real surveillance system is analog, hardwired directly into a subterranean vault beneath the wine cellar. And the moment that alarm triggered, it locked."
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Julian’s knees buckled.
"The police are here," Thorne announced as the flashing red and blue lights illuminated the grand driveway. "And they are going to have a very entertaining movie to watch."
