Chapter 4 - The Fire and the Fuel
Ascending the grand staircase felt like walking into the mouth of a furnace.
The acrid smell of accelerated gasoline hit them halfway up the landing. Thick, dark plumes of smoke were beginning to billow from the East Wing library, creeping across the polished mahogany flooring like creeping ivy.
"Sterling set the fire to cover his tracks," Grayson growled, coughing as a wave of hot smoke washed over them. "He’s burning down three generations of Kane history just to bury the ledger."
They reached the second-floor landing. Through the double doors of the library, red and orange flames licked hungrily up the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, devouring rare manuscripts and millions of dollars in hidden records.
Through the roaring crackle of the blaze, they heard voices coming from the main hallway.
"The chopper is touching down on the cliff pad," Petrov’s voice shouted over the din. "Let's move! The whole place will be engulfed in ten minutes!"
Grayson looked down the hallway toward his private office, where the safe containing his life's work—and the evidence against Sterling—was located. Then he looked at Delia, who was already wrapping a wet cloth around the lower half of her face.
"We can't go back for the safe," Grayson yelled over the fire. "It's suicide!"
Delia grabbed his arm with a grip of iron. She pulled her writing tablet off her belt and thrust it into his chest. The words written hastily in marker read: Your life is worth more than paper. Move.
Grayson stared at her. In his entire life, no one had ever looked him in the eye and ordered him to survive. His father had treated him as an asset; his associates had treated him as a tool; his enemies had treated him as a target. This young woman, carrying a utility bucket and wearing a stained maid's uniform, was treating him like a human being.
"Okay," Grayson said, his voice dropping an octave as a fierce, protective resolve settled over him. "We go out through the terrace."
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As they turned toward the east corridor, a massive timber beam from the ceiling collapsed with a deafening roar, crashing down right in front of them and blocking the terrace doors in a wall of fire and blazing debris.
They were trapped.
