Chapter 5 — The Enemy Inside Blackwood
Chapter 5 — The Enemy Inside Blackwood
The shot that killed Pavel did not come from outside Blackwood Manor.
Elena knew that before the echo had finished dying.
She was still kneeling beside his body when she looked toward the forest.
The angle was wrong.
The sound had suggested the eastern ridge.
But the bullet had entered from the left.
Which meant the shooter had not been outside the gates.
He had been somewhere inside the compound.
Elena slowly lifted her eyes.
Cassian was already looking at the same direction.
Their gazes met.
Neither said the obvious.
The enemy was inside Blackwood.
Again.
“Lock everything down,” Cassian ordered.
The guards moved.
“Search every building.”
Dante nodded.
“And the staff?”
“Keep them together.”
Elena stood.
“Not yet.”
Cassian turned.
“What?”
“The staff aren't the problem.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
She pointed toward the body.
“Pavel was shot from the second floor.”
Cassian looked at the manor.
“The second floor was empty.”
“No.”
Elena looked toward the east wing.
“Not empty.”
She started walking.
Cassian followed.
Dante raised his weapon.
“Where are you going?”
“To find the shooter.”
Cassian caught up.
“Elena.”
She stopped.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Walk into a trap.”
She looked at him.
“Then don't let me walk alone.”
Cassian stared for a second.
Then nodded.
“Dante, with us.”
They entered the east wing.
The corridor was dark.
Emergency lights flickered against the walls.
Elena crouched.
There.
A tiny fragment of glass.
She touched it.
“Scope lens.”
Cassian frowned.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
Dante looked toward the upper balcony.
“No one could have taken a shot from there.”
Elena pointed toward the ceiling.
“Not from the balcony.”
She looked up.
“From above.”
Cassian followed her gaze.
A ventilation panel had been removed.
Dante swore.
“Roof.”
Elena shook her head.
“Not the roof.”
She pointed toward the wall.
“Maintenance shaft.”
Cassian's expression changed.
“Can someone access it from inside?”
“Yes.”
“Who has access?”
Elena looked at him.
“Housekeeping.”
Silence.
Dante slowly raised his weapon.
Cassian stopped him.
“Not her.”
Dante frowned.
“How do you know?”
Cassian didn't answer.
He simply looked at Elena.
She was staring at the ventilation shaft.
Her face had become completely still.
“Someone wanted us to think the shooter came from outside.”
Cassian nodded.
“Yes.”
“They're not trying to kill us.”
“What are they trying to do?”
Elena looked toward the corridor.
“Move us.”
A sudden alarm erupted.
Red lights flashed.
Dante's radio crackled.
“Security breach! Basement level!”
Cassian swore.
“They want us downstairs.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“They want you downstairs.”
“Why?”
She looked at the cameras.
“Because I'm the target.”
The lights went out.
Total darkness.
Then gunfire erupted.
Dante dropped behind a pillar.
Cassian pulled Elena down.
Three bullets struck the wall.
Cassian fired toward the muzzle flashes.
Someone screamed.
Then footsteps.
Running away.
Elena immediately followed.
“Stay here!” Cassian shouted.
She ignored him.
She moved through the darkness with terrifying speed.
The footsteps disappeared around the corner.
Elena turned.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a door.
It was slightly open.
She pushed it.
A man lunged.
She blocked his arm.
He swung.
She ducked.
Elena drove her elbow into his ribs.
He staggered.
She twisted his wrist.
The weapon fell.
She kicked it away.
The man reached for a knife.
Elena grabbed his wrist.
“Who sent you?”
He smiled.
“You.”
She froze.
“What?”
“You're the reason they're all going to die.”
He slammed his forehead into hers.
Elena staggered.
The man ran.
She followed.
He reached the stairwell.
Then disappeared.
Elena looked down.
A rope hung over the railing.
He had gone through the service shaft.
She climbed over.
Cassian reached her.
“Elena!”
She looked down.
The shaft disappeared into darkness.
Cassian stared.
“You're going after him?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely not.”
She looked at him.
“He knows the house.”
“So do you.”
“He knows more.”
Cassian grabbed her wrist.
“You're not going down there.”
She looked at his hand.
Then at him.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“Cassian.”
“No.”
Her expression hardened.
“I don't need permission.”
“I know.”
He released her.
Then climbed over the railing.
“I'll come.”
Elena stared.
“You trust me now?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because if you die…”
He paused.
“…I lose my best chance at finding the truth.”
Elena almost smiled.
“Liar.”
Cassian looked at her.
“Probably.”
Together, they disappeared into the shaft.
They found the attacker three floors below.
He was waiting.
The moment Cassian landed, the man fired.
Elena pushed Cassian aside.
The bullet grazed her shoulder.
She fell against the wall.
“Elena!”
Cassian fired.
The attacker ran.
Cassian followed.
Elena grabbed her shoulder.
Blood.
Not serious.
She ignored it.
Then followed.
They reached the underground tunnel.
Cassian stopped.
“What is this?”
Elena looked around.
“Old service tunnel.”
“Under my house?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I mapped it.”
Cassian stared at her.
“Of course you did.”
A noise echoed ahead.
Elena raised her weapon.
They moved forward.
The tunnel opened into an underground chamber.
There were computers.
Weapons.
Boxes.
Documents.
A communications system.
Cassian stared.
“Someone has been operating here.”
Elena walked toward the desk.
A monitor was still active.
She touched the keyboard.
A live video appeared.
Blackwood Manor.
Every room.
Every hallway.
Every person.
Cassian stared at the screens.
“They've been watching us.”
“For months.”
Elena pointed toward a file.
Cassian opened it.
It contained photographs of everyone in the manor.
Marcus.
Dante.
The staff.
Cassian.
Elena.
Her own photograph had been taken before she ever arrived.
She stared.
“How?”
Cassian looked at the date.
Six months before Elena was hired.
Elena's blood ran cold.
“They knew I was coming.”
A noise came from behind them.
Cassian turned.
The attacker stood at the entrance.
His hands were raised.
“I surrender.”
Cassian pointed his weapon.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Who sent you?”
The man looked at her.
“You're not supposed to be alive.”
Elena froze.
“Who are you?”
He smiled.
“Ask your mother.”
Cassian's face changed.
Before he could reach the man, an explosion rocked the chamber.
The attacker disappeared into smoke.
The ceiling collapsed.
Cassian grabbed Elena.
“Run!”
They sprinted through the tunnel.
Behind them, fire consumed the chamber.
The computers exploded.
The evidence was disappearing.
Elena looked back.
“No!”
Cassian grabbed her.
“Keep moving!”
“My brother's files!”
“They're gone!”
“They were everything!”
“We'll find another way!”
The tunnel collapsed behind them.
They escaped through a maintenance hatch.
They emerged outside.
Rain had begun falling.
Elena stood in the mud, breathing heavily.
Cassian looked at her.
Blood ran from her shoulder.
“You're hurt.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I said I'm fine.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“You almost died.”
“So did you.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
She looked at him.
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you're afraid.”
Elena stared.
Then quietly said:
“I am.”
Cassian's expression softened.
“For the first time?”
“No.”
“For what?”
She looked toward the burning manor.
“For losing someone again.”
Cassian didn't know what to say.
So he simply stood beside her.
By dawn, Blackwood Manor was partially evacuated.
Firefighters had extinguished the underground blaze.
Federal agents discovered the hidden tunnel.
But most of the evidence had been destroyed.
Almost.
Dante found one surviving object.
A metal drive.
He brought it to Cassian.
“This was inside the chamber.”
Elena immediately recognized it.
“Mikhail.”
Cassian looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed.
The symbol etched into the drive.
A small black triangle.
Her brother had used it on every personal file.
Cassian connected the drive.
A single folder appeared.
ELENA — PRIORITY ONE
Her breath caught.
She clicked.
A video opened.
Mikhail appeared.
He looked exhausted.
“Lena.”
She froze.
He had called her that.
Only family did.
“If you're watching this, something went wrong.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
Mikhail continued.
“You need to understand something.”
He looked behind him.
“They aren't hunting you because of me.”
A pause.
“They're hunting you because of what our father left behind.”
Elena whispered:
“What did he leave?”
Mikhail continued.
“A key.”
Cassian frowned.
“What key?”
Mikhail looked directly into the camera.
“Not a physical key.”
The screen flickered.
“A person.”
Elena stared.
“Someone who knows everything.”
Mikhail's voice dropped.
“If you ever meet this person…”
A pause.
“…don't trust him.”
The screen went black.
Cassian looked at Elena.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The video restarted.
Mikhail appeared again.
“One more thing.”
His expression changed.
“If Cassian Thorne is with you…”
Cassian froze.
“…tell him his father didn't start Black Winter.”
Elena looked at Cassian.
Mikhail continued:
“He tried to destroy it.”
Cassian stepped back.
The video ended.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Cassian whispered:
“My father tried to destroy it.”
Elena nodded.
“That's what Mikhail said.”
“But why would he hide that?”
“Maybe he couldn't.”
Cassian looked at the dead screen.
“Or maybe someone stopped him.”
That afternoon, Cassian went to the old family vault.
Elena followed.
The vault was hidden beneath the manor chapel.
Cassian entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside were dozens of locked cabinets.
He walked to the oldest one.
His father's name was engraved on it.
Cassian opened it.
Inside was a single black folder.
He removed it.
Elena stood behind him.
Cassian opened the folder.
The first page contained a handwritten message.
If Cassian ever finds this, I have failed.
Cassian's hands shook.
He continued reading.
Black Winter is real.
I was involved in its creation.
Elena stared.
Cassian kept reading.
But I tried to leave.
The next page contained names.
Some were crossed out.
Some had been circled.
At the bottom was one name.
Viktor Rostov.
Elena's breath stopped.
Her father.
Cassian looked at her.
The next page explained everything.
Or almost everything.
Viktor Rostov had been one of the original architects of Black Winter.
He had created financial channels between governments and criminal syndicates.
He had helped establish the Thorne Foundation.
He had built secret transportation networks.
Then he tried to leave.
Black Winter wouldn't allow it.
Cassian's father had helped him disappear.
Elena's mother had been moved to safety.
Mikhail had been placed into a protected unit.
And Elena…
Elena had been hidden.
Cassian stared at the page.
“Your father wasn't abandoned.”
Elena's eyes filled.
“He was protecting you.”
Then they found the final document.
A photograph.
Viktor Rostov.
Alive.
Standing beside a young Elena.
But the date was recent.
Three months ago.
Elena stopped breathing.
“He's alive.”
Cassian nodded.
“And he's been watching you.”
A phone rang.
Cassian answered.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Hello, Elena.”
She froze.
Cassian looked at her.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed softly.
“You don't recognize your father's voice?”
Elena couldn't speak.
Her entire body had gone cold.
“Dad?”
The line went silent.
Then Viktor Rostov answered.
“Yes, Lena.”
Elena closed her eyes.
For nineteen years, she had believed her father was dead.
Now he was calling her.
Alive.
And waiting.
“You've been looking for me,” Viktor said.
Elena's voice trembled.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Cassian raised his weapon.
Viktor continued.
“You've been very brave.”
Elena swallowed.
“Why did you leave us?”
“I didn't.”
“Then why did we believe you were dead?”
“Because your mother needed you to believe it.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Where is she?”
A pause.
Then Viktor said:
“She's with me.”
Elena's breath caught.
Cassian looked at her.
Viktor continued.
“But if you want to see her again…”
Another pause.
“…you must come alone.”
The call ended.
Elena stared at the phone.
Cassian immediately said:
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I have to go.”
“No.”
“She's my mother.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“You can't stop me.”
“I won't.”
Elena stared.
Cassian stepped closer.
“But you're not going alone.”
She shook her head.
“He said alone.”
“I don't care.”
“Cassian—”
“You walked into my house eight months ago pretending to be invisible.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“You saved my life.”
He lowered his voice.
“Now it's my turn.”
Elena stared at him.
She wanted to argue.
She wanted to tell him she didn't need saving.
But for once, she couldn't.
Because beneath all the secrets, all the lies, all the blood and ghosts…
she was tired.
Tired of running alone.
She nodded.
“Then we go together.”
Cassian nodded.
But neither of them noticed the small red light blinking beneath the desk.
Someone was listening.
Someone had heard everything.
And across the city, a man watched them through a surveillance screen.
Adrian Vale.
Or the man pretending to be Adrian.
He smiled.
Then turned toward the woman sitting beside him.
Elena's mother.
She was older now.
But alive.
She looked at the screen.
“She's coming.”
The man nodded.
“Yes.”
“And Cassian?”
“He'll come too.”
The woman closed her eyes.
“You don't understand what you're doing.”
The man smiled.
“Oh, I understand perfectly.”
He looked at the image of Elena.
“The daughter has finally come home.”
Then he turned off the screen.
And somewhere beneath the city, the final pieces of Black Winter began moving into place.
The housekeeper had been exposed.
The kingpin had chosen his side.
And the enemy inside Blackwood had finally revealed its first true face.
But the most dangerous secret had not yet been uncovered.
Elena's father was alive.
Her mother was alive.
Mikhail's final message had been real.
And yet someone had spent nineteen years convincing Elena that all three were dead.
Someone powerful enough to erase an entire family.
Someone powerful enough to manipulate Cassian's father.
Someone powerful enough to control Viktor Rostov.
And when Elena finally discovered that person's name…
May you like
she would realize the enemy had never been outside Blackwood Manor.
The enemy had been waiting for her to come home.
