THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL HEIR

Chapter 4 – Blood and Dust

The underground tunnel reeked of mildew and mold, its stone walls slick with moisture and the stench of long-forgotten rot. Dust filled every breath. The narrow passage sloped downward, forcing Jeffrey, Camilla, and Victor into a jog half-crouched, half-blind.

Behind them, the sound of gunfire still echoed from the crypt. But it wouldn’t be long before the soldiers found the tunnel entrance.

Victor slammed the metal latch behind them as they moved. “That won’t hold for long.”

“It only needs to hold long enough,” Jeffrey said. His grip on the ledger never loosened, not even for a second.

Camilla coughed, clutching her side. Blood still seeped through her coat. Jeffrey slowed. “You’re bleeding again.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” he snapped, spinning her toward him. “You’re hurt, and they’ll catch up if you collapse.”

Her eyes met his. “Then don’t let me collapse.”

Something flickered in his chest, anger, guilt, something older than either. He nodded and wrapped her arm around his shoulders to help carry her weight.

Victor led the way, flashlight sweeping across walls covered in old carvings and faded paint, Jeffrey muttered, “This tunnel was sealed off after my grandfather died. He used it to sneak out during the corporate wars of the ‘60s.”

Victor gave a low whistle. “Your family really doesn’t do anything small, do they?”

“They don’t do anything clean.”

The tunnel forked. Jeffrey stopped. “Left leads to the old mausoleum exit by the waterworks. Right takes us to the Goodman Tower sub-basement,” he said.

Victor glanced back. “The tower’s going to be crawling with surveillance. You sure about this?”

“We don’t have a choice.”

Camilla groaned. “Zane has the press, the board, and now Henry Vance’s death squad.”

Jeffrey’s jaw clenched. “Then I’ll take everything they built, and burn it brick by brick.”

A hidden steel hatch opened beneath the tower's lowest parking level, revealing a forgotten freight shaft coated in dust and rust.

Jeffrey, Camilla, and Victor emerged into a massive, pitch-black sub-chamber. Motion sensors clicked as lights flickered to life overhead, They were inside the Vault.

A place that officially didn’t exist. No maps. No elevators. No blueprints. Only Richard Goodman, and now his firstborn son, had ever stood here.

Rows of reinforced glass cases lined the walls, documents, hard drives, photographs. There were cabinets labeled with cryptic codes: “Eclipse Protocol,” “Project Cross,” “Vance Agreement.”

Victor let out a low whistle. “This isn’t just a vault. This is a blackmail factory.”

Jeffrey walked straight to the central pedestal, where a biometric scanner waited. “Retina scan required,” the machine beeped, He leaned in. A soft beep.

Then. Click. The pedestal opened. Inside, a sleek black case sat alone. Etched on its surface: the Goodman family crest. Jeffrey opened it.

Inside: a black titanium flash drive. Nothing else. He held it up.

Camilla blinked. “That’s it?”

“This is what they fear,” Jeffrey whispered. “This is what they tried to bury with me.”

Victor tilted his head. “Should we check it here?” Jeffrey nodded. He plugged the drive into the vault’s terminal.

The screen flashed: Welcome, Jeffrey Goodman.

Then a list loaded, cascading faster than they could read. Each entry was a ticking time bomb: deals with governments, evidence of assassinations, offshore accounts tied to criminal organizations including the Vance family. And at the center of it all… Project Revenant.

Jeffrey froze. “That’s not a name I’ve heard in a long time.”

Camilla looked at him. “What is it?”

“A contingency plan,” Jeffrey said. “My father once told me the Goodman family would never fall not because of their business, but because of what they had on everyone else. ‘Revenant’ was his doomsday file. It contains data on every person in power whose loyalty was bought or stolen.”

Victor stared at the list. “This could blow up the city.”

“No,” Jeffrey said softly. “This could burn down the world.”

Camilla stepped back. “We can’t release this.”

Jeffrey looked at her. “They killed my father. They tried to kill me. They’ve poisoned this city for decades.”

“I know,” she said. “But if we use this recklessly, we become them.”

His jaw flexed. “What would you have me do walk away?”

“No,” she whispered. “But don’t become the monster they were afraid of.”

Victor stepped between them. “Guys. Hate to interrupt your moral dilemma, but we’ve got company.”

He gestured to the surveillance monitor in the vault, Three black SUVs had pulled into the underground garage Armed men exited. “Vance’s security again,” Victor said. “They tracked us here.”

Jeffrey yanked the flash drive and stashed it. Camilla gripped his wrist. “Wait listen.”

A soft beep echoed through the vault, The door behind them had locked. Jeffrey turned. “That’s not supposed to”

BOOM.

The wall behind them exploded, Flames, Smoke, Heat.  Concrete rained down as masked soldiers poured into the vault through a breach. Automatic weapons raised. Jeffrey shoved Camilla down. “TAKE COVER!” Gunfire erupted.

Victor returned fire, taking two men out, But they kept coming, The glass cases shattered. Documents ignited. Centuries of secrets burned, Camilla crawled behind a toppled cabinet, bleeding again.

Jeffrey slid behind a pillar and opened fire, clipping one soldier in the shoulder, Then he saw him, Henry Vance, stepping through the smoke.

Gray-haired, immaculate suit, bulletproof vest, Smiling. Like he already owned the end of this story.

“You’ve done well, Jeffrey,” he called. “Really. I’m impressed.”

Jeffrey stepped out, gun raised. “You’re a dead man, Henry.”

“No,” Henry said calmly. “I’m the man who built your father’s empire with him. I’m the man who gave you the tools to survive exile. And I’m the man who can end this… if you hand over the drive.”

Jeffrey’s hand didn’t move., Henry’s eyes darkened. “You don’t know what’s at stake.”

“I know exactly what’s at stake,” Jeffrey said. “Everything.”

Henry motioned with his hand, One of his soldiers dragged someone forward bloody beaten. Jeffrey’s chest froze, It was Victor. Camilla screamed.

“Let him go!” Jeffrey shouted.

“You have a choice,” Henry said coldly. “The drive. Or your friend’s life.”

Jeffrey’s heart pounded, Victor met his eyes. “Don’t do it, boss. Don’t you dare.”

Henry raised his gun to Victor’s head, Camilla sobbed. “Jeffrey, don’t”

Jeffrey raised the flash drive, Henry smiled. “I knew you’d see reason.”

But Jeffrey’s eyes burned like fire. “I see everything now.”

And then, He threw the drive into the flames. Henry’s face twisted in rage. “NO!”

Victor headbutted the soldier holding him. Gunfire erupted again, Smoke engulfed the vault as the flames roared, Jeffrey tackled Camilla, dragging her toward the far exit.

A hidden tunnel. One his father never logged, Henry screamed orders as his empire went up in fire and smoke. Jeffrey didn’t look back.

But as they fled into the darkness, Camilla whispered: “What did you do?”

Jeffrey’s voice was calm. “I burned the bait.”

She blinked. “What?”

He pulled a second drive from inside his boot, The real one, Her eyes widened. And behind them, the vault exploded.