Chapter 8: Four Men in the Dark
The lights died so completely that for one second I could not see my own hands.
Then I heard the sound of Sheriff Cole drawing his weapon.
“Everybody down,” he ordered.
Chairs scraped across the floor.
Linda gasped.
Ethan swore under his breath.
Victor Lang didn’t move.
Outside, the wind pushed snow against the windows like handfuls of sand.
I crouched behind the records counter.
“Cole,” I whispered.
“I’m here.””
“Where are they?””
“Outside.””
The sheriff’s radio crackled.
“Unit Three to Cole. Visual on four subjects.””
Cole pressed the transmit button.
“Location?””
“North parking lot.””
“Armed?””
“Affirmative.””
I felt my pulse hammering in my throat.
“Are they coming inside?””
“Not yet.””
Cole looked toward the dark windows.
“Keep eyes on them. Do not engage unless necessary.””
The response came through static.
“Copy.””
Ethan was crouched beside me.
His breathing was fast.
“I told you.””
I looked at him.
“Told me what?””
“That Dad wouldn't stop.””
I grabbed his sleeve.
“You knew they were coming?””
“No.””
“You knew something was going to happen.””
He shook his head.
“Not this.””
Victor Lang finally spoke.
“Everybody stay away from the doors.””
Cole glanced at him.
“You seem remarkably calm.””
Lang's voice remained flat.
“I've seen what happens when people panic.””
“Who are they?”” I asked.
Lang looked at me.
“I don't know.””
I stared at him.
“You know everything else.””
“I know the people behind the documents.””
“That isn't the same thing.””
“No.””
He looked toward the windows.
“But it may become the same thing very soon.””
A metallic sound echoed from the front entrance.
Someone had touched the door handle.
Cole raised his weapon.
“Everybody silent.””
The handle moved again.
Slowly.
Then stopped.
A second later came three soft knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nobody breathed.
Ethan leaned toward me.
“That’s not Dad.””
“How do you know?””
“Dad never knocks.””
The absurdity of it almost made me laugh.
Almost.
Then a voice came through the glass.
“Sheriff Cole.””
Cole didn't answer.
The voice continued.
“We know you have Matthew Hale inside.””
Cole moved closer to the wall.
“You're trespassing on county property.””
A pause.
“We're here to retrieve stolen documents.””
Cole replied, “Leave the property.””
The voice laughed quietly.
“You should ask Matthew what he stole.””
I looked at Lang.
He shook his head once.
The voice came again.
“Open the door, Sheriff.””
Cole answered, “Not happening.””
A long silence followed.
Then:
“Fine.””
Footsteps moved away.
Cole watched the window.
“Keep down.””
Seconds passed.
Then another sound.
Glass breaking.
Everyone flinched.
The side window shattered inward.
Cole fired one shot into the ceiling.
“Back!””
The armed men outside scattered.
Linda screamed.
Ethan pulled her behind the counter.
I felt a rush of cold air as snow blew through the broken window.
Cole crouched low and shouted into his radio.
“Shots fired. County records office. Send every unit available.””
A deputy answered.
“Understood.””
Victor Lang grabbed my arm.
“Where is the evidence?””
I looked at him.
“What evidence?””
“The old documents.””
“They’re right here.””
“Then they came for those.””
He pointed toward the folder in my hand.
I tightened my grip.
“They're not getting them.””
A second window shattered.
Someone shouted outside.
Cole moved toward the sound.
“Back hallway. Now.””
We ran.
Linda carried the computer drive.
Ethan kept close behind me.
Lang followed as if nothing about the night surprised him anymore.
We reached the archive room.
Cole slammed the door.
“Everyone stay quiet.””
There was a loud bang from the front of the building.
Then another.
Someone was trying to force the main door.
I whispered, “How long until your deputies arrive?””
“Five minutes.””
“That feels like forever.””
“It is.””
Ethan leaned against the wall.
“I know a way out.””
Cole looked at him.
“Where?””
“Old loading tunnel.””
Linda shook her head.
“That tunnel was sealed.””
“Not all of it.””
Ethan pointed toward a storage shelf.
“Move that.””
I looked at Cole.
He nodded.
We pushed together.
The shelf groaned across the concrete floor.
Behind it was a narrow steel door.
Linda stared.
“I haven't seen that in years.””
Ethan pulled a key from his pocket.
I looked at him.
“You had a key?””
“My grandfather gave it to me.””
“Why?””
“He said there were things in this building nobody wanted found.””
Cole took the key.
“Stand back.””
He opened the door.
A narrow passage disappeared into darkness.
We stepped inside.
The tunnel smelled like damp concrete and old machinery.
My flashlight swept across the walls.
Old pipes.
Electrical conduits.
Dust.
Then I saw something carved into the concrete.
A small symbol.
Two vertical lines.
One diagonal.
I stopped.
“What is that?””
Lang stared at it.
His face changed.
“You've seen it before?””
“No.””
He stepped closer.
“I have.””
“Where?””
“On the original trust documents.””
I frowned.
“What does it mean?””
Lang looked at me.
“It was the mark used by the survey company that located the mineral deposit.””
The ground seemed to tilt.
“So this tunnel is connected to the ranch?””
“Not directly.””
He touched the carving.
“But this archive was once connected to a land survey office.””
Cole looked down the tunnel.
“How far does it go?””
“Far enough.””
“That's not an answer.””
“It doesn't need to be.””
We continued.
Behind us, a heavy metallic crash shook the building.
The men had breached the front entrance.
Cole's radio crackled.
A deputy said, “Sheriff, we're thirty seconds out.””
Cole answered, “Copy.””
Then the radio went dead.
I looked back.
“Why did he lose signal?””
“Concrete walls,” Cole said.
We reached the end of the tunnel.
A ladder led upward.
Ethan climbed first.
He pushed open a rusted hatch.
Cold air hit my face.
We emerged behind an abandoned storage building two blocks from the courthouse.
Red and blue lights flashed at the intersection.
Several sheriff's vehicles were racing toward the records office.
Cole looked at the chaos.
Then at Ethan.
“You said your grandfather gave you that key.””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
“Did he know about the land?””
Ethan nodded.
“Everyone in Dad's circle knew.””
I stared at him.
“Except me.””
Ethan looked ashamed.
“Yes.””
I turned away.
For years, I had thought I was being excluded because I was the difficult son.
Now I was starting to realize something uglier.
I had been excluded because people were keeping secrets.
Secrets that suddenly had dollar signs attached to them.
Lang pulled out his phone.
“I need to make a call.””
Cole grabbed his wrist.
“Not yet.””
Lang looked at him.
“You should let me.””
“Why?””
“Because my call can end this.””
Cole narrowed his eyes.
“To whom?””
Lang hesitated.
Then:
“Victor Hale.””
I stared at him.
“My father?””
“No.””
I frowned.
“Then who?””
Lang looked at me.
“Your father has a middle name nobody has ever used in your family.””
I felt confused.
“What?””
He said it quietly.
“Your father’s legal name is Daniel Victor Hale.””
My heart skipped.
“What does that have to do with anything?””
Lang stared at the sheriff.
“Because Hawthorne wasn't started by me.””
Cole's expression changed.
“Who started it?””
Lang answered:
“Daniel Hale.””
My father's name.
I stepped backward.
“No.””
Lang nodded.
“He created Hawthorne eighteen years ago.””
“But you said your holding group owned it.””
“I said my name was connected to it.””
“You lied.””
“I withheld information.””
“That’s a lie with better manners.””
Lang almost smiled.
“Fair.””
Ethan looked horrified.
“Dad told me Hawthorne was yours.””
“It was never mine.””
“Then why did you help him?””
Lang's face hardened.
“Because I made a mistake.””
“What mistake?””
“I believed your father wanted to protect his family.””
I stared at him.
“And now?””
“Now I believe he wants to protect himself.””
Sirens echoed in the distance.
Cole turned toward the courthouse.
“Stay here.””
Then he stopped.
“Matthew.””
I looked at him.
“Your father may try to reach the ranch next.””
“Why?””
“Because the records office attack failed.””
I looked at Ethan.
“Then we go back.””
Cole shook his head.
“No.””
“I’m not letting them near my property.””
“You're exactly why you need to stay away.””
Sarah called.
I answered immediately.
“Sarah.””
“I heard shots.””
“Everyone's alive.””
“Good.””
I told her everything.
When I mentioned my father's legal name, she went silent.
Then she said:
“Matthew, do you know what Daniel Hale did eighteen years ago?””
“No.””
“Then you need to find out before sunrise.””
“Why?””
“Because I found something in an archived military correspondence file.””
“What?””
“A report concerning a land survey in Montana.””
I looked at Lang.
“What did it say?””
Sarah's voice dropped.
“It mentions a classified geological assessment.””
“That's what we've been talking about.””
“No.””
She paused.
“This was dated two years before the assessment you found.””
My stomach turned.
“What was being assessed?””
“Not minerals.””
“Then what?””
“Underground infrastructure.””
I stared at the ground.
Sarah continued.
“The report says the property may contain a naturally protected underground cavern system.””
Lang suddenly spoke.
“That’s not possible.””
Sarah heard him.
“Victor?””
“Yes.””
“You know about this.””
Lang looked away.
Sarah continued.
“The report includes one more line.””
“What line?””
“It says the cavern was sealed after an incident involving a private military contractor.””
No one spoke.
A distant explosion echoed across the town.
Cole spun toward the sound.
A column of black smoke rose beyond the courthouse.
His radio exploded with voices.
“Sheriff, we have an explosion at the title company!””
Cole swore.
Then another message came through.
“Possible vehicle leaving eastbound.””
Cole turned toward me.
“My ranch is west.””
He nodded.
“Exactly.””
My phone buzzed.
Motion alert.
I opened the security feed.
My ranch appeared on the screen.
The gate.
The farmhouse.
The barn.
Then a second camera.
The western ridge.
Headlights were moving across my land.
Four vehicles.
I zoomed in.
The first truck stopped.
Men got out.
Then someone opened the back door of an SUV.
My father stepped into the snow.
I watched him lift a shovel.
He pointed toward the western ridge.
Then Ethan whispered beside me.
“They're not going for the house.””
I looked at him.
“Then what are they looking for?””
His face had gone white.
“The cavern.””
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On the security feed, my father drove a shovel into the frozen ground.
And beneath the snow, something metallic began to glow.
