Chapter 7 - MIDNIGHT AT THE ABANDONED HOTEL
Richard chose the first motel Ethan had ever owned.
The Lakeway Motor Lodge had been abandoned for nine years.
Ethan had bought it at twenty-six with borrowed money, slept behind the front desk, repaired toilets himself, and turned it into the foundation of his empire.
Now weeds filled the parking lot.
Midnight rain hammered the roof.
Ethan entered alone carrying Joseph’s cassette.
At least, Richard believed he was alone.
Police waited half a mile away.
Grace waited with them.
Or she was supposed to.
Ethan stepped into the lobby.
“Richard.”
A light switched on.
Richard stood behind the old reception desk.
Lily sat in a chair nearby, wrists tied.
She was frightened but unharmed.
“Ethan!”
“I’m here.”
Richard raised a gun.
“Cassette.”
Ethan held it up.
“Let her go.”
“You were always sentimental at the worst possible moment.”
“And you were always greedy.”
Richard smiled.
“You think this is about money?”
“What else?”
“My father spent his entire life being treated like a monster while your family became martyrs.”
“Your father threatened mine.”
“My father built Millstone.”
“Your father owned Millstone.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“There’s a difference.”
A door creaked behind him.
Grace appeared.
Ethan stared.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting my daughter.”
Richard swung the gun toward her.
“Perfect.”
Lily cried, “Mom, go!”
Grace didn’t move.
She held the red Bible.
Richard’s eyes widened.
“You took the wrong one.”
Grace opened it.
The center had been hollowed out.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Richard stared.
“My mother kept the real Bible in a bank deposit box.”
Ethan suddenly understood.
Anna had given Evelyn the key.
Richard had destroyed Grace’s apartment for a decoy.
“What’s in the box?” Ethan asked.
Grace looked at Richard.
“Something his father spent thirty years trying to find.”
Richard raised the gun.
“Give me the key.”
Grace closed her fist.
“No.”
Richard stepped forward.
Then Lily kicked the chair into his knee.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Ethan lunged.
They crashed across the reception desk.
Grace ran to Lily.
Richard hit Ethan hard enough to send him against the wall.
Then he grabbed the gun.
Before he could raise it, police flooded the lobby.
“Drop it!”
Richard froze.
For several seconds, rage twisted his face.
Then the gun fell.
Grace untied Lily.
Mother and daughter collapsed into each other’s arms.
Ethan sat against the wall, blood running from his eyebrow.
Grace crossed to him.
“You okay?”
“I’m beginning to question your definition of teamwork.”
She laughed through her tears.
“You told me to stay behind.”
“Yes.”
“I ignored you.”
“I noticed.”
Lily looked between them.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“Is this your boss?”
Grace glanced at Ethan.
“Technically.”
Ethan wiped blood from his eyebrow.
“She’s fired.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“Effective immediately.”
Lily’s mouth dropped open.
Then Ethan added, “From housekeeping.”
Grace narrowed her eyes.
“Ethan Mercer, if you think this is the time—”
“I need a director of employee advocacy.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“Someone who notices the people executives don’t.”
Grace stared at him.
“I don’t have a college degree.”
“I have executives with three degrees who nearly demolished my mother’s house.”
Lily began smiling.
Grace shook her head.
“You’re impossible.”
“Is that a no?”
“It’s a we’ll discuss salary.”
Ethan smiled.
“There she is.”
The next morning, police opened the safe-deposit box.
Inside were original documents proving decades of corruption.
But there was something else.
A sealed envelope addressed jointly to:
ETHAN MERCER AND EVELYN HARPER.
Grace looked at Ethan.
“My mother never opened it.”
“Why?”
“Maybe she thought it belonged to you too.”
They opened it together.
Anna’s final message was only four paragraphs.
At the bottom was a sentence that silenced them both.
If our children ever stand in the same room, tell them they owe each other nothing.
But I hope they choose kindness anyway.
Grace wiped her eyes.
Ethan looked away.
Then she noticed another line.
May you like
A line written only for Ethan.
And when Grace read it aloud, he finally cried.
