Chapter 7 - THE TRADE AT THE LAKE
Claire ran for the door.
Dominic caught her.
“No.”
“That’s my daughter!”
“I know.”
“Let me go!”
“If you run outside, Raymond has both of you.”
Emma stood beside the black sedan in her pink jacket, frightened but unharmed.
A man held her shoulder.
Claire’s vision narrowed.
Everything else disappeared.
Dominic turned her face toward him.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I’m getting her back.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“No. It isn’t.”
His honesty steadied her more than a promise would have.
Marcus checked the windows.
“Raymond’s men are covering the road and rear tree line.”
Elizabeth opened a floor panel.
“There’s a storm tunnel.”
Everyone looked at her.
“It leads toward the old boathouse.”
Dominic nodded.
“Marcus.”
“I can circle behind them.”
Claire grabbed his sleeve.
“Emma first.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Emma first.”
He disappeared below the floor.
Raymond shouted.
“Four minutes!”
Dominic looked at Elizabeth.
“What does he think you have?”
“The original ledger.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Who does?”
Elizabeth hesitated.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“No more secrets.”
She finally answered.
“Catherine hid it with a federal prosecutor.”
Dominic stared.
“Who?”
“Samuel Reed.”
“Reed died ten years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then where is it?”
“With his daughter.”
Dominic frowned.
“Judge Allison Reed?”
Elizabeth nodded.
One of the toughest federal judges in Pennsylvania.
A woman Dominic had avoided crossing for most of his adult life.
Claire almost laughed.
“My mother’s evidence is hidden with a federal judge.”
“Yes.”
“Of course it is.”
Raymond shouted, “Three minutes!”
Dominic picked up the binder copy.
“We use this.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“He’ll know.”
“Not until Emma is close enough.”
Claire looked at him.
“You’re going outside?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
Her face hardened.
“Dominic.”
Raymond wanted her too.
That made her dangerous.
It also made her useful.
Dominic understood.
“Stay two steps behind me.”
They walked onto the porch.
Raymond smiled.
“Arthur’s son.”
Dominic carried the binder.
“Let the girl go.”
“Ledger first.”
“No.”
Raymond laughed.
“You think you’re negotiating?”
“I think if you wanted Claire or Emma dead, you would have done it already.”
Claire’s heart hammered.
Raymond’s smile faded slightly.
Dominic continued.
“You need Claire alive because the trust requires biometric confirmation for transfer.”
Raymond looked impressed.
“You found that.”
“I found enough.”
“Then you understand why the wedding mattered.”
Claire looked at him.
Raymond smiled.
“Victoria marries Dominic. Dominic signs consolidation documents. Claire is framed for stealing financial data from Victoria’s dress. Then Claire disappears.”
Dominic’s eyes went cold.
“What was supposed to happen to her?”
“An accident.”
Claire felt sick.
Raymond shrugged.
“People have accidents.”
Dominic took one step forward.
The men around Raymond raised weapons.
Dominic stopped.
“You’ve had thirty years to think of better lines.”
Raymond’s face darkened.
“Binder.”
“Emma.”
Neither moved.
Then a voice came from behind Raymond.
“Let her go.”
Marcus.
Raymond turned.
Too late.
Marcus stood behind the man holding Emma.
One arm around his neck.
Weapon aimed toward Raymond.
Emma broke free.
“Mom!”
Claire ran.
Dominic moved with her.
Gunfire exploded.
Dominic pulled Claire and Emma behind a stone planter.
Marcus fired from the vehicle line.
Elizabeth screamed from inside.
Raymond’s men scattered.
One shot struck the porch railing.
Another hit a car window.
Dominic covered Claire and Emma with his body.
Then silence.
Not complete.
A groan.
An engine.
Tires spinning across gravel.
Raymond’s sedan disappeared down the road.
Marcus emerged from behind another vehicle.
“Clear!”
Claire held Emma.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did they touch you?”
“They took me from Grandpa’s friend.”
Claire froze.
“What friend?”
Emma sniffed.
“Mr. Malcolm.”
Dominic heard.
“Malcolm had her?”
Emma nodded.
“He came to the house and said Grandpa sent him.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Malcolm had delivered Emma to Raymond.
Whatever sympathy Victoria’s father had earned vanished.
Inside the cabin, Elizabeth knelt in front of Emma.
The child stared at her.
Claire struggled for words.
“This is…”
Elizabeth looked at her.
Claire couldn’t say mother.
Not yet.
“This is Elizabeth.”
Emma looked at the older woman.
“The dead grandma?”
Silence.
Dominic turned away to hide a reaction.
Claire covered her face.
Elizabeth laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
Emma considered this.
“That’s weird.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “Very weird.”
It was the first normal moment anyone had experienced all night.
It lasted thirty seconds.
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then his face hardened.
“Hospital.”
Dominic stood.
“Arthur?”
“He’s awake.”
Relief flickered.
Marcus continued.
“But Victoria is gone.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“She escaped the estate during the cemetery shooting. One of the guards helped her.”
“Which guard?”
“Peters.”
Dominic’s face changed.
Peters had worked for him seven years.
“Find him.”
“Already trying.”
Elizabeth looked worried.
“Victoria knows about Judge Reed.”
Dominic turned.
“How?”
“Malcolm knew.”
Claire understood.
“If she finds the original ledger before us—”
“She can destroy the evidence,” Elizabeth said.
Dominic checked his watch.
“Judge Reed is in Philadelphia.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not tonight. Federal security bulletin says she’s at her family property in Bucks County.”
Elizabeth went pale.
“What?”
Dominic noticed.
“What is it?”
“That property belonged to Samuel Reed.”
“So?”
“The ledger is there.”
They moved immediately.
Emma stayed with Daniel under armed protection.
Claire refused to stay behind.
Two hours later, they reached the Reed property.
The front gate was open.
Too open.
Dominic’s men entered first.
A sedan was parked near the house.
Victoria’s.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Inside, the library had been torn apart.
Desk drawers.
Books.
Floorboards.
Judge Allison Reed sat tied to a chair.
Alive.
Marcus freed her.
“Where’s Victoria?”
The judge glared at Dominic.
“You people have a talent for ruining quiet evenings.”
“Where is she?”
“She found what she came for.”
“The ledger?”
Allison Reed nodded.
Claire’s heart sank.
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
Dominic turned toward the door.
The judge stopped him.
“She didn’t leave.”
He looked back.
Allison pointed upward.
“She went to the attic.”
A crash sounded above them.
They ran.
Victoria stood near an attic window.
In one hand, the original ledger.
In the other, a lighter.
Claire stopped.
“Don’t.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You took everything.”
Claire stared.
“I didn’t take anything from you.”
“You took Dominic.”
“I never had Dominic.”
“That’s worse.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Victoria.”
She laughed.
“You never looked at me the way you look at her.”
He said nothing.
That answer hurt her more than cruelty.
Victoria’s hand shook.
“This book destroys my father.”
“Your father kidnapped a child,” Claire said.
“He used me!”
“And you used me.”
Victoria looked at her.
Claire continued.
“You made me stand in front of forty people so you could laugh at my body. You planted suspicion on me because you thought nobody would believe the maid. You were hurt, Victoria. That doesn’t make you innocent.”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
Claire took another step.
“You can still choose what happens next.”
“Prison?”
“Maybe.”
“Then why would I help you?”
Claire looked at the lighter.
“Because being punished for what you did is not the same as becoming your father.”
Victoria stared at her.
The lighter flame trembled.
Then footsteps sounded behind them.
Malcolm appeared in the attic doorway.
A gun in his hand.
“Give me the ledger, Victoria.”
She turned.
“Dad.”
Dominic moved.
Malcolm aimed at Claire.
“Nobody.”
Victoria’s face changed.
“You gave them Emma.”
Malcolm didn’t deny it.
“You said you would protect her.”
“I protected you.”
“No.”
Victoria looked at Claire.
Then at the ledger.
Something hardened.
For once, not cruelty.
Decision.
She threw the ledger.
Not to Malcolm.
To Claire.
“Run.”
May you like
Malcolm fired.
Victoria fell.
