Chapter 13 - The Third Key
Margaret placed three photographs on the chapel table.
Each showed a different object.
The steel key Adriana had already recovered.
A silver compass pendant.
An antique brass cylinder.
"There were always three."
Adriana leaned forward.
"The pendant wasn't the key?"
"It was."
"The steel device?"
"The second."
"And the cylinder?"
Margaret nodded.
"The last one."
"Where is it?"
Margaret's face darkened.
"Charles Rowe has it."
"So none of us can open Sterling Meridian."
"Correct."
"Then why are they threatening us?"
"Because they believe I still know where the original archive is."
"The archive?"
Margaret hesitated.
"The one thing Evelyn never allowed inside the trust."
Adriana frowned.
"What is it?"
Margaret looked toward the stained-glass window.
"A list."
"A list of what?"
"Every company Charles Rowe stole."
Silence.
"And every person who helped him."
Adriana suddenly understood.
"That's why Evelyn died."
Margaret nodded.
"They thought she copied the list."
"Did she?"
Margaret smiled faintly.
"She was smarter than all of them."
Before Adriana could ask another question, Margaret's phone vibrated.
She looked at the screen.
The color drained from her face.
"What is it?"
"They found us."
Outside the chapel, tires screeched.
Three black SUVs entered the cemetery.
Margaret immediately stood.
"No matter what happens..."
She grabbed Adriana's hands tightly.
"...never let Charles Rowe have all three keys."
The chapel doors burst open.
Several armed men flooded inside.
One voice echoed across the room.
"Mrs. Ellis..."
Charles Rowe himself stepped into the doorway.
He smiled politely.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you again."
His eyes shifted to Adriana.
Then to the steel key in her hand.
"Now..."
May you like
His smile widened.
"...shall we finally finish the business your husband failed to complete?"
