Chapter 3 - Eleven Days
Ethan moved in front of Natalie.
The two men behind Lorraine wore dark jackets despite the summer heat. Neither displayed a weapon, but both stood with the balanced posture of men accustomed to violence.
Lorraine’s face was pale.
She looked less like Ethan’s mother and more like a stranger wearing her features.
“Who are they?” Ethan asked.
“People who can explain.”
“I’m not interested in explanations.”
“You should be.”
One of the men stepped forward.
Ethan raised the screwdriver in his hand.
The man stopped.
Lorraine glanced toward the hidden compartment.
“You don’t understand what you found.”
“I found a life insurance policy on my wife with a forged signature.”
“It was a financial safeguard.”
“Against what?”
“Against losing everything.”
“Natalie is not an asset.”
“No,” Lorraine replied. “She is a liability.”
Natalie flinched.
Ethan took one step toward his mother.
The man nearest Lorraine moved again.
Ethan pointed the screwdriver at him.
“Come closer and you’ll leave with fewer fingers.”
Lorraine’s voice sharpened.
“Stop this. You’re not on one of your work sites.”
“No. On my work sites, the dangerous people wear warning labels.”
The second man looked toward the street.
“We don’t have time for this.”
Ethan recognized the voice.
Natalie did too.
She clutched Ethan’s arm.
“That’s him,” she whispered. “The man I heard in the garage.”
The stranger’s expression changed.
Ethan memorized his face.
Late forties.
Scar near the left eyebrow.
Gray eyes.
A narrow wedding ring.
Lorraine stepped between them.
“Ethan, the account was created for you.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
The name struck harder than Ethan expected.
Robert Cole had been dead for fourteen years.
At least, that was what Ethan had been told.
A boating accident.
A body recovered from the lake.
A closed casket because of severe injuries.
Lorraine watched Ethan carefully.
“Your father left behind obligations,” she continued. “He was involved with organizations you know nothing about.”
“What organizations?”
“Charities, private relief groups, overseas contractors.”
“The same groups depositing money into an account under my name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because after he died, certain agreements transferred to his oldest child.”
“I never signed anything.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Ethan looked at the forged passport copies and financial records.
“Apparently, someone signed for me.”
Lorraine’s eyes hardened.
“We kept you protected.”
“You stole my income.”
“We redirected it.”
“To Brooke’s SUV?”
Brooke appeared at the garage entrance behind the two men.
Her face was streaked with tears.
“Mom,” she said. “We need to leave.”
Ethan turned toward her.
“Did you know about Natalie’s policy?”
Brooke looked at Lorraine.
“Answer me.”
“I knew there was insurance.”
“Did you know the waiting period ends in eleven days?”
Brooke began crying harder.
“I didn’t write that note.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
One of the men checked his watch.
“We need the documents.”
Lorraine ignored him.
“Ethan, your wife needs treatment. Treatment is expensive. The policy was meant to protect you if the worst happened.”
“You delayed her care.”
“I controlled unnecessary spending.”
“You kept her from a hospital so the policy wouldn’t be questioned.”
“That is not what happened.”
Natalie spoke from behind Ethan.
“You canceled my appointment.”
Lorraine turned.
Natalie’s voice trembled, but she did not look away.
“You called the oncology center and told them I had moved out of state.”
Lorraine sighed.
“You were confused.”
“You took my phone.”
“To keep you from upsetting yourself.”
“You locked the front gate.”
“For your safety.”
“You told Brooke not to drive me.”
“She had responsibilities.”
“You let me sleep in a storage room while three bedrooms were empty.”
Lorraine’s composure cracked.
“You came into this family with nothing,” she snapped. “My son paid for your life, your house, your food, and your endless medical complaints. You should be grateful.”
Ethan heard Natalie’s breath catch.
The man with the scar stepped forward again.
“That’s enough. Give us the files.”
“No,” Ethan said.
The man’s hand moved toward his jacket.
A siren sounded in the distance.
Everyone froze.
The siren grew louder.
Then another joined it.
Lorraine stared at Ethan.
“What did you do?”
Ethan pulled his phone from beneath his shirt.
The recording application was still running.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “But the fraud investigator listening through this phone might have.”
The man with the scar lunged.
Ethan threw the screwdriver into his face.
The man recoiled, and Ethan drove his shoulder into his chest. They crashed against the workbench. Papers flew across the garage.
The second man grabbed Natalie.
She screamed.
Ethan turned, but Brooke suddenly swung the SUV keys into the man’s eye.
He shouted and released Natalie.
Brooke stared at what she had done.
Then she ran.
Lorraine followed her daughter toward the house.
The scarred man shoved Ethan away and reached for the insurance file.
Ethan caught his wrist.
They struggled beside the hidden compartment as police vehicles screeched into the driveway.
The man tore free, grabbed one prepaid phone, and escaped through the rear door.
The second stranger followed.
Officers entered the garage with weapons drawn.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Ethan raised his hands.
Natalie sank against the wall.
Detective Aaron Mills entered moments later. He was the fraud investigator Ethan had contacted after finding the pathology report. His expression changed when he saw the hidden documents.
“Don’t touch anything else,” he said.
Ethan pointed toward the rear exit.
“Two men escaped.”
“Officers are covering the alley.”
“They know about the account.”
“What account?”
Ethan showed him the statement.
Mills studied the balance.
Then he examined the insurance policy.
His face became grim.
“Where is your mother?”
“She ran inside.”
An officer returned from the house.
“The older woman is gone,” he said. “Back door was open.”
“What about Brooke?” Ethan asked.
“Also gone.”
Ethan looked toward the driveway.
Brooke’s luxury SUV was still parked there.
Lorraine’s sedan remained inside the garage.
They had escaped on foot or entered another waiting vehicle.
Natalie sat on the floor, struggling to breathe.
Ethan knelt beside her.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They’ll find us there.”
“Who?”
She looked toward the life insurance policy.
“The people who need me to stay alive for eleven days.”
Detective Mills heard her.
He crouched beside them.
“Mrs. Cole, I’m placing you under protective supervision.”
Natalie looked at him.
“Protection from Lorraine?”
Mills glanced at the financial documents.
“Possibly from more people than that.”
An officer brought over one of the prepaid phones recovered from the compartment.
“It’s unlocked.”
Mills checked the screen.
There was a single unread message.
He opened it.
The message contained a photograph taken less than an hour earlier.
It showed Ethan and Natalie sitting at the breakfast table.
May you like
Below the photograph were six words.
THE ENGINEER CAME HOME TOO EARLY.
