Chapter 30 - Midnight
Samuel came alone.
At least that was what he wanted them to believe.
Marlow had already identified two Crane vehicles three blocks away.
Agents waited.
Eleanor stood in the foyer.
Rachel remained at the foot of the stairs.
Nathan waited in the dining room.
Peter watched remotely from the hospital.
Daniel had been ordered outside the operation zone.
Samuel knocked.
Three times.
Of course.
Eleanor opened the door.
He looked older.
His suit was wrinkled.
His eyes had not slept.
“You should have left.”
“This is my house.”
Samuel entered.
For thirty years he had been welcome there.
That was over.
“Where is the card?”
Eleanor held up a duplicate.
Samuel smiled.
“You always were stubborn.”
“And you always confused patience with weakness.”
His smile disappeared.
Rachel stepped forward.
“Why me?”
Samuel looked at her.
“Because Arthur trusted you.”
“No. Why did you use Trent?”
Samuel shrugged.
“He was useful.”
Rachel’s face hardened.
“You knew what he was doing to me.”
“I suspected.”
“And you kept feeding him information.”
“I needed him motivated.”
Eleanor felt rage rise.
Samuel continued.
“Trent wanted someone to blame. Marianne wanted her past buried. Peter wanted to be Arthur’s righteous secret son. Nathan wanted answers. Everyone wanted something.”
“And you?”
Eleanor asked.
Samuel looked around Arthur’s house.
“I wanted what I earned.”
“You stole it.”
“I spent thirty years cleaning Arthur’s disasters.”
“He paid you.”
Samuel laughed.
“He built an empire while I buried bodies.”
Rachel stiffened.
Samuel noticed.
“Metaphorical bodies.”
Marlow heard every word from the surveillance room.
Eleanor asked, “And Peter?”
“He refused to understand reality.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“I contained him.”
Rachel whispered, “That is what Trent used to say.”
Samuel looked at her.
Something in her expression unsettled him.
He reached inside his coat.
Eleanor did not move.
He removed a handgun.
Every concealed agent tensed.
Samuel pointed it downward.
“Take me upstairs.”
Rachel shook her head.
“No.”
Samuel raised the weapon.
“Rachel.”
She stared at him.
“You’ve spent years believing everybody in this family would eventually become afraid enough to obey you.”
Samuel’s jaw tightened.
Rachel continued.
“You made the same mistake Trent did.”
“What mistake?”
“You thought fear and obedience were the same thing.”
May you like
Then she turned.
And walked toward the attic.
