Chapter 8 - Victor's Offer)
Victor did not break in.
That made him more frightening.
He simply waited outside in the rain.
Caleb stood several steps behind him.
Jack kept the door locked.
Claire held the ledger inside her coat.
"Police are trying to locate us," she whispered.
"How long?"
"No estimate."
Victor knocked once.
"Jack, Ellie needs you alive."
Jack's jaw tightened.
Claire shook her head.
"He's provoking you."
Rachel's warning returned.
He will try to make you angry.
Don't give him that.
Jack opened the door but kept the chain secured.
Victor looked exactly as he always did.
Expensive wool coat.
Silver hair at the temples.
Calm eyes.
A man prepared for a charity board meeting rather than a midnight confrontation.
"You poisoned my daughter."
Victor's face did not change.
"No."
"You gave her the cookie."
"I gave her school administrator a box of gifts."
"Knowing what was inside?"
Victor sighed.
"This is why I wanted to speak calmly."
Jack laughed.
"You forged a custody order."
"Martin handled legal documents."
"Using a dead man's identity."
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly.
There it was.
A reaction.
Jack continued.
"Marcus Vale."
Caleb shifted behind him.
Victor noticed.
So did Claire.
Victor lowered his voice.
"Rachel became obsessed with financial inconsistencies she didn't understand."
"She understood them well enough to hide evidence."
"Did she?"
Victor almost smiled.
"Then why did she die before exposing me?"
Jack's hand tightened against the door.
Victor watched it happen.
He wanted anger.
Jack forced his fingers to relax.
"You killed her."
Victor's expression remained composed.
"You have no proof."
"Not yet."
"Then consider what you actually have."
Victor leaned closer.
"An eight-year-old daughter. A business. A home. A chance to live."
Jack stared.
Victor continued.
"Give me whatever Rachel left."
"And?"
"Tomorrow morning, the custody restriction disappears. Every financial document connected to your identity disappears. Marcus Vale disappears."
"He already died."
Victor smiled.
"Names don't die, Jack. People do."
Claire quietly activated her phone recorder.
Victor continued.
"Walk away."
"You almost killed Ellie."
"I did not authorize what happened to her."
Jack heard the distinction.
Not a denial that others had acted.
Only that Victor had not authorized it.
"Caleb?"
Victor glanced back.
Caleb's face hardened.
"Sometimes employees become overzealous."
Caleb stared at Victor.
Jack saw the fracture immediately.
Victor was preparing to sacrifice him.
Jack pushed further.
"Rachel's brakes?"
Victor's expression changed for less than a second.
Caleb looked away.
That was enough.
Jack spoke slowly.
"You didn't plan to kill Rachel either, did you?"
Victor remained silent.
Jack looked at Caleb.
"You were told to scare her."
Caleb's shoulders stiffened.
Victor said, "Don't answer him."
Jack continued.
"But the brake line was cut too far."
"Shut up," Caleb snapped.
Victor turned sharply.
Jack knew he had found it.
"You killed her by accident."
Caleb stepped toward the door.
Victor blocked him with one arm.
"Get back in the car."
"You said there was no report."
"There wasn't."
Jack held up Rachel's vehicle inspection.
"Now there is."
Caleb stared at it.
Then at Victor.
"You told me everything was gone."
Victor's calm finally cracked.
"Get in the car."
Caleb backed away.
"No."
Sirens sounded faintly in the distance.
Victor looked toward the road.
Claire smiled.
"That's for you."
Victor's eyes fixed on Jack.
"This isn't over."
Jack closed the door.
By the time police reached the cabin, Victor's SUV was gone.
Caleb's vehicle remained.
Because Caleb had stayed.
He sat on the wet porch with his hands visible.
He asked for an attorney.
Then he asked for protection from Victor Hale.
At 3:14 in the morning, Jack received a call from Margaret.
He answered instantly.
"Ellie?"
"She's okay."
Jack exhaled.
Margaret continued.
"But someone came to the hospital."
"Victor?"
"No."
"Who?"
"A police detective."
Jack looked at Claire.
"What detective?"
Margaret's voice became uncertain.
"He said his name is Paul Mercer."
Jack looked down at the photograph of Rachel's damaged brake line.
The same name written beneath it.
"What does he want?"
May you like
Margaret hesitated.
"He says Rachel's death was never an accident."
