Chapter 7 - THE MAN OUTSIDE THE GATE
Nathan Cole’s name appeared nowhere in the archive file Emily had taken.
She searched Daniel’s study, Richard’s library, and the mansion’s old guest records.
Nothing.
Martin refused to speak with her privately.
Richard doubled security around the estate.
Ashley spent the afternoon overseeing the banquet while pretending nothing had happened.
At four o’clock, Emily received a message from an unknown number.
Your father has been taken.
Come alone to the old railway warehouse.
Bring Laura’s file.
Emily called Thomas immediately.
No answer.
She called the repair shop.
The line had been disconnected.
Mrs. Greene begged her not to go.
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then call the police.”
“And tell them what? That someone wants a secret file proving my dead mother belonged to a billionaire family?”
“Tell Mr. Daniel.”
“He still isn’t answering.”
Mrs. Greene gripped Emily’s hands.
“You cannot go alone.”
Emily looked toward the banquet hall, where guests had begun arriving.
“If I don’t go, my father could die.”
She left through the greenhouse path and took an unused staff vehicle from the service garage.
The railway warehouse stood near the industrial riverfront, abandoned since the city rerouted freight lines.
Emily entered through a broken side door.
“Dad?”
Her voice echoed.
A figure stepped from behind a concrete pillar.
Nathan Cole.
He raised both hands.
“I didn’t take your father.”
Emily stopped.
“You sent the message.”
“No.”
“Then how did you know I would come?”
“Because Richard’s people intercepted the message before you received it.”
Emily looked around.
“Where is my father?”
“Probably somewhere Richard can control him.”
“You work for Richard.”
“I used to.”
Nathan removed the silver locket from around his neck.
It was scratched and blackened at the edges.
“This belonged to your mother.”
“So does the one Ashley is wearing.”
“No. Ashley’s is a copy.”
Emily thought of Laura’s warning.
Do not trust the person who brings you the silver locket.
“You expect me to trust you because you brought the original?”
“No. Your mother expected you to question me.”
Nathan opened the locket.
Inside was a tiny photograph of Laura holding a baby.
Emily.
On the opposite side were engraved coordinates.
“What are those numbers?”
“The location of a bank vault in Geneva.”
Emily’s breath caught.
“Daniel is in Switzerland.”
“He was.”
“You know where he is?”
Nathan looked toward the warehouse entrance.
“We have very little time.”
“Tell me.”
“Daniel discovered the trust six months ago. He learned that his marriage to you activated a succession clause written by your grandfather.”
“My grandfather?”
“Edmund Blackwood. Richard’s father.”
Emily’s thoughts raced.
“What clause?”
“If Laura had a surviving child, that child would inherit controlling authority over the original family trust upon marriage to another recognized Blackwood heir.”
Emily stared at him.
“That makes no sense.”
“It was designed to reunite two branches of the family after Richard and Laura’s conflict.”
“So Daniel married me for control.”
“No. Daniel married you before he knew the clause existed.”
“How can you know?”
“Because I was the one who told him.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Emily remembered Daniel’s recent secrecy.
“What did he do?”
“He began investigating Richard.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because every time he moved closer to the truth, someone threatened you.”
Emily wanted to believe him.
She did not allow herself to.
“What does Ashley have to do with this?”
“Ashley’s mother worked for Charles Blackwood. She helped create false records after Laura’s accident.”
“Is Ashley Daniel’s lover?”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“I have seen no evidence of that.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No,” he said carefully. “It is not.”
A vehicle stopped outside.
Nathan moved toward a rear exit.
“Richard’s men.”
Emily heard doors closing and voices approaching.
Nathan pushed the locket into her hand.
“Daniel returned because he found proof of the account transfers. But someone redirected his aircraft after landing.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you knew.”
“I said he was in Switzerland.”
A metal door slammed at the front of the warehouse.
Nathan handed Emily a small memory card.
“This contains the unedited security footage from your bedroom.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
“What will I see?”
“Not what Richard expects you to see.”
Footsteps echoed closer.
Nathan opened a narrow service hatch.
“Go.”
“What about my father?”
“Thomas is not as helpless as you think.”
Emily hesitated.
May you like
Nathan’s final words stopped her.
“And he is not your biological father.”
