Chapter 14 - Bluebird)
Daniel immediately turned to Michael.
“What does activated mean?”
Michael stared at the trust document.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re an attorney.”
“I never saw the complete provision.”
Emily went to the laptop.
“The files.”
She searched Catherine’s folder.
Nothing explained activation mechanics.
Thomas asked, “What could trigger it?”
“Attempted fraud,” Michael said. “Unauthorized control. Incapacity. Possibly threats against beneficiaries.”
Emily turned.
“Noah is a beneficiary.”
Daniel ran to the adjoining room.
Noah was sitting at a table drawing with crayons.
A security officer stood beside him.
Daniel exhaled.
“Grandpa.”
Noah held up the drawing.
A blue bird.
Daniel stopped.
“What did you draw?”
“Bird.”
“Why?”
Noah pointed at a small wooden object beside the crayons.
Daniel picked it up.
A blue wooden bird.
He had never seen it before.
“Where did you get this?”
Noah shrugged.
“Man gave it.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
“What man?”
“Nice man.”
“When?”
“Just now.”
The security officer stared.
“Nobody entered.”
Noah pointed toward the service window connecting the office to a rear hallway.
Daniel looked.
The window was partly open.
Marcus rushed in.
“What happened?”
Daniel showed him the bird.
“Someone reached my grandson inside your security office.”
Marcus went pale.
Daniel examined the wooden bird.
A seam ran along the bottom.
He twisted it.
The base opened.
Inside was a tiny key.
Emily arrived behind him.
“What is that?”
Daniel removed the key.
Attached to it was a metal tag.
B17.
Thomas entered.
“B could mean bank box.”
Michael shook his head.
“Storage unit.”
Rebecca stood in the doorway between two officers.
Her face changed when she saw the bird.
“Oh God.”
Daniel turned.
“You recognize it.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Catherine had one.”
Daniel stared.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“Where?”
“She wore the key on a necklace for months.”
Daniel looked at the small object.
“What does B17 open?”
“I don’t know.”
Rebecca stepped closer until an officer stopped her.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“I’ve done enough of that.”
“Whoever gave Noah that bird was close enough to take him.”
Daniel’s anger vanished beneath fear.
Rebecca continued.
“They didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Because they want you to follow the key.”
Emily asked, “To where?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward Marcus.
“Search the hotel system for B17.”
Marcus began checking records.
Hotel storage.
Ballroom lockers.
Basement cages.
Nothing.
Thomas suddenly said, “Bluebird.”
Daniel looked at him.
“The cabin.”
“What about it?”
“You called Catherine’s cabin Bluebird.”
“Yes.”
“Did it have numbered storage?”
Daniel thought.
The cabin had belonged to Catherine’s parents.
After their deaths, she used it rarely.
Daniel had not visited in more than ten years.
Then he remembered the basement.
Catherine’s father had installed metal storage lockers along one wall.
Each was labeled.
A1 through A20.
B1 through B20.
Daniel stared at the key.
“B17.”
Emily understood.
“The cabin.”
Thomas nodded.
Daniel looked toward the clock.
The cabin was almost three hours away.
Marcus said, “Police can send someone.”
“No.”
“Mr. Arden.”
“If Catherine hid something there, I need to see it before anyone touches it.”
Rebecca laughed softly.
Everyone turned.
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“What?”
“You still don’t understand.”
“Explain.”
“If Catherine wanted police to find it, she would have called them sixteen years ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
Rebecca continued.
“She trusted almost nobody.”
“She trusted me.”
Rebecca’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
“Then why hide everything from me?”
“Because you were the target.”
The words silenced him.
Rebecca looked toward the bird.
“Daniel, whoever left that knew Catherine’s private symbol. They knew Noah was here. They knew exactly where he was despite Marcus isolating the cameras.”
Marcus looked uneasy.
Rebecca continued.
“That person is either inside this hotel or has access beyond anything we’ve found.”
Daniel looked around the office.
Security personnel.
Police officers.
Thomas.
Emily.
Michael.
Rebecca.
People he had trusted.
People he had stopped trusting.
People he had never trusted.
For the first time, he understood Catherine’s fear.
The danger was not a stranger outside the family.
It was access.
Someone had always been close enough.
Daniel turned to Emily.
“You and Noah leave.”
“No.”
“You are not arguing this time.”
“Where would we go?”
“Somewhere only you choose.”
Rebecca spoke.
“That won’t help.”
Emily glared at her.
“Nobody asked you.”
Rebecca looked at Noah.
“If the Steward wants him, a random hotel isn’t protection.”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Say that again.”
Rebecca did not retreat.
“The Steward doesn’t kill without purpose.”
“That’s supposed to comfort me?”
“No.”
Rebecca’s voice dropped.
“It’s supposed to scare you for the right reason.”
Before Daniel could answer, Marcus’s tablet chimed.
He read the message.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Marcus turned the screen.
The automated hotel license-plate system had flagged a vehicle exiting the garage thirty minutes earlier.
The black SUV.
Richard’s vehicle.
It had not left city limits.
Instead, traffic cameras had tracked it to a private airfield eight miles away.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
“They’re flying?”
“Maybe.”
Emily leaned toward the screen.
“Can we identify the aircraft?”
Marcus searched.
One private jet had filed a flight plan fifteen minutes earlier.
Destination:
Lake Haven Regional Airport.
Daniel stared.
The airport closest to Bluebird cabin.
Richard was already going there.
Samuel was with him.
The key in Daniel’s hand suddenly felt heavier.
He looked at Emily.
“Pack Noah’s things.”
Rebecca stood.
“Daniel.”
He ignored her.
She raised her voice.
“If Richard reaches the cabin first, you cannot let him open B17.”
Daniel turned slowly.
“You said you didn’t know what was inside.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why stop him?”
Rebecca’s face went pale.
“Because Catherine once told me what would happen if it was opened by the wrong person.”
May you like
Daniel waited.
Rebecca whispered, “She said it would destroy the Arden family.”
