Chapter 9 - The Dead Woman's Signature)
For several seconds nobody moved.
Victoria spoke first.
"She's dead."
Vale looked at her.
"You assured me."
"I saw the report."
"A report you gave me."
Arthur leaned forward.
"Where is she?"
Vale ignored him.
Victoria grabbed her phone.
No signal.
Samuel smiled.
"I disabled the room network when we entered."
Victoria glared.
Arthur turned to Vale.
"Who called?"
"Company counsel."
"What did Caroline file?"
Vale remained silent.
Arthur slammed his palm onto the table.
"Tell me."
"An emergency injunction."
"When?"
"Six minutes ago."
"From where?"
"Filed electronically through counsel in Washington."
Arthur felt something almost like hope.
Caroline might be alive.
Maya and Noah's biological mother might still exist somewhere beyond years of lies.
Victoria looked terrified.
Not angry.
Terrified.
That told Arthur more than any confession.
"You know where she is."
Victoria shook her head.
"No."
"You moved her from the clinic."
"I was following orders."
Vale said coldly, "Careful."
Victoria turned on him.
"Don't you dare."
Vale's eyes narrowed.
Arthur watched the alliance fracture.
Victoria pointed at Vale.
"You told me Caroline would be relocated."
Vale replied, "You were paid to handle documentation."
"You told me the children were dead."
Arthur's stomach tightened.
"So you didn't know Grace had them."
Victoria stopped.
Arthur understood.
Victoria had suspected years later.
That explained her search.
The late-night interrogations.
The cruelty.
She hadn't known for certain until recently.
Vale looked at Arthur.
"This conversation is over."
Samuel stepped between him and the door.
"No, Richard."
Vale smiled faintly.
"You think a former prosecutor frightens me?"
"No."
Samuel raised his phone.
"But Caroline's injunction came with a federal preservation order."
Vale's expression changed.
Samuel had lied.
Arthur realized it immediately.
Vale did not.
Samuel continued.
"Every document in this room is now evidence."
Victoria stepped backward.
Vale looked toward Peter Lawson.
"Remove them."
Peter drew a gun.
Arthur's body tightened.
Then another voice came from behind them.
"Put it down."
Evelyn stood in the doorway.
Behind her were three members of Arthur's long-serving estate security team.
Peter hesitated.
Arthur said, "You work for me."
Peter laughed.
"No. I work for whoever pays."
Evelyn answered, "Then you're unemployed."
Peter aimed toward her.
Samuel fired first.
The bullet hit the table beside Peter's hand.
Peter dropped the weapon.
Security restrained him.
Vale remained astonishingly calm.
Arthur approached him.
"You lied to me my entire life."
Vale shrugged.
"I protected an institution."
"You murdered Daniel."
"No."
Arthur searched his face.
Vale said, "Daniel's death was inconvenient to me."
"Inconvenient?"
"But I didn't order it."
"Who did?"
Vale's smile returned.
"Find Caroline."
Arthur wanted to hit him.
Instead he asked, "Where?"
Vale looked toward the wooden object Victoria had placed near her chair.
The music box.
Arthur saw it.
Victoria moved.
Arthur grabbed it first.
She clawed at his arm.
"Give it to me."
Arthur shoved her away.
Grace appeared in the doorway.
When Victoria saw her, hatred consumed her face.
"You."
Grace stared back.
"Yes."
Victoria lunged.
Security restrained her.
Grace approached the music box.
The wooden house had been carved to resemble a Victorian mansion.
One side was blackened.
Burn marks.
Arthur looked at her.
"It really survived the fire."
Grace nodded.
"Caroline's father pulled it from the nursery."
She opened the bottom panel.
Empty.
Victoria laughed.
Arthur turned.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
Vale looked at her.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
Arthur inspected the compartment.
There were scratches.
Something had been removed recently.
Vale's voice became dangerous.
"Where are the records?"
Victoria said nothing.
"Victoria."
"I don't have them."
Vale stepped closer.
"Then who does?"
A small voice came from the doorway.
"I do."
Everyone turned.
Maya stood beside Helen Mercer.
Noah was with her.
Arthur's heart nearly stopped.
"What are you doing here?"
Helen raised one hand.
"They refused to stay."
Maya held something wrapped in a blue cloth.
Grace stared.
"The false bottom."
Maya nodded.
"Mom showed me."
She unwrapped a packet of old documents.
Victoria screamed.
"No!"
She broke free for half a second.
Arthur stepped between her and Maya.
Victoria stopped.
Something in Arthur's face warned her.
"Do not move."
Maya handed the documents to Samuel.
He read the first page.
His expression sharpened.
"What is it?" Arthur asked.
Samuel looked toward Vale.
"The original Wexler deed."
Vale's face finally changed.
Samuel continued.
"And a letter signed by Charles Blackwood."
Arthur swallowed.
"What does it say?"
Samuel read silently.
Then looked at Arthur.
"Your father admits the Wexler acquisition was fraudulent."
Grace closed her eyes.
Arthur felt numb.
Samuel turned another page.
"There is more."
"What?"
"A beneficiary transfer."
"To whom?"
Samuel looked at Maya and Noah.
"Caroline transferred all Wexler restoration rights to her children."
Victoria whispered, "No."
Samuel continued.
"If enforceable, Maya and Noah don't own only Daniel's thirty-eight percent."
Arthur stared.
"How much?"
Samuel exhaled.
"Potentially enough to control Blackwood Holdings outright."
Vale looked at the children differently.
Not as children.
As assets.
Arthur noticed.
He stepped in front of them.
Vale smiled.
"There he is."
"Who?"
"The brother Daniel always hoped you'd become."
Arthur stared.
Vale walked toward the door.
Samuel blocked him.
Vale stopped.
"You have no warrant."
Helen replied, "Not yet."
Vale smiled.
"You won't get one."
Helen's eyes hardened.
"We'll see."
Vale looked back at Arthur.
"Ask Caroline why she waited six years."
Arthur's stomach tightened.
Vale continued.
"Ask her who really drove Daniel's car."
Then he left.
Arthur turned toward Grace.
Her face had gone white.
"What did he mean?"
Grace whispered, "Daniel was driving."
Samuel stared at her.
"Are you certain?"
Grace nodded.
"Caroline told me."
Maya looked frightened.
Arthur's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
DO NOT TRUST GRACE CARTER.
A photograph followed.
May you like
It showed Grace standing beside Daniel's car thirty minutes before the crash.
In her hand was a set of keys.
