Chapter 9 - What Thomas Vance Did)
Walter's weapon changed everything.
Until that moment, Claire had been pale but controlled.
When she saw the gun, genuine shock crossed her face.
"Adrian."
He did not look at her.
"You said nobody would get hurt."
Walter laughed.
"Little late for that."
Claire stepped away from Noah.
Grant noticed.
So did Adrian.
"Don't develop a conscience now, Claire."
"This wasn't the deal."
"The deal changed when Margaret survived."
Grant focused on Noah.
The boy sat ten feet away.
Walter stood behind him.
Adrian stood to the right.
Claire to the left.
Grant could hear distant machinery outside.
The tactical team might be moving.
Or it might not.
"Let Noah go."
Adrian smiled.
"Bring me the codicil."
"You know it isn't here."
"But you know where it is."
Grant said nothing.
Adrian walked toward him.
"My father spent his life believing Thomas Vance destroyed everything."
"Victor wasn't your father."
"Victor was the only father I had after Edward disappeared."
Grant frowned.
Margaret had said Adrian claimed to be Edward's son.
Claire had called Victor their father.
The relationships did not fit.
Grant stared at Adrian.
"Who are you really?"
Adrian's smile faded.
Walter shifted.
Claire looked down.
Grant understood that he had finally asked the right question.
"You're not Victor's son."
Adrian said nothing.
"You're Edward's son."
Claire whispered, "Grant."
He looked at her.
"You knew?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Not when we were children."
Adrian's voice hardened.
"Enough."
Grant ignored him.
"Victor raised both of you."
Claire nodded.
"Adrian's mother died. Victor took him in."
"Because Edward asked him to?"
"No."
Adrian answered.
"Because Victor owed my father."
Grant looked at him.
"So Edward survived."
"For years."
"Where is he now?"
Adrian's face became empty.
"Dead."
"How?"
"Ask your father."
"Thomas has been dead fifteen years."
"Convenient."
Grant shook his head.
"I didn't know any of this."
"That doesn't return thirty years."
"No. It doesn't."
Adrian seemed surprised.
Grant continued.
"If my father stole from Robert Cross, I'll make it right."
Julian's father's name changed Adrian's expression.
"If he stole from Edward, I'll make that right too."
"You think you can buy forgiveness?"
"No."
Grant looked at Noah.
"But I'm not going to let you punish a child for something his grandfather did."
Adrian stepped closer.
"That child owns the shares that should have belonged to us."
"Then challenge the trust legally."
Adrian laughed.
"We tried."
Claire looked at him.
"We?"
Adrian realized his mistake.
Grant heard it.
"Claire didn't know."
Her face changed.
"Know what?"
Adrian ignored her.
Claire stepped forward.
"What did you try?"
Walter moved the gun.
"Back up."
Claire did not.
"Adrian."
He finally looked at her.
Claire's voice shook.
"You told me the forged transfer was the only way."
Adrian remained silent.
Grant saw the truth before Claire did.
Adrian had manipulated her too.
"How much of this was your idea?" Grant asked.
Claire looked at Adrian.
"Answer him."
Adrian's face hardened.
"Everything I did was for our family."
"Our family?"
"Victor died with nothing."
"You said Grant's father stole it."
"He did."
"You said the trust blocked us."
"It did."
Grant said quietly, "But you never needed Claire to marry me for a legal claim."
Claire turned.
Grant continued.
"If Edward or Victor had proof, they could have sued decades ago."
Adrian looked at him with hatred.
"They did not have the ledger."
"So you needed access to my house."
Claire stared at Adrian.
"No."
Grant looked at her.
"He needed you."
"No."
"He needed someone Grant Vance would allow past every lock."
Claire's eyes filled with horror.
"You told me you found me after the wedding."
Adrian said nothing.
"You knew where I was before that."
Still nothing.
Claire's voice rose.
"You encouraged me to meet Grant."
Grant felt sick.
Claire turned toward him.
For the first time, there was no arrogance in her face.
Only realization.
Adrian had cultivated her relationship with Grant.
Maybe arranged it.
Claire whispered, "The charity dinner."
Adrian looked away.
"You put me there."
Grant remembered the evening he met her.
Julian had canceled at the last minute.
A sponsor had changed Grant's seat.
Claire had been beside him.
Adrian had been constructing the path into Grant's family long before the marriage.
Claire backed away from him.
"You used me."
Adrian snapped, "You wanted the money."
"I wanted what you told me belonged to Victor."
"You enjoyed being Mrs. Vance."
Claire flinched.
Grant did not forgive her.
But he understood something new.
Claire was guilty.
She was also not the architect.
Walter suddenly looked toward the western corridor.
A faint noise.
Adrian heard it too.
"Police."
He grabbed Noah by the arm.
Grant surged forward.
Walter raised the gun.
Claire moved first.
She struck Walter's wrist with the metal music box.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Noah screamed.
Grant tackled Walter.
Adrian dragged Noah toward the loading platform.
Claire grabbed Adrian's coat.
"Let him go!"
Adrian hit her and she fell.
Grant wrestled the gun away from Walter.
Samuel and officers stormed through the western doors.
"Police!"
Adrian reached the loading platform with Noah.
Behind him was a twenty-foot drop to the old conveyor pit.
Grant stood.
"Adrian."
Adrian held Noah in front of him.
"Stay back."
Grant lowered the gun to the floor.
"Take me."
Adrian laughed.
"You?"
"You want a Vance."
"I want the ledger."
"I can get it."
"You're lying."
"Then you lose everything."
Adrian stared at him.
Grant took one step forward.
"Without me, you don't know where Elena hid the codicil."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Let Noah walk to Claire."
Claire looked up from the floor.
Grant repeated, "Let him go."
Adrian looked at the police.
Then at Grant.
Then at Noah.
He shoved the boy forward.
Noah ran.
Claire opened her arms.
Noah ran past her.
Straight to Grant.
Grant caught him.
Adrian used the moment to jump from the platform onto an old maintenance stair and disappear through a lower tunnel.
Police chased him.
Walter was arrested.
Claire remained on the floor.
Grant held Noah so tightly the boy could barely breathe.
"It's okay," he whispered.
Noah sobbed against his shoulder.
"Dad."
"I'm here."
"I knew you'd come."
Grant closed his eyes.
That sentence hurt more than anything else.
May you like
Because Noah had needed him long before tonight.
And Grant had not seen it.
