Chapter 3 - The Man Behind the Door)
Nobody moved.
Marcus Shaw remained outside.
Claire whispered, "Call the police."
Margaret shook her head.
"Not yet."
Noah stared at the wooden door between them and the man his mother had warned him about.
"What do you want?" Noah called.
"Five minutes."
"My mother said not to trust you."
There was silence.
Then Marcus answered.
"Your mother had good reasons."
That was not the response Noah expected.
"Are you admitting you hurt her?"
"No."
"Then why did she write your name?"
"Because I was the last person she saw before she disappeared."
Claire stepped closer to the door.
"Get out."
Marcus ignored her.
"Noah, your grandmother knows about Lake Ashcroft. Ask her why seventeen million dollars disappeared from a Vale subsidiary the week your mother vanished."
Margaret's head snapped toward the door.
"What did you say?"
Marcus continued.
"Ask Eleanor why three board members resigned afterward. Ask why the investigation was sealed. Ask why Grace changed her name."
Noah looked at Margaret.
"Do you know about that?"
"No."
Marcus gave a humorless laugh from the hallway.
"Of course she doesn't. Eleanor compartmentalizes everything."
Margaret moved toward the door.
"What do you want, Marcus?"
"To keep the boy alive."
Claire cursed under her breath.
Noah unlocked the chain before anyone could stop him.
Marcus stood alone.
He was tall, lean, and older than the photograph, but unmistakably the same man.
Gray eyes.
Dark hair turning silver at the temples.
A thin scar near his jaw.
He held nothing in his hands.
No weapon.
No briefcase.
"Noah."
"You have five minutes."
Marcus entered.
Claire did not lower the kitchen knife she had picked up.
Margaret stared at him.
"I thought you were dead."
"That was the intention."
Noah shut the door.
Marcus looked at the wooden box.
"You found the photograph."
"Mom said to find you before you found me."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"Grace always enjoyed contradictions."
"Where is she?"
The question changed him.
For the first time, Marcus looked genuinely tired.
"I don't know."
Noah stepped closer.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
"You were the last person who saw her."
"Yes."
"So what happened?"
Marcus looked at Margaret.
"Does Eleanor know he's going to the ball?"
"She does now."
Marcus cursed.
"Then we have less time than I thought."
"Time for what?"
Marcus faced Noah again.
"Your mother discovered that someone was using Vale International to move money through shell companies."
"Who?"
"She never told me."
"Why?"
"Because she didn't trust me."
Noah laughed bitterly.
"Sounds familiar."
Marcus accepted that.
"Grace asked me to drive her to Lake Ashcroft."
"December fourteenth?"
"Yes."
"What happened there?"
Marcus paused.
"She met someone."
"Who?"
"I never saw the person's face."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I waited in the car. Grace walked toward an old boathouse. Twenty minutes later I heard a gunshot."
Claire covered her mouth.
Noah felt the floor tilt.
"What did you do?"
"I ran toward the building."
"And?"
"It was empty."
"That's impossible."
"There was blood near the rear door. Not much. No body. No Grace."
Noah's fists tightened.
"You left her there?"
"I searched for three hours."
"You called police?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because before Grace went inside, she told me that if anything happened, the police might be compromised."
Margaret stared at him.
"Seven years of silence, Marcus."
"I spent those seven years following the money."
"And?"
"I found something."
Marcus removed a small encrypted drive from his jacket.
"Grace sent this to me the night she disappeared."
Noah reached for it.
Marcus pulled it away.
"Not yet."
"You came here to protect me, remember?"
"I came here because someone accessed the old transfer documents forty-eight hours ago."
"What transfer?"
"Your shares."
Margaret went still.
Marcus noticed.
"So you told him."
"Yes."
Marcus looked at Noah.
"Twenty-six percent is enough to destroy people."
"I don't want the company."
"That doesn't matter. They want your vote."
"Who is they?"
Marcus's expression hardened.
"That's what I still don't know."
A car stopped outside.
Marcus looked through the window.
His entire posture changed.
"Turn off the lights."
Nobody moved.
"Now."
Claire switched them off.
The apartment went dark.
A black SUV stood across the street.
Two men got out.
Marcus headed for the back door.
"You're coming with me."
Noah shook his head.
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Those men aren't here to negotiate."
Margaret checked the hallway window.
"There's another vehicle."
Claire grabbed Noah's coat.
"Go."
Noah looked at her.
"What about you?"
"I'll leave with Margaret."
Marcus opened the fire escape door.
"Noah."
Police sirens sounded in the distance.
The men outside looked up.
Marcus cursed.
"They'll disappear before the police arrive."
Noah slipped onto the fire escape.
Before following, Marcus turned toward Claire.
"Do not take him to Eleanor's house."
Claire stared.
"Why?"
Marcus's face was grim.
May you like
"Because the person Grace feared was already inside the Vale family."
Then he followed Noah into the night.
