Chapter 11 - THE LODGE
Nathan and Sarah entered slowly.
Marcus ordered Nathan to remove his coat and place his phone on the floor.
He searched Sarah for a tracking device.
The transmitter had been sewn inside the heel of her boot.
Marcus did not find it.
Lily watched her mother.
“Mommy.”
Sarah forced herself not to run toward her.
“I’m here, baby.”
Marcus moved beside Lily.
“You taught her to disobey me.”
“You taught her to fear you.”
“She belongs with her father.”
“She crossed a mountain to escape you.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
He looked at Nathan.
“Where is the ledger?”
“With federal investigators.”
“Then call them.”
“I cannot retrieve evidence from a federal case.”
Marcus lifted the detonator.
“You can try.”
Nathan looked at the barrels.
“Those are not all connected.”
Marcus smiled.
“How do you know?”
“The wires are different ages.”
“Some are theater.”
“One may not be.”
Nathan kept his voice calm.
“What do you want?”
“A plane.”
“Money.”
“New identification.”
“And Sarah signs a statement saying she invented everything.”
Sarah laughed once.
The sound surprised Marcus.
“You think anyone will believe me after you kidnapped Lily from a hospital?”
“They believed you were unstable for seven years.”
“Because you controlled every message.”
“I no longer need them to believe forever.”
“Only long enough to disappear.”
He threw papers onto the floor.
Sarah was expected to confess that Nathan directed her to accuse Marcus in order to hide foundation theft.
She would surrender custody of the children.
Nathan would transfer twenty million dollars to an offshore account.
Marcus had prepared every detail.
“You will never stop,” Sarah said.
Marcus’s eyes hardened.
“You made me this way.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You were this way before you met me.”
Marcus struck her across the face.
Nathan lunged.
Marcus pointed the detonator toward Lily.
“One more step.”
Nathan stopped.
Blood appeared beside Sarah’s lip.
She remained standing.
Marcus looked unsettled.
For years, one blow had been enough to silence her.
Not anymore.
“You should be afraid,” he said.
“I am.”
Sarah’s voice remained steady.
“But I am afraid of what happens if my children grow up believing this is love.”
A faint red light flashed through the lodge window.
Mercer’s team had reached the perimeter.
Marcus saw it reflected in the glass.
He grabbed Lily and pressed the detonator.
Nothing happened.
For one second, confusion crossed his face.
Lily lifted her hand.
May you like
A small battery rested in her palm.
“I took it,” she whispered.
