Chapter 2 - The Second Key
I backed away from the door.
The handle moved again.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Someone had a key.
I grabbed the contract, my passport, and my phone.
The connecting door on the opposite side of the room led to an empty adjoining suite.
I had noticed earlier that the lock had not caught completely.
I slipped through it and pulled the door shut behind me.
Seconds later, my hotel room opened.
A man entered.
Through the narrow gap beside the connecting door, I saw a dark suit and polished shoes.
He did not call my name again.
He walked straight toward my suitcase.
He knew exactly what he was looking for.
My phone vibrated.
Samuel.
Leave through the service stairs. Now.
I obeyed.
By the time I reached the parking garage, my entire body was shaking.
A black sedan flashed its headlights twice.
I stopped.
The driver stepped out.
He was in his late sixties with silver hair and a face I vaguely remembered from childhood Christmas parties.
“Claire.”
“Samuel Reed?”
He nodded.
“You have your father’s eyes.”
I did not move closer.
“Show me something only someone who knew him would know.”
Samuel reached inside his coat slowly.
He removed an old brass key.
Engraved on it were three letters.
J.M.M.
Jonathan Michael Mercer.
My father had stamped those initials into nearly everything he owned.
Fishing boxes.
Tool cabinets.
The desk in his study.
I got into the car.
Samuel drove without speaking for several blocks.
Finally, I held up the contract.
“What is the Mercer Continuity Authorization?”
His jaw tightened.
“The last lock on your father’s company.”
“My father sold Mercer Holdings.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“He told everyone he did.”
Samuel shook his head.
“He sold operating assets.”
“Not ownership.”
The words made no sense.
Samuel continued.
“Your father created a private trust before he died.”
“He placed controlling interests in several companies inside it.”
“And you are the sole beneficiary.”
My pulse hammered.
“How much?”
Samuel glanced at me.
“At the last valuation?”
He paused.
“A little over two billion dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
There was no dramatic music.
No cinematic revelation.
Just traffic passing outside and my own stunned reflection in the window.
“That’s impossible.”
“It was designed to look impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan believed someone was trying to take control through you.”
I looked at Ethan’s signature.
“My husband.”
Samuel’s expression changed.
“Your husband was supposed to be part of the protection.”
“Supposed to be?”
Before he could answer, his dashboard screen lit up.
Incoming call.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
Samuel answered through the speaker.
Barbara’s voice filled the car.
“Samuel.”
My blood turned cold.
Samuel did not respond.
Barbara laughed softly.
“So you finally found her.”
Then she said something I would never forget.
“Tell Claire her father made the same mistake she’s making now.”
Samuel’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
Barbara continued.
“He trusted you.”
The call disconnected.
I stared at Samuel.
“You told me Barbara was after the trust.”
Samuel looked straight ahead.
“She is.”
“Then why does she have your private number?”
His silence lasted too long.
I reached for the door handle.
Samuel locked the doors.
May you like
And for the first time since getting into his car, I wondered whether I had escaped one trap only to enter another.
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