Chapter 5 - Thomas’s Second Will
The hidden compartment required two keys.
I had one.
Rachel had unknowingly carried the second on a chain Thomas gave her before he died.
She believed it was an old house key.
Together, the keys opened a steel drawer beneath his desk.
Inside were legal documents, a flash drive, and a letter addressed to Rachel.
Thomas had created a second trust eighteen months before his death.
The trust held controlling shares in Bennett Medical Technologies, the company he founded before retirement.
The shares would transfer to Rachel’s first child thirty days after birth.
Lily was three weeks old.
The transfer would occur in nine days.
Until Lily turned twenty-five, her legal guardian would control the voting rights.
The company was worth nearly four hundred million dollars.
Tyler had not tried to kill Rachel out of anger over divorce.
He wanted custody before the trust activated.
If Rachel died after the transfer, Tyler would manage Lily’s shares.
If Lily died too, the trust would pass to my sister Carol’s charitable foundation.
That explained why Tyler kept the baby inside.
He needed Lily alive long enough for the transfer.
He needed Rachel dead or declared incompetent.
The heat was meant to create brain damage, not necessarily immediate death.
Judith planned to say Rachel caused the medical crisis.
Then Tyler would become guardian.
My husband’s letter was brief.
Rachel, if anyone uses love to demand control, walk away before they convince you control is protection.
Trust your mother.
She notices what powerful people ignore.
I read the final line twice.
Thomas had expected danger.
The flash drive explained why.
It contained internal company files showing that Judith and Martin Cole had attempted to purchase Bennett Medical through shell corporations.
Thomas blocked the transaction.
Three weeks later, he died from a sudden heart attack.
His doctor had been Martin Cole.
The death certificate listed natural causes.
I looked at the detective.
“Thomas did not die naturally.”
The detective did not promise anything.
He simply requested an exhumation order.
That evening, the hospital placed armed guards outside Rachel and Lily’s rooms.
The transfer deadline was nine days away.
Tyler’s family had already attempted murder once.
Now they knew the will had been found.
At midnight, the hospital fire alarm began ringing.
A nurse entered Rachel’s room.
She was pushing an empty wheelchair.
“Mrs. Cole needs to be evacuated.”
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Rachel looked at her identification badge.
The photograph did not match the woman’s face.
