Chapter 12 - The Estate Behind the Gates
The Vale estate sat on eighty acres north of the city.
Nathan had attended charity dinners there.
Holiday parties.
Engagement celebrations.
He had never imagined entering it to recover his kidnapped daughter.
Marcus insisted Nathan involve federal authorities.
Nathan agreed.
But he did not trust them enough to reveal everything.
Not yet.
He gave Marcus a duplicate of the ledger.
The original remained hidden.
Nathan carried a decoy drive to the estate.
Richard Vale waited in the library.
Victoria stood near the fireplace.
Lily was nowhere in sight.
Nathan entered.
“Where is she?”
Richard smiled.
“You look like your father when he was angry.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Do not say his name.”
Richard poured himself a drink.
“Thomas was sentimental.”
“That was his weakness.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“You killed him.”
Victoria looked at her father.
Richard did not react.
“You came here for the child.”
Nathan tossed the drive onto the table.
“There.”
“Now give me Lily.”
Richard looked at the drive.
“Not yet.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“You will sign three documents.”
Nathan laughed.
“Of course.”
The first dissolved Lily’s claim against Cole family trusts.
The second transferred Nathan’s voting shares into a temporary management partnership.
The third reinstated the marriage agreement.
Nathan looked at Victoria.
“You still expect me to marry you?”
Victoria’s face remained calm.
“This was never about love.”
Nathan almost admired the honesty.
“Then what was it about?”
“Ownership.”
Victoria glanced around the room.
“Men like our fathers built empires and pretended their sons would inherit them.”
“I learned early that inheritance is just a polite word for war.”
Nathan signed.
Victoria looked surprised.
Richard smiled.
“That was easier than expected.”
Nathan placed the pen down.
“You have what you want.”
“Where is Lily?”
Richard pressed a button on his desk.
A television turned on.
Live video appeared.
Lily sat inside a bedroom.
She looked unharmed.
Grace’s stuffed rabbit was in her arms.
Nathan stepped closer to the screen.
“Lily.”
She could not hear him.
Richard shut off the television.
“You’ll receive her location after we verify the ledger.”
Nathan looked toward the drive.
Richard handed it to a technician.
The man plugged it into an isolated computer.
Files appeared.
Richard smiled.
Then every screen in the library turned black.
Victoria frowned.
The lights flickered.
Nathan checked his watch.
Marcus had triggered the second phase.
Outside, sirens approached.
Richard’s expression changed.
“You brought police.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the windows.
“I brought people you couldn’t buy.”
Federal vehicles broke through the front gates.
Richard reached beneath his desk.
Nathan lunged.
A gun appeared.
Victoria screamed.
Richard fired once.
The bullet shattered a lamp.
Nathan tackled him.
Security agents flooded the room.
Then Nathan heard something worse than gunfire.
May you like
From upstairs came the sound of a child screaming.
“Daddy!”
