Chapter 2 - THE DEATH CERTIFICATE
The gunshot echoed through the loading bay.
Ethan threw himself down across the back seat.
Glass exploded above him.
Someone shouted.
Then tires screamed against concrete.
The SUV lurched forward so violently that Ethan struck his shoulder against the door.
Richard climbed into the passenger seat.
“DRIVE!”
Dr. Voss slammed his foot against the accelerator.
The vehicle shot out of the loading area.
Ethan pushed himself upright.
He looked back through the shattered rear window.
Laura was lying behind the delivery van.
He could not tell whether she had been hit.
Police officers burst through the service door seconds later.
One of them pointed toward the escaping SUV.
Ethan heard another shot.
The rear windshield cracked.
Malcolm swerved.
“Are you insane?”
Richard twisted around.
“Keep driving.”
“The police saw us.”
“Then lose them.”
“I’m a doctor, not a getaway driver.”
“You’re whatever I need you to be right now.”
Ethan stared at the two men.
Richard looked back at him.
“Stay down.”
Ethan did not obey.
“Where are you taking me?”
Richard ignored him.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe.”
Ethan almost shouted.
“Safe from who?”
Richard finally turned.
“From your mother.”
Ethan’s anger became disbelief.
“You put her in a coffin.”
Richard leaned toward him.
“And she is still more dangerous than you understand.”
Sirens screamed behind them.
Malcolm checked the mirror.
“We have two cruisers.”
“Take Route 19.”
“That goes toward the river.”
“I know.”
Malcolm made the turn.
Ethan slid against the seat.
His hands searched desperately around him.
No phone.
No door handle.
The child locks had been activated.
Then his fingers touched something beneath the seat.
A leather folder.
Richard and Malcolm were arguing too loudly to notice him.
Ethan pulled the folder toward himself.
Gold letters were stamped across the front.
NORTHRIDGE MEDICAL ASSOCIATES.
He opened it.
The first page showed Claire Parker’s name.
His stomach twisted.
He read the date.
Four days earlier.
MEDICAL CERTIFICATION OF DEATH.
Cause of death: sudden cardiac arrest.
Physician: Malcolm Voss, M.D.
Ethan’s hands shook.
The document made everything look official.
There were signatures.
Stamps.
Numbers.
A false death made real with ink.
Then Ethan found something else.
A second document.
This one was not about Claire.
It was about him.
PETITION FOR EMERGENCY GUARDIANSHIP.
Applicant: Richard Hale.
Minor: Ethan Parker.
Reason: death of biological mother.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Richard had not only planned to bury Claire.
He had prepared to take legal control of Ethan immediately afterward.
Ethan turned the page.
There was a list of assets.
Claire’s house.
Claire’s investment account.
A trust established by Ethan’s deceased biological father.
And one company name Ethan had heard his mother mention only once.
Parker Meridian Holdings.
Next to the company was a handwritten note.
CONTROL TRANSFERS THROUGH MINOR BENEFICIARY.
Ethan stared at it.
Richard’s voice came from the front.
“Put that down.”
Ethan looked up.
Richard had seen the folder.
He reached into the back seat.
Ethan pulled away.
“What is Parker Meridian?”
Richard’s face went blank.
“Give me the folder.”
“What is it?”
“Ethan.”
“My dad owned part of it, didn’t he?”
Richard’s expression told him enough.
Ethan flipped to another page.
A diagram connected names with arrows.
Claire Parker.
Ethan Parker.
Nathan Parker.
Richard Hale.
At the bottom, one sentence had been underlined twice.
If Claire deceased before Ethan reaches eighteen, trustee authority requires court-appointed guardian consent.
Ethan looked at Richard.
“You wanted my money.”
Richard laughed once.
“You think this is about money?”
“What else could it be?”
Richard reached farther.
Ethan shoved the folder beneath his body.
Richard grabbed his ankle.
The SUV suddenly swerved.
Malcolm shouted.
“Police roadblock!”
Richard released Ethan.
Ahead, two police cruisers blocked the bridge entrance.
Officers stood behind open doors.
“Turn around.”
“We can’t.”
“TURN AROUND!”
Malcolm yanked the wheel.
The SUV crashed over a curb.
Ethan was thrown sideways.
A siren blared.
Richard cursed.
The vehicle barreled into a narrow industrial road running beneath the bridge.
Ethan held onto the folder.
He could see the river through gaps between old warehouses.
Malcolm accelerated.
“Where am I going?”
“Pier Twelve.”
Malcolm glanced at him.
“No.”
“Pier Twelve.”
“No, Richard.”
Richard lifted the gun.
Malcolm’s face drained of color.
“You said nobody was supposed to get hurt.”
Richard’s eyes became terrifyingly calm.
“You forged a death certificate for a living woman.”
“You told me she would be out of the country before anyone discovered it.”
“And she would have been.”
“You put her in the coffin.”
Richard smiled without humor.
“That was your sedative failure.”
Malcolm gripped the steering wheel.
“I’m done.”
“No.”
“I’ll turn myself in.”
“You think they’ll forgive you?”
“I’ll testify.”
Richard pressed the gun to Malcolm’s ribs.
“Then you’ll die before you reach the station.”
Ethan stared.
Richard was unraveling.
That made him dangerous.
But it also made him careless.
Ethan looked down at the folder again.
A small flash drive was clipped inside the back cover.
He slipped it into his sock.
Richard did not notice.
The SUV sped past abandoned warehouses.
The sirens behind them became more distant.
Then Malcolm turned toward the river.
An old marina appeared ahead.
Three boats sat near the dock.
One had an engine running.
A man stood beside it.
Richard relaxed slightly.
“We’re almost there.”
Ethan looked at the folder.
Then at the cracked rear window.
Then at the dock rushing closer.
He had one chance.
He grabbed the stack of papers and threw them out through the broken glass.
Pages exploded into the air.
Richard roared.
“NO!”
The wind scattered documents across the road.
Death certificates.
Guardianship forms.
Asset lists.
Signatures.
Evidence.
Richard twisted around and hit Ethan across the face.
Ethan’s head snapped sideways.
Malcolm shouted.
“Don’t hit him!”
Richard struck the dashboard.
“He just threw everything out!”
“Good.”
Richard slowly looked at Malcolm.
“What did you say?”
Malcolm’s hands tightened on the wheel.
“I said good.”
The vehicle reached the marina.
Malcolm slammed on the brakes.
Richard lurched forward.
Ethan acted instantly.
He pulled the door lock upward.
The impact had disabled the child lock.
He threw the door open.
Richard turned.
“ETHAN!”
Ethan jumped.
He hit the ground hard.
Pain exploded through his knees.
He rolled across gravel.
The SUV stopped several yards away.
Ethan scrambled to his feet.
Richard climbed out.
“GET BACK HERE!”
Ethan ran toward the road.
Richard chased him.
Then Malcolm did something Ethan never expected.
He drove the SUV directly between them.
Richard jumped backward.
Malcolm rolled down the window.
“RUN, ETHAN!”
Ethan ran.
Richard fired.
The bullet struck the SUV.
Malcolm accelerated toward Richard.
Richard dove aside.
Ethan reached the scattered papers.
He grabbed the first page he saw.
Then another.
Sirens became louder again.
Police had found the road.
Richard realized it too.
He sprinted toward the waiting boat.
The man on the dock untied the rope.
Malcolm followed Richard with the SUV.
Then the passenger-side window shattered.
Richard had fired again.
The SUV veered.
It crashed into a wooden post.
Ethan stopped.
Malcolm slumped over the steering wheel.
“Dr. Voss!”
Richard reached the boat.
The unknown man pulled him aboard.
The engine roared.
Police cruisers appeared at the far end of the road.
Richard looked back.
His gaze found Ethan.
He pointed one finger at him.
Not the gun.
His finger.
It felt worse.
“This isn’t over!”
The boat tore away from the dock.
Officers rushed past Ethan.
One knelt beside Malcolm.
Another gathered the papers scattered across the road.
Ethan stood trembling.
Then he remembered the flash drive hidden inside his sock.
An officer approached him.
“Ethan Parker?”
Ethan nodded.
“Your mother is alive.”
The words broke something inside him.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s being taken to the hospital.”
Ethan looked toward the river.
Richard’s boat was disappearing around a bend.
“What about him?”
“We’ll find him.”
Ethan wanted to believe that.
Then his eyes fell to the page he had picked up from the road.
It was not a death certificate.
It was a photograph.
Claire was standing outside a bank.
Someone had taken the picture from across the street.
On the back, Richard had written a date.
Eleven months earlier.
Beneath it were three words.
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
Ethan turned the photograph over.
In the corner of the image, another person was entering the bank behind Claire.
Laura.
The woman Richard had shot at.
Ethan looked at the officer.
“There was a woman at the funeral home.”
“What woman?”
“Her name is Laura.”
The officer’s expression changed.
“Laura what?”
“I don’t know.”
The officer stared at the photograph.
Then he spoke into his radio.
Ethan heard only pieces of the response.
Loading bay.
Blood.
No victim.
Missing.
The officer looked toward Ethan again.
“Ethan, when did you last see this woman?”
“Right before Richard shot at her.”
“Did she say anything?”
Ethan nodded.
“She said my mom was right about everything.”
The officer crouched.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Ethan remembered the photograph hidden inside Claire’s desk.
He remembered the message written behind it.
If anything happens to me, find Laura.
At the time, he had not understood.
Now he did.
Claire had known she was in danger.
Maybe for months.
Ethan swallowed.
“I think my mom knew Richard was going to do something.”
The officer’s face became serious.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because she left me a message.”
“What message?”
Ethan looked toward the ambulance carrying Dr. Voss.
Then toward the road leading back to his mother.
And finally toward the river where Richard had disappeared.
May you like
“She told me who to find if she vanished.”
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