Chapter 9 - We had ninety minutes.That was the deadline Marcus gave me.
Ninety minutes to deliver the deed.
No police.
No lawyers.
No foundation officials.
No tricks.
He wanted me at an abandoned courthouse outside the city.
I refused to believe he would actually kill Elsie in front of Julian.
People like Marcus didn't threaten children because they were impulsive.
They threatened children because they calculated exactly how much fear a family could survive.
I studied the video frame by frame.
Elsie was sitting in a wooden chair.
Behind her was a gray wall.
A brass lamp.
A window.
And an old clock.
Samuel zoomed into the image.
“The clock.”
“What?”
“Look at the face.”
We enlarged it.
Roman numerals.
A crack across the glass.
Samuel recognized it.
“Old Vale estate.”
I stared.
Marcus had lied about the location.
He wasn't taking Elsie to the courthouse.
He was keeping her at the old estate.
A property that had once belonged to my father's trust.
We arrived in forty minutes.
The estate looked abandoned.
No guards.
No vehicles.
No lights.
Too quiet.
I hated it.
We entered through the side door.
A hallway stretched into darkness.
Then we heard a child crying.
“Elsie!”
Julian ran.
I grabbed him.
“Wait.”
A red laser appeared briefly on the wall.
Sniper.
We ducked.
A voice came from upstairs.
“Put the deed on the floor.”
I held it up.
“You want it?”
“Yes.”
“Release Elsie first.”
“No.”
I looked toward the staircase.
“Then we have nothing to discuss.”
A laugh.
“You came anyway.”
“Because you have my granddaughter.”
“No.”
The voice changed.
“I have an heir.”
My stomach tightened.
“You're not taking her.”
“She's already mine.”
Then another voice came through the room.
Vanessa.
“Dad.”
Everyone froze.
She stepped into the hall.
Her father turned toward her.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“You're going to kill them.”
“I'll do what is necessary.”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Cesare, give me the deed.”
I shook my head.
“Why?”
“Because I can get Elsie out.”
Marcus shouted:
“Vanessa!”
She flinched.
Then I understood.
She was afraid of him.
Not loyal.
Afraid.
She moved toward the stairs.
Marcus appeared above us, holding a weapon.
Behind him stood Ethan.
Elsie was nowhere.
“Where is she?”
Marcus smiled.
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
He shook his head.
“You still don't understand.”
He pointed to the deed.
“This land is worth billions.”
“And?”
“Your father stole it.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He manipulated my family.”
“That's a lie.”
“You believe that because you've been told your whole life that your father was a hero.”
Marcus's voice cracked with anger.
“He ruined mine.”
Then he pulled out a second document.
A confession.
Signed by my father.
It claimed that the original property acquisitions involved coercion.
Illegal pressure.
Fraud.
I stared at the signature.
I couldn't speak.
“My father…”
Marcus smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You forged this.”
He laughed.
“Ask Samuel.”
Everyone looked at him.
Samuel said nothing.
I turned.
“Is this real?”
Samuel's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed me.
I felt as if my entire childhood had collapsed.
“My father did this?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you protect him?”
“Because he protected me.”
Samuel explained.
“When I was young, my family had nothing. He gave us everything.”
I stared.
“And in return?”
“I hid the truth.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“The trust was supposed to compensate my family.”
“But it never did.”
“No.”
“So you spent decades rebuilding the scheme.”
“Yes.”
“Through my foundation.”
“Yes.”
“Using Julian.”
“Yes.”
“Using Vanessa.”
His daughter looked away.
“Yes.”
“Using Mara.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“She got too close.”
“You killed her.”
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
Julian stepped forward.
“You murdered my wife.”
Marcus smiled.
“She was always going to destroy your future.”
Julian lunged.
Ethan struck him.
I shouted.
Vanessa screamed.
Then gunfire erupted.
The lights shattered.
Everyone dropped.
When the lights returned, Marcus was gone.
Ethan was gone.
And so was Elsie.
Vanessa stared at the empty hallway.
“My father took her.”
I ran toward the back exit.
Outside, tire tracks disappeared into the rain.
On the ground lay another paper flower.
HP-4831.
And underneath it:
ONE PAYMENT REMAINING.
I looked at Samuel.
“What does that mean?”
His face had gone white.
“It means they've reached the final transfer.”
“Where?”
May you like
He stared at the flower.
“At the foundation.”
Related Stories
