Chapter 7 - The CrashMarcus pushed me sideways.
The SUV struck the wooden railing.
The impact exploded through the night.
I fell into the sand.
Marcus rolled across the beach.
The SUV stopped.
For a second, everything was silent.
Then the driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
I recognized him from one of Harold's photographs.
Richard Vale.
He looked directly at me.
“Patricia.”
Nathan raised something in his hand.
A weapon.
“Stay back.”
Richard smiled.
“Still protecting people, Nathan?”
“You shouldn't have come.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
“My son.”
Marcus froze.
“Don't call me that.”
Richard laughed softly.
“You've always hated that.”
“You're not my father.”
“Oh?”
Richard glanced at me.
“He didn't tell you?”
I felt my pulse racing.
Richard continued.
“Harold knew everything.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Richard ignored him.
“He knew Marcus was mine.”
He looked at me.
“And he knew what I was capable of.”
I stood.
“Then why didn't he expose you?”
Richard smiled.
“Because your husband wasn't interested in revenge.”
He tilted his head.
“He wanted leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“The documents.”
“Which documents?”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“The original transfer agreement.”
Nathan swore.
I looked at him.
“What is he talking about?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Richard did.
“Your husband discovered that decades ago, the land beneath your beach house was tied to a larger property agreement.”
“So?”
“The agreement was altered illegally.”
“By you?”
“By people before me.”
“And the original proves it?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't explain why you'd risk all this.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Because whoever owns the original controls claims worth hundreds of millions.”
The number barely registered.
“Hundreds of millions?”
“Yes.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You said it was only records.”
Richard smiled.
“Records create ownership.”
Nathan raised the weapon.
“Leave.”
Richard shook his head.
“I didn't come for the records.”
He looked at me.
“I came for Patricia.”
My blood turned cold.
“Why?”
“Because Harold left one final condition.”
“What condition?”
Richard’s smile returned.
“He trusted you with the key.”
I frowned.
“What key?”
Richard nodded toward my neck.
I touched the necklace I'd worn for years.
Harold's old silver pendant.
Richard laughed softly.
“That one.”
I stared at it.
Harold had given it to me on our thirtieth anniversary.
I'd never opened it.
Marcus noticed.
“Mom.”
Nathan stepped toward me.
“Take it off.”
I did.
Nathan examined it.
There was a tiny seam in the silver.
He pressed it.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a miniature key.
I stared.
Richard’s expression changed for the first time.
Fear.
Real fear.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Nathan looked at the key.
Then at me.
“Do you know what this opens?”
I shook my head.
Richard answered.
“The vault.”
I looked toward the beach house.
“There’s a vault beneath my house?”
Nathan nodded.
“And only that key can open it.”
The SUV suddenly roared.
Richard jumped back inside.
The vehicle sped away.
Marcus shouted after him.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face drained of color.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Mom…”
“What?”
His voice broke.
“Lauren just called.”
“Is she okay?”
Marcus shook his head.
“She said she's in the basement.”
I felt cold.
“How?”
“She said someone locked her inside.”
Nathan looked at me.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because the basement door only locks from the outside.”
I stared at him.
May you like
Then Marcus whispered:
“She says there’s someone else down there with her.”
