Chapter 10 - The Deal at MidnightThe abandoned train station smelled of rain and rust.
I stood beneath a flickering light with Daniel beside me.
Jonathan stayed in the car.
Michael stayed with the police.
The authorities wanted me to wait.
I couldn't.
The photograph of Lily had made waiting impossible.
A figure stepped onto the platform.
Victor.
He carried a black briefcase.
“You came.”
“Where's my daughter?”
He smiled.
“Safe.”
“Prove it.”
He turned his phone toward me.
A video played.
Lily sat in a room.
She looked frightened but unharmed.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
“You have ten minutes,” Victor said.
“What do you want?”
“The trust documents.”
“You already know they're worthless.”
“Not yet.”
I held up the originals.
“But you're not getting them.”
Victor smiled.
“Then your daughter becomes leverage.”
A second figure appeared behind him.
Margaret.
She looked exhausted.
But her eyes were still sharp.
“You should have listened to me.”
I stared at her.
“You chained my daughter outside.”
“I was trying to scare you away.”
“You threatened her.”
“I was trying to protect everything I built.”
“You built it on murder.”
Margaret flinched.
“Your father betrayed me.”
“He tried to expose you.”
“He tried to destroy the family.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“He tried to save it from you.”
Margaret looked at the folder.
“Give me the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because once Lily turns eight, the trust transfers.”
“And?”
“You'll become wealthy.”
I laughed.
“I don't care about your money.”
Margaret's expression changed.
“You will.”
“You don't know me.”
“I know exactly who you are.”
She stepped closer.
“You'll choose your daughter over revenge.”
I stared at her.
“That's exactly why you're going to lose.”
Victor suddenly grabbed the briefcase.
A gunshot cracked through the station.
Everyone froze.
Victor fell.
Margaret screamed.
The police rushed in from both sides.
Chaos erupted.
I heard footsteps.
A man grabbed me from behind.
I struggled.
Someone shouted.
Then a hand covered my mouth.
I bit it.
The man cursed.
I broke free.
Across the platform, Margaret was being arrested.
Victor was on the ground.
And Lily's video was still playing on the phone.
But the room in the video wasn't Lily's bedroom.
It was a basement.
And behind her was a large steel door.
I looked at Jonathan.
“That's not our house.”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“Where is she?”
He stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
“I know that room.”
“Where?”
“At the old Carter textile mill.”
The police moved.
We raced there.
The mill had been abandoned for fifteen years.
The doors were chained.
The windows were broken.
We found the basement.
Empty.
No Lily.
Only one chair.
One blanket.
One glass of water.
And a stuffed rabbit.
I picked it up.
It was Lily's favorite.
Attached to its ear was a note.
I opened it.
Three words.
SHE WAS HERE.
Then Daniel noticed something carved into the wall.
A sequence of numbers.
A date.
My father's death date.
Under it:
HE DIDN'T DIE HERE.
Then another line appeared.
HE LEFT SOMETHING BEHIND.
Jonathan stared at the wall.
His face changed.
“The original trust.”
“What?”
“The real trust isn't at the estate.”
“Where is it?”
He pointed toward the floor.
“Under the hospital.”
I stared at him.
“The hospital?”
Jonathan nodded.
“Your father hid it where Margaret would never think to look.”
Then my phone rang.
This time, the caller ID displayed a name.
May you like
DAD.
My hands went numb.
