Chapter 12 - Friday NightThe plan was simple.
Protect Blake.
Force Charles into the open.
Trigger the trust.
Save Carson Meridian.
But simple plans rarely survive contact with people who have spent years preparing for war.
Friday arrived.
The board convened at noon.
Carson Meridian's stock dropped fourteen percent.
News outlets reported rumors of insolvency.
By three o'clock, investors were panicking.
By five, the banks had frozen credit.
At six, Emily received a message.
COME TO THE HOTEL. ALONE.
She recognized Charles's number.
She showed Adrian.
“You're not going.”
“Yes.”
“I'll go instead.”
“He wants me.”
“No.”
Emily looked at him.
“He wants the trust.”
Adrian shook his head.
“He wants you.”
Emily thought about that.
Then understood.
“That's exactly why I'm going.”
At 8:14 p.m., Emily entered the old hotel.
The same hotel.
Room 407.
Charles waited.
Blake was tied to a chair.
Sienna stood beside him.
Emily froze.
“You lied to me.”
Charles smiled.
“You came alone.”
Emily looked around.
“Let him go.”
Charles shook his head.
“You still think this is about Blake.”
“What is it about?”
“You.”
Emily frowned.
“Me?”
“The trust requires your blood.”
She stared.
Charles pulled out a syringe.
Emily stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Activating the final clause.”
Sienna looked terrified.
“Father, this wasn't the agreement.”
Charles looked at her.
“You always were too sentimental.”
Blake struggled against the chair.
“Emily, run.”
Charles ignored him.
“The trust requires a genetic authentication from the original beneficiary.”
Emily understood.
He wanted her DNA.
If he could use her genetic signature, he could forge the activation.
But there was another problem.
The children.
“They won't authorize it,” Emily said.
Charles smiled.
“They don't need to.”
A screen turned on.
Three children.
Adrian had been captured.
Emily felt the world collapse.
“No.”
Charles stepped closer.
“Give me the trust.”
Emily opened the briefcase.
Charles smiled.
Then the lights came on.
Police flooded the room.
Thomas entered.
Margaret behind him.
Adrian appeared last.
Charles stared.
“How?”
Adrian smiled.
“The cameras.”
Charles realized too late.
The entire conversation had been recorded.
Sienna dropped her phone.
Blake looked at her.
“You did this?”
She nodded.
“I couldn't let him kill you.”
Charles lunged for the gun on the desk.
A police officer tackled him.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Emily ran to Blake.
She cut the rope.
“You okay?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“You lied.”
“I know.”
She shook her head.
“You were supposed to stay somewhere safe.”
Blake laughed weakly.
“I've never been good at following orders.”
Then Sienna stepped forward.
“I have something.”
She gave Emily a drive.
“My father kept copies of everything.”
Emily took it.
“What is this?”
“The original account records.”
Thomas plugged it into a laptop.
The files appeared.
Payments.
Bribes.
Offshore transfers.
Medical records.
And one file labeled:
EMILY CARSON DIVORCE
Emily opened it.
Her entire marriage had been monitored.
Private messages.
Calls.
Financial records.
Even conversations between Emily and Blake.
She stared.
“He watched everything.”
Margaret nodded.
“Charles built the case before the divorce.”
Emily clicked another file.
SIENNA VAIL
She expected nothing.
Instead she found a payment schedule.
Monthly transfers.
Instructions.
And a note.
MARRY BLAKE WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF DIVORCE.
Emily stared at Sienna.
“You never loved him.”
Sienna looked down.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“My father threatened my mother.”
Emily swallowed.
“You were trapped.”
Sienna nodded.
“But I still helped him hurt you.”
“Yes.”
Tears filled Sienna's eyes.
“I know.”
Emily didn't forgive her.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
But she understood.
Suddenly, a police officer shouted:
“Charles escaped!”
Everyone turned.
The door slammed open.
Gone.
Adrian looked at Emily.
“He'll go after the children.”
Emily's heart stopped.
They rushed outside.
The security team called.
The estate had been breached.
Emily arrived to find the children's room empty.
Three beds.
Three open windows.
And one note on the floor.
May you like
YOU SAVED THE COMPANY.
NOW SAVE YOUR CHILDREN.
