Chapter 7 - The Night Grandpa Died
I forgot the microphone.
Forgot the police listening outside.
Forgot Julian.
All I could see was Madison crying beneath the dead factory light.
“What do you mean Mom was holding his medication?”
Madison swallowed hard.
“Grandpa found the ledgers. He confronted Dad at the lake house. Mom was there. So was Caleb.”
“Were you?”
She nodded.
“I came because Dad said Grandpa was changing the trust and we had to stop him.”
My stomach turned.
“You knew about the trust before I did.”
“Not all of it.”
Julian laughed. “Tell him the rest.”
Madison’s voice cracked.
“Grandpa got angry. He reached for his pills. Mom picked up the bottle first.”
I could barely breathe.
“She didn’t give it to him?”
“She kept saying, ‘Just sign the correction, Arthur. Then you can have them.’”
The factory seemed to tilt.
“How long?”
“I don’t know. A minute. Maybe two.”
Two minutes can be forever when someone’s body is failing.
“Then what?”
“He collapsed. I screamed. Caleb called an ambulance. Dad made us all promise to say Grandpa had been alone when it happened.”
Julian clapped slowly.
“There. Family truth.”
I looked at him.
“You weren’t there?”
“No. I was the ghost George blamed whenever he needed one.”
“So why are you doing this?”
“Because Arthur erased me from the company, then George stole from me too.”
“That company was never yours.”
His expression changed.
There it was.
Not justice.
Entitlement.
He raised a gun.
“Pick up the packet.”
I did.
“Now tear it open.”
I bent down slowly.
Police needed a clear threat. We had one. But Julian had chosen the center of a huge metal building, and Reed had warned me that rushing the place could get Madison killed.
I tore the envelope.
Julian saw the fake certificate.
His face went blank.
Then furious.
“You think I’m stupid?”
He aimed at Madison.
I lunged.
The gun fired.
Metal screamed somewhere above us.
Madison threw herself sideways, chair and all.
I hit Julian at the waist. We crashed into an old conveyor.
The side doors exploded open.
“Police! Drop the weapon!”
Julian twisted beneath me.
The gun skidded across the floor.
He reached into his jacket.
Reed tackled his arm before he could pull out a second weapon.
Seconds later, he was face-down in cuffs.
I crawled to Madison and cut the rope from her wrists.
She grabbed my sleeve.
“You need to go back to Nora.”
“Why?”
May you like
Her face went white.
“Because Mom put something in Nora’s tea before you came home.”
