Chapter 13 - The Country Estate
Rain started before they reached the old Sterling estate.
William drove with Daniel beside him. Detective Ortiz followed with two officers. Emma stayed at the mansion with Charlotte.
The property had been empty for years, but the garage lights were on.
“Someone beat us here,” Daniel said.
The side door had been forced.
Inside, the Jaguar sat under a gray cover.
William pulled it off.
The car looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Arthur had restored it after Rachel Crane’s death, claiming it reminded him of his own youth.
Daniel opened the trunk.
Empty.
William checked the spare tire well.
Nothing.
Ortiz moved a flashlight beneath the dashboard.
“Here.”
A section of trim had been removed recently.
Behind it was a narrow steel compartment.
Inside lay a ledger wrapped in plastic.
William reached for it.
The garage door slammed shut.
Lights died.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Leave the ledger.”
William recognized it.
Isabella.
She stepped into the emergency light holding a pistol.
Her gown was gone. She wore black pants, boots, and a raincoat.
“Put it down,” Ortiz said.
Isabella aimed at William.
“I don’t want to shoot him.”
William held the ledger against his chest. “You threatened my daughter.”
“I threatened Claire because she was going to bury the only proof my mother died for.”
“You wanted money.”
“I wanted power over the people who killed her.”
“You locked a three-year-old in a wall.”
Pain flashed across Isabella’s face. “That was not supposed to happen.”
“Whose idea was it?”
She hesitated.
A second voice answered from behind them.
“Mine.”
Marcus Vale stepped from the shadows with a bandage across his shoulder.
William stared.
“You should be in a hospital.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“I left.”
May you like
Then William noticed the pistol in Marcus’s hand.
And it was pointed at Isabella.
