Chapter 9 - The Chapel Door

I did not go alone. I let Julian believe I had, while Bell’s team waited beyond the estate fence and Martha stayed on the phone with me. The plan was simple: I would enter the chapel, locate the records, and keep Julian talking until the officers moved in.

Simple plans rarely survive contact with people who have something to lose.

The chapel stood beneath bare oak trees, its stone walls pale in the moonlight. A wreath hung crookedly on the door. Inside, the air smelled of cold wax and old wood. Julian waited near the altar, his face gray beneath the stained-glass windows.

“You came,” he said.

“I came for the truth.”

He took a key from his pocket. “The records are behind the east window. My grandfather built this place. My mother never comes here unless she wants to look innocent.”

“Did you know about the forged shares?”

His eyes closed briefly. “Not until last week.”

“Did you know about the unsafe apartments?”

He swallowed. “Yes.”

The word landed harder than any excuse could have.

“Why?” I asked. “You used to sit with those kids at the hospital. You told me the foundation was the only part of the company that still mattered.”

“It was supposed to be temporary. Richard said the renovation money would be replaced after the hotel sale. My mother said the company would collapse if the lenders found out. I thought I could put it right.”

“You didn’t put it right. You signed the lie.”

“I know.” His voice broke. “I know what I did.”

For a moment, I saw the man I had loved, and that made everything worse. I wanted him to be a monster because monsters were easy to leave. Julian was a frightened man who had made a series of selfish choices and called them temporary.

He pressed the key into my hand. “Behind the panel. Take the ledger and go.”

A noise came from the side entrance. Richard Vale stepped into the chapel with two security men.

“Touching,” he said. “The guilty boy and the sentimental girl.”

Julian moved in front of me. “Uncle, it’s over.”

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Richard laughed. “Nothing is over until I say it is.” He held up a metal can and tilted it. A sharp chemical smell spread through the chapel.

He had brought gasoline.