Chapter 13 - Harbor Ridge Before Dawn
Harbor Ridge was supposed to be Marcus's masterpiece.
At six in the morning, it looked like a graveyard with expensive windows.
The unfinished luxury hotel rose over the river, thirty stories of glass and concrete wrapped in construction fencing. Wind pushed plastic sheeting against the exposed lower floors.
Police positioned units two blocks away.
I wore Tasha's black coat over my wedding dress because I still had not changed.
That detail felt ridiculous until I realized I wanted Lorraine to see it.
I wanted her to see exactly what she had done to her son's wedding.
The detective fitted a wire beneath the coat.
"You do not enter the building if we lose visual contact."
"My father is inside."
"And we are getting him out."
Marcus stood beside the car.
"I'm coming with her."
"No," I said.
He looked at me.
"Danielle—"
"This started because your family thought I would protect appearances. I'm done following your family's plan."
He swallowed and nodded.
I walked through the gate alone.
The sales office sat inside a finished model suite on the first floor.
The door opened before I touched it.
Victor Lang stood there in a camel coat, silver hair perfectly combed.
Gold ring. Black stone.
"Mrs. Hale."
"Carter."
He smiled. "Of course."
My father sat behind him, alive, furious, and apparently uninjured.
Lorraine stood near the windows.
There was dried blood along her temple.
She looked smaller than she had at the wedding.
"Dad?"
"I'm fine," he said. "Don't give them anything."
Victor sighed. "Everyone thinks this is about money. Money is the least interesting part."
I kept my voice steady.
"Then enlighten me."
Lorraine spoke first.
"Victor took your father to force me here."
Dad snapped, "She helped him get into the hotel."
Lorraine looked at me. "Because he said he had proof Marcus would go to prison if I didn't cooperate."
Victor laughed softly.
"She still protects the boy."
I glanced at the unfinished ceiling where a tiny camera had been hidden by police before I entered.
"What proof?"
Victor reached into a leather case.
He pulled out a contract bearing Marcus's signature.
"Your husband approved payments to shell companies that stole from his own project. Whether he understood the scheme is irrelevant. His name is everywhere."
Lorraine whispered, "He was set up."
Victor looked at her. "By you."
She flinched.
I realized then that Lorraine was not the architect of everything.
She was a criminal.
But she was also someone else's trapped partner.
Victor placed another document on the table.
"Sign this, Danielle. Transfer your trust's Harbor Street property as collateral, and your father walks out."
Dad shouted, "No!"
I stepped closer.
"And Marcus?"
Victor smiled.
"Marcus gets to keep believing his mother ruined his life alone."
Then Lorraine said, "Don't sign it."
May you like
Victor turned toward her.
That was when she reached behind her back and pulled out a gun.
