Chapter 8 - The Locked Stairwell
Monica pushed us away from the office door. “Back stairs. Now.”
The hallway emergency lights came on, casting the building in a dull green glow. We moved past empty exam rooms while Vale called building security. At the stairwell, a metal chain looped through the panic bar. Somebody had prepared for us to use this exit.
“Fire door,” Dad muttered. “That can't be legal.”
Monica dialed 911. I heard footsteps behind us. Vale grabbed a rolling supply cart and shoved it across the hallway. The crash echoed through the floor.
“Elevator?” I asked.
“Too exposed,” Monica answered. “There's another stairwell by radiology.”
We ran. It was the first time since leaving the Harrington house that my body moved faster than my fear. Every step sent pain through my burned shoulder. Dad stayed beside me, not ahead, not behind.
At the second stairwell the door opened easily. We descended to the lobby, where two security guards and a responding officer met us. The man in the coat was gone.
Back in the car, I unfolded Mom's letter. She'd written that Walter had transferred a controlling interest in the equipment software into a trust created for me, in return for using Dad's patents without further royalty disputes. He'd promised to fund it with stock and land. Then, according to Mom, he began quietly removing assets before the agreement was recorded.
“Why would she keep this from you?” I asked Dad.
He looked devastated. “She didn't. She tried to tell me. I told her I was done fighting Walter.”
Mom's last paragraph made my throat ache: If Sarah ever marries into that family, I want her to know she is not entering as a beggar.
Monica frowned at the document number on the bottom. “There's a county filing reference. We can check whether it was recorded.”
My phone rang. Evelyn's number. I let Monica put the call on speaker.
“You should stop humiliating Daniel,” Evelyn said smoothly. “We can all put this behind us.”
“Like you put my face in the soup?”
She paused. “You're making this so ugly.”
“Where is Nora?”
May you like
An even longer pause. Then Evelyn whispered, “Ask your father what really happened at the river warehouse.”
