Chapter 7 - The Men at the Gate
Two men stepped out of the SUV.
Both wore dark coats.
Neither wore a uniform.
Claire watched them through the security screen.
“Who are they?”
Daniel picked up his phone.
“Security.”
“We already have security.”
“Not anymore.”
Maria whispered, “Mrs. Whitmore…”
Claire touched her arm.
“Stay behind me.”
Daniel laughed.
“Claire, stop performing.”
She looked at him.
“Performing?”
“This whole brave little stand. You don’t know what’s happening.”
“Then explain why two strangers are entering my house after you locked the doors.”
“They’re here because Maria stole confidential files.”
Maria’s mouth fell open.
“You asked me to clean the study. I saw what you left open.”
“You copied private business records.”
“Records with Claire’s name on them.”
The doorbell rang.
Daniel started toward the foyer.
Claire blocked him.
“Don’t open it.”
He looked down at her.
“This is still my house.”
“No. It’s mine.”
That landed.
The house had belonged to Claire’s family for three generations.
Daniel had remodeled it, hosted deals in it, bragged about it.
But legally, the deed was hers.
He knew it.
His expression tightened.
The bell rang again.
Then a voice came through the intercom.
“Mr. Cole?”
Daniel reached for the panel.
Claire slapped his hand away.
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Vanessa whispered, “We need to leave.”
Daniel turned on her.
“We’re not leaving.”
“You said nobody would be here.”
“They’re handling it.”
“Handling what?”
Claire looked at Vanessa.
“What did he tell you?”
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
Daniel warned, “Don’t.”
Claire stepped closer to her.
The next minutes moved fast, and every answer only exposed a deeper part of Daniel’s plan.
The driver stepped out.
Owen.
And he was not alone.
A gray-haired man in a long coat climbed out beside him.
Claire recognized him immediately.
Her father’s former attorney.
Nathan Price.
Daniel stared at the screen.
For the first time that night, he looked afraid.
Nathan lifted a sealed envelope toward the gate camera.
Then the intercom clicked.
May you like
“I have Harold Whitmore’s final instruction,” he said.
“And it was written specifically for the night Daniel Cole tried to take control.”
