Chapter 14 - B3
Daniel ran toward the garage with hotel security and two off-duty police officers who had been attending the reception.
Grant came too.
Vanessa stayed with the children and Rachel.
Level B3 smelled like concrete, gasoline, and rainwater.
Owen’s phone lay shattered near a black SUV.
There was blood on the floor.
No body.
“Spread out,” one officer ordered.
Daniel saw movement behind a row of cars.
“Owen?”
A man stumbled into view.
Owen.
His shirt was soaked with blood at the shoulder.
Daniel caught him before he fell.
“Where’s Crowe?”
Owen pointed weakly toward the exit ramp.
“He has Lang.”
“Why?”
“Lang kept copies. Medical forgeries. Payment records. Everything.”
Grant knelt beside them. “Why did you help Crowe?”
Owen laughed bitterly.
“My wife needed surgery. Insurance denied it. Crowe paid. Then he owned me.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You could have come to me.”
“I know.”
The words sounded like they hurt more than the wound.
Owen grabbed Daniel’s sleeve.
“Listen. The forged incapacity order wasn’t the end. There’s a second filing.”
“What filing?”
“Emergency succession.”
Nathan’s voice came through Daniel’s phone.
“I’m checking.”
Owen swallowed hard.
“If you die and Vanessa is ruled complicit or unfit, control doesn’t go to her.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
“Who gets it?”
Owen closed his eyes.
“The alternate trustee.”
Nathan cursed over the phone.
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Nathan answered.
“Charles Hale’s estate.”
Grant went white.
Owen nodded.
“And Crowe controls the estate.”
Daniel stood.
So Crowe’s plan was brutally simple.
Drug Daniel.
Create public evidence of instability.
Kill Vanessa if necessary.
Frame Grant.
Remove the children under emergency custody.
Then step into temporary control through a dead man’s estate.
Police sirens echoed from the street entrance.
One officer shouted from the ramp.
“Vehicle leaving!”
Daniel saw a dark sedan blast through the barrier.
In the passenger seat, Dr. Lang turned his face toward them.
May you like
He mouthed two words through the window.
NOT CROWe.
