Chapter 9 - Willow Crest
Emergency lights flickered on.
Somewhere below them, a door slammed.
Caleb pulled Emma behind a filing cabinet.
Rosa whispered, “Someone knows we’re here.”
Footsteps climbed the stairs.
Caleb grabbed a metal letter opener from the desk, then hated how useless it felt in his hand.
The person who appeared was not one of Victor’s men.
It was Thomas.
Caleb stood.
His father looked twenty years older than he had in the ballroom.
“You need to leave,” Thomas said.
“Where is Mom?”
“At Willow Crest.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Emma stepped out. “You sent her there?”
Thomas looked at his daughter and flinched.
“I was trying to prevent Victor from doing something worse.”
Caleb laughed. “You put her in a car with guards.”
“I made sure they were told not to hurt her.”
“That is your defense?”
Thomas’s voice broke. “I got in too deep.”
He explained in fragments.
Hart Family Holdings had suffered a liquidity crisis two years earlier. Victor offered private financing. Thomas signed guarantees without board approval. Then Victor demanded influence, then contracts, then control.
When Margaret discovered the transfers, Thomas panicked.
“I thought Cedar Ridge would keep her quiet long enough for the merger to close.”
Caleb stared at him.
“You locked your wife away to protect your job.”
“To protect the company.”
“No. To protect yourself.”
Thomas did not deny it.
He handed Caleb a set of keys.
“Willow Crest has a rear service gate. The code is 0714.”
“Why help us now?”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“Because Victor changed the plan.”
“What plan?”
“He wants her declared permanently incompetent by morning. Once that happens, the trust amendment can be challenged.”
Emma covered her mouth.
Thomas continued. “A doctor is already on the way.”
Caleb grabbed his father by the lapels.
“You knew this?”
“I found out ten minutes ago.”
“And you came here instead of calling the police?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know who I could trust.”
Caleb released him.
“You can start by trusting the truth.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Police vehicles entered the lot.
Thomas looked toward the window.
Then his phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His face collapsed.
“What?” Caleb demanded.
Thomas turned the screen toward him.
May you like
A message from Victor read:
TOO LATE. SHE SIGNED.
