Chapter 11 - Richard’s Deal
Claire slapped Richard across the face.
The sound cracked through the smoky night.
“You knew?” she said.
Richard did not lift a hand to defend himself.
“I knew about the medication,” he said. “I knew Martin was paying Dr. Vale. I knew they were building a case to remove Dad from the company.”
Henry stared at his son.
“And the bridge?”
Richard looked at the ground.
“I drove your car there.”
Leo’s chest tightened.
Claire said, “Why?”
“Because Martin said Dad would disappear for forty-eight hours. He said we would make it look like a breakdown, get emergency control of the trust, then bring him home after the board vote.”
Henry’s voice was flat. “You kidnapped me.”
Richard flinched. “I did not know where they took you.”
“But you helped.”
“Yes.”
A long silence followed.
Richard wiped his face with both hands.
“I was drowning,” he said. “The investments failed. I borrowed against shell companies. Martin said he could fix it if I got control before the auditors found out.”
“So you stole from the company,” Claire said.
“I was going to put it back.”
Henry almost looked sad.
“That sentence has buried better men than you.”
Sheriff Cross approached with cuffs.
Richard did not resist.
Before Cross could take him away, Richard looked at Leo.
“Martin has a storage facility on County Road Nine. Unit 314. He keeps things there that he doesn’t want connected to his office.”
Cross stopped.
“How do you know?”
“Because I paid for it.”
Henry asked, “Is the package there?”
“I don’t know. But if Martin took it from Ruth, that’s where he’d hide it.”
Cross radioed for units.
Leo moved closer to Grandpa.
“You really were trapped in the house?”
Henry nodded.
“Martin came back through the tunnel after you left. He set the fire to destroy the blue room and locked me in the attic stairwell.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
Henry squeezed her hand.
“I got lucky.”
Leo looked toward the ruined west wing.
“No,” he said. “You planned for it.”
Henry gave him a tired smile.
“Planning is luck you build yourself.”
Cross’s radio crackled.
A deputy’s voice came through.
“Sheriff, we’re at storage unit 314.”
Cross lifted the radio.
“What do you have?”
The deputy hesitated.
Then said, “A woman. Elderly. Alive. Says her name is Ruth Hale.”
May you like
Henry went completely still.
“And she says Martin Pike tried to kill her.”
