Chapter 3 - The Lawyer Nobody ExpectedRebecca Shaw practiced law above a bakery between a laundromat and a pawnshop.
The decision lasted exactly six seconds.
Six seconds in which the pounding continued, Emma began crying on the stairs, and Grace Harrington gripped the kitchen counter hard enough to whiten her knuckles.
“Are those your employees?” Daniel asked.
“Some of them.”
“Some?”
“The men nearest the door work for Harrington Global security.”
“That sounds reassuring.”
“It isn’t.”
Daniel stared at her.
Grace lowered her voice.
“My brother controls the security division.”
The pounding stopped.
That was somehow worse.
A voice came from outside.
“Ms. Harrington, your family is concerned for your safety.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“My family is concerned I’m still alive.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Okay. We’re done with riddles.”
Emma had reached the bottom stair now.
Daniel immediately softened.
“Baby, go upstairs.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
Grace turned toward her.
“So am I.”
Emma studied her.
Then she walked across the room and took Grace’s hand.
Daniel didn’t know whether to be proud or terrified by his child’s instinct to trust everybody nobody else trusted.
He crouched.
“Emma, go get dressed. Stay away from the windows.”
“Are the bad guys outside?”
Grace’s face crumpled.
Daniel answered carefully.
“I don’t know yet.”
Emma nodded and climbed upstairs.
The moment she disappeared, Daniel faced Grace.
“You brought this to my house.”
“I didn’t know they followed me.”
“They know my name.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying sorry instead of explaining.”
Grace stared at the floor.
“My father founded Harrington Global forty-two years ago. Shipping, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, commercial real estate, private aviation, technology. When he died, his shares were divided between me and my younger brother, Malcolm.”
Daniel crossed his arms.
“And?”
“And my portion was larger.”
“How much larger?”
“Enough that Malcolm couldn’t control the company without me.”
Daniel glanced toward the door.
“So this is about money.”
“It was about money.”
“Was?”
“Now it’s about proving I’m incompetent.”
Grace pulled up the sleeve of her borrowed sweatshirt.
Bruises circled her wrist.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Who did that?”
“A private physician Malcolm hired.”
“What?”
“Three weeks ago, my brother told our board I was experiencing a psychological breakdown. He claimed I was paranoid, unstable, incapable of making corporate decisions.”
“Were you?”
Grace looked directly at him.
“No.”
She spoke with such certainty Daniel believed her.
“Why would anyone believe him?”
“Because four months ago I started asking questions about eight billion dollars moving through subsidiaries nobody could explain.”
Daniel blinked.
Eight billion.
His brain briefly compared the number to his rent and gave up.
Grace continued.
“I found shell companies. Construction contracts. Port concessions. Funds routed through overseas entities. The signatures looked legitimate.”
“Yours?”
“My father’s.”
“But he’s dead.”
“He’d been dead for three years when some of them were signed.”
Daniel’s arms slowly dropped.
“And you told your brother?”
“I confronted him.”
“That seems like a mistake.”
“It was.”
Grace walked toward the window but stopped before reaching it.
“Within days, news stories appeared claiming I had become erratic. Then photos surfaced of me leaving a psychiatric clinic.”
“Were you at one?”
“Yes.”
Daniel frowned.
“My brother convinced me to attend what he called a private family intervention. I thought it was a counseling center.”
“What happened?”
“They sedated me.”
Daniel said nothing.
“They took my phone. My purse. My identification. They told staff I was delusional and dangerous to myself.”
“How did you get out?”
“A nurse left a service door unlocked.”
“So you ran.”
“I ran.”
“Barefoot.”
“My shoes were taken because I was considered a flight risk.”
Daniel exhaled.
Outside, one of the SUV doors opened.
A man stepped out.
Even through the curtain, Daniel recognized expensive authority when he saw it.
Silver hair.
Tailored suit.
No hurry.
The man approached the door.
“Grace,” he called.
She stopped breathing.
“Who is that?” Daniel asked.
“My uncle, Robert.”
“Good uncle?”
“No.”
Robert Harrington knocked once.
“Grace, sweetheart, we’ve been terrified.”
Daniel looked at her.
She shook her head.
Robert continued.
“The clinic told us you escaped during treatment. Malcolm hasn’t slept. Your mother is devastated.”
Grace whispered, “My mother died twelve years ago.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
Robert knew Daniel was listening.
That line had been for him.
“He wants me to think she’s confused,” Daniel said.
Grace nodded.
Smart.
Daniel hated smart enemies.
He walked to the door but kept the chain on.
“I’m calling the police.”
Robert answered calmly.
“That is certainly your right, Mr. Carter.”
“How do you know my name?”
“We traced Ms. Harrington’s location for her safety.”
“You tracked her?”
“Her medical team is authorized to locate her.”
Grace whispered, “That’s a lie.”
Robert must have heard.
“Grace, please. Nobody wants another incident.”
Daniel glanced behind him.
“What incident?”
Grace looked ashamed.
“They claimed I attacked a nurse.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Robert raised his voice.
“She fractured a woman’s wrist.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Daniel studied her.
“I shoved her because she was holding me down.”
“Grace,” Robert called, “we have a court order.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Show me.”
A document slid beneath it.
Daniel picked it up.
Temporary guardianship petition.
Emergency psychiatric evaluation.
He didn’t understand most of the language.
He understood the Harrington name at the top.
And he understood the signature at the bottom.
A judge.
Grace read over his shoulder.
Her face drained.
“They got it.”
“What?”
“If they get me back into a facility under this order, Malcolm can argue I’m legally incapacitated.”
“And take control?”
“He’ll call an emergency board vote.”
“How long?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Daniel looked at her.
“So all he needs is you locked away for another day.”
“Yes.”
The simplicity of it frightened him more than the SUVs.
“Do you have a lawyer?”
“They cut off access to my accounts.”
“You’re worth a hundred billion dollars.”
“On paper.”
“You don’t have cash?”
“I escaped a clinic without shoes.”
That shut him up.
Emma appeared again.
“I got dressed.”
She wore a pink flowered dress and white sneakers.
Grace stared at those shoes.
Then unexpectedly started crying.
Emma came down the stairs.
“Why are you crying?”
Grace knelt.
“Because you’re very lucky.”
Emma shook her head.
“No. We’re poor.”
Daniel almost laughed despite himself.
Grace did.
A real laugh.
Then Robert’s voice came through the door.
“Mr. Carter, this situation is beyond you.”
Daniel’s smile vanished.
Robert continued.
“You’re an elevator technician with significant personal debt, overdue rent, and a five-year-old daughter. Do you really want to put your child at risk over a stranger?”
Daniel went still.
Grace looked horrified.
“They investigated you.”
“In less than twelve hours.”
“That’s what my family does.”
Robert spoke again.
“Open the door, Daniel. We can make your financial problems disappear.”
There it was.
Not concern.
Not compassion.
A price.
Daniel looked through the narrow gap in the curtain.
“Go to hell.”
Robert sighed.
“I expected that response.”
Grace grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, tires screeched outside.
A police cruiser stopped behind the SUVs.
Then a second.
Grace backed away.
“They called them.”
Daniel looked at the court order in his hand.
“Can police take you?”
“With that paper? Probably.”
“What happens if you tell them you’re being held against your will?”
“They’ll see a wealthy family, private doctors, court documents, and a woman who arrived barefoot and filthy.”
Daniel hated that she was right.
He thought quickly.
Then looked at the narrow back hallway.
“My truck’s in the alley.”
Grace stared at him.
“Daniel—”
“You want to stay free long enough to make that board meeting?”
“Yes.”
“Then move.”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“We’re escaping?”
Daniel grabbed his keys.
“Do not sound excited.”
“I’m a little excited.”
He lifted her into his arms.
Grace followed him through the kitchen.
At the rear door, Daniel stopped.
“You lied to me.”
Grace nodded.
“You could be lying now.”
“Yes.”
“You could destroy my life.”
Her eyes met his.
“Yes.”
“Great.”
He opened the door.
The alley was empty.
“For the record, this is officially the stupidest thing I have ever done.”
They ran toward the pickup.
Behind them, someone shouted.
“Stop!”
Daniel threw Emma into her booster seat.
Grace climbed beside her.
He started the engine.
A suited guard appeared at the mouth of the alley.
Daniel slammed the truck into reverse.
The rusted Ford lurched backward, nearly clipping a garbage container.
Emma squealed.
“Daddy!”
“I know!”
He spun the wheel, shot down the alley, and emerged onto a side street just as two black SUVs rounded the corner.
Grace twisted around.
“They’re coming.”
Daniel pressed the accelerator.
The truck coughed.
“Come on.”
It coughed again.
Grace stared at him.
“Is this thing reliable?”
“It has character.”
“It sounds like it’s dying.”
“That’s part of the character.”
They reached a red light.
Daniel blew through it.
Horn blasts erupted around them.
One SUV followed.
The second got blocked.
Grace grabbed the dashboard.
“Where are we going?”
Daniel looked at her.
“You said you need a lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“I know one.”
“Corporate?”
“No.”
“Litigation?”
“No.”
“What kind?”
Daniel turned hard onto Ashland Avenue.
“Divorce.”
Grace stared at him.
“You’re taking the majority owner of one of the largest private companies in America to a divorce attorney?”
“She got my ex-wife away from me with nothing but a photocopied receipt and a voicemail.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“It should be.”
Grace looked behind them again.
The SUV remained three cars back.
Daniel’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He ignored it.
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
OPEN THE DOOR OR YOU LOSE EVERYTHING.
Daniel saw it.
So did Grace.
Another message arrived.
YOUR DAUGHTER DESERVES BETTER THAN THIS.
Daniel’s face hardened.
He handed Grace the phone.
“Read the number.”
She did.
Her hands began shaking.
“What?”
“I know it.”
“Whose?”
Grace stared at the screen.
“Malcolm’s private phone.”
Daniel’s grip tightened on the wheel.
Now his child had been threatened.
Everything changed.
He looked at Grace.
“Your brother made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He made this personal.”
May you like
And for the first time since escaping the clinic, Grace Harrington looked less frightened.
Because the broke mechanic beside her had just become angry.
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