Chapter 9 - The ShotDaniel hit the concrete floor.
“Where’s Claire?”
Margaret laughed softly.
“You finally found Emily’s little box.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re angry in exactly the way she hoped you would be.”
“What did you do to Claire?”
“Nothing yet.”
Daniel looked at Detective Ruiz.
She signaled technicians to trace the call.
Daniel kept Margaret talking.
“Where’s Owen?”
“Safe.”
“Let me speak to him.”
“No.”
“You wanted me. You have my attention.”
“I wanted you twelve years ago, Daniel.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your father poisoned you against me.”
“My father discovered you were stealing.”
Margaret became silent.
“So Emily left you everything.”
“She left enough.”
“She always was intrusive.”
“She knew you poisoned her.”
“She knew many things too late.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“You’re admitting it?”
“I’m saying dying people often create stories.”
“Where are my wife and son?”
Margaret sighed.
“You still don’t understand what this is about.”
“Then explain it.”
“You.”
Daniel froze.
“You were always William’s favorite.”
Marcus looked toward him.
Margaret continued.
“He planned to give you controlling interest in the company before you were thirty.”
“That has nothing to do with Owen.”
“It has everything to do with Owen.”
Her voice hardened.
“Your father changed the trust after Owen was born.”
Daniel remembered signing documents after Emily gave birth.
He hadn’t read every detail.
Margaret continued.
“William made sure Parker Development could never return to me.”
“You never owned it.”
“I built it with him!”
“You stole from it.”
“I took what I deserved!”
The scream echoed from the phone.
Claire.
“Daniel!”
He almost dropped the device.
“Claire!”
Margaret said calmly,
“You have thirty minutes.”
“For what?”
“Come to the original Parker warehouse.”
Ruiz shook her head violently.
Daniel asked,
“Alone?”
“Obviously.”
“If you hurt them—”
“Thirty minutes.”
The line disconnected.
Police immediately searched hospital cameras.
Claire had disappeared from her room thirteen minutes earlier.
A nurse had been found unconscious in a supply closet.
Victor Hale, wearing hospital scrubs, had transported Claire in a wheelchair through a service exit.
Owen was believed to already be with Margaret.
Ruiz grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“You are not going alone.”
“She’ll hurt them.”
“We’ll be nearby.”
“If she sees police—”
“She kidnapped a child and pregnant woman. We are not allowing you to walk into a hostage situation without support.”
Daniel looked at Marcus.
His brother spoke quietly.
“The warehouse has old underground loading tunnels.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“Dad built them during the seventies. Most employees don’t know.”
Ruiz immediately requested plans.
Marcus drew them from memory.
“There are three entrances.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why are you helping now?”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“Because I already destroyed enough.”
Twenty-eight minutes later, Daniel entered the abandoned Parker warehouse alone.
Or appeared to.
Ruiz’s tactical team moved through underground tunnels.
Daniel wore a tiny microphone.
The enormous building smelled of dust and oil.
Old machinery stood like skeletons.
“Mom?”
Lights came on.
Owen sat in a chair near the center of the warehouse.
“Dad!”
Daniel ran toward him.
Victor Hale emerged with a gun.
“Stop.”
Daniel froze.
Owen wasn’t tied.
But he looked terrified.
“Where’s Claire?”
Margaret stepped from behind an office partition.
“She’s resting.”
“Let me see her.”
“You always demand.”
“Mom.”
The word tasted wrong now.
“Please.”
Margaret studied him.
Then nodded toward Victor.
A door opened.
Claire sat on a couch inside an office.
Her hands were bound.
She looked pale but conscious.
Daniel exhaled.
“Claire.”
“I’m okay.”
Margaret smiled.
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
“A signature.”
She placed documents on a table.
Daniel read.
Transfer of controlling voting rights.
Resignation from Parker Development.
Trust amendments.
“You think these will hold up legally?”
“Not permanently.”
“Then why?”
“Because permanently doesn’t matter.”
Daniel looked at her.
Margaret lifted another paper.
Life insurance.
One hundred million dollars.
Beneficiary?
A family trust she controlled.
“You plan to kill me.”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“I plan for you to suffer an accident.”
Owen began crying.
“Grandma, don’t.”
Margaret glanced toward him.
“Quiet.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Don’t speak to him.”
Her face changed.
There it was again.
That hidden rage.
“You always protect everyone except me.”
Daniel stared.
“You poisoned my wife.”
“Emily was already dying.”
“You killed Dad.”
“He betrayed me!”
“You tried to kill Claire’s baby.”
“That child destroys everything.”
Claire stood despite her restraints.
“No.”
Margaret turned.
Claire’s voice was steady.
“The baby doesn’t destroy anything.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know why you hate him.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
She continued.
“When I was in the hospital, I asked Jonathan Bell to send me the complete Parker trust.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
Claire smiled faintly.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed my baby was a second heir.”
Daniel frowned.
Claire looked toward him.
“He isn’t.”
Silence.
Daniel whispered,
“What?”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“We’re having twins.”
Daniel stared.
Margaret went completely still.
“What did you say?”
“Twins.”
Claire’s voice strengthened.
“The ultrasound showed the second baby six days ago. I was waiting to surprise Daniel.”
Owen’s fear briefly disappeared.
“Two babies?”
Claire smiled at him.
“Yes.”
Margaret’s face twisted.
Two additional heirs changed the trust even further.
If Daniel died, three children inherited.
Control would become almost impossible for Margaret to manipulate.
“No,” she whispered.
Victor looked nervous.
“Margaret, we need to leave.”
“No.”
Police were now entering the tunnel beneath them.
Daniel heard Ruiz’s voice through the hidden earpiece.
Thirty seconds.
Margaret grabbed the medicated syringe from her pocket.
She lunged toward Claire.
Daniel moved.
Victor raised the gun.
A shot exploded.
May you like
Owen screamed.
Daniel fell.
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