Chapter 5 - THE HOSTAGE IN THE OLD WAREHOUSE
Eleanor refused to wait.
She knew the abandoned warehouse.
Hawthorne had once stored medical equipment there.
Now it was empty.
She arrived alone.
At least, that's what the kidnappers believed.
Daniel had hidden a tracker inside her coat.
Police surrounded the area.
Eleanor entered through the side door.
The warehouse smelled of dust and rust.
“Sophie?”
No answer.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Eleanor.”
She turned.
A man stepped into the light.
Richard Vale.
Older.
Thinner.
But alive.
Eleanor stared.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Richard smiled.
“That's what I wanted everyone to believe.”
“You kidnapped Sophie.”
“I protected her.”
“From what?”
“From you.”
Eleanor's expression hardened.
“You're the one who destroyed her life.”
Richard laughed.
“Your husband did that.”
“My husband tried to protect her.”
“He protected the company.”
“No.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“He protected me.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Richard held up a photograph.
It showed Eleanor's husband with Sophie.
On the back was a date.
“Your husband was going to give Sophie everything.”
Eleanor frowned.
“He changed the succession plan.”
“Yes.”
“He chose Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“Then why was the trust changed?”
Richard smiled.
“Because I changed it.”
“You?”
“With help.”
“Marcus.”
“Marcus was easy.”
Eleanor's stomach turned.
Richard continued.
“He hated feeling second.”
“So you manipulated him.”
“I gave him what he wanted.”
“You destroyed him.”
“He destroyed himself.”
Suddenly, a sound came from the back room.
Eleanor turned.
“Sophie?”
Richard stepped in front of her.
“Not yet.”
“What have you done to her?”
“Nothing.”
He pointed toward the hallway.
“She is alive.”
Eleanor moved forward.
Then Richard said:
“You're going to sign over Hawthorne Care Group.”
“No.”
“Then Sophie dies.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You think I built this company for money?”
“You built it for power.”
“I built it for people.”
Richard laughed.
“That's what your husband told himself.”
Eleanor's eyes narrowed.
“What are you really after?”
Richard's face changed.
“The original care network.”
“What?”
“Your company isn't worth $84 million.”
Eleanor frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“The land.”
He smiled.
“Your husband quietly acquired land surrounding twenty-seven care facilities.”
Eleanor realized.
The real fortune wasn't the operating company.
It was the property.
Hundreds of millions in real estate.
Richard wanted control.
“Why?”
“Because developers want it.”
“And you?”
“I want my share.”
“You already stole millions.”
“I want the empire.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“You'll never have it.”
Richard raised his phone.
A video appeared.
Sophie was tied to a chair.
Eleanor's heart broke.
“Sophie!”
Sophie looked toward the camera.
“Don't sign anything!”
Richard ended the video.
Eleanor stared at him.
“You're a monster.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I am a businessman.”
“You burned Room 12.”
Richard smiled.
“Prove it.”
“I have the evidence.”
“No.”
He leaned toward her.
“You don't.”
Eleanor's expression changed.
“What?”
“The original evidence disappeared.”
She smiled.
“Not all of it.”
Richard froze.
Eleanor pulled out her phone.
“I found something.”
She showed him a recording.
Richard's own voice.
Admitting everything.
His face went white.
“How?”
“Your mistake was believing I stopped investigating when I turned seventy.”
Richard stepped backward.
Then a police siren sounded outside.
Richard's eyes widened.
“You brought them.”
“No.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You brought them.”
She pointed to the security camera.
“You've been broadcasting this entire conversation.”
Richard turned.
Red lights flashed outside.
Police stormed the warehouse.
Richard tried to escape.
He was tackled.
Officers rushed toward the back room.
Sophie was found alive.
Eleanor ran to her.
She cut the restraints herself.
Sophie began crying.
“I thought you hated me.”
Eleanor held her.
“I didn't even know where you were.”
“My father told me you abandoned us.”
“I didn't.”
Sophie looked at her.
“Then who did?”
Eleanor looked toward the police.
“Someone who wanted us divided.”
Sophie whispered:
“Marcus?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“No.”
Sophie shook her head.
“You're wrong.”
She pulled a small envelope from her coat.
“I found this in Richard's office.”
Eleanor opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Her husband.
Richard.
And another man.
Eleanor recognized him immediately.
Her own attorney.
The man who had betrayed her.
But written on the back was something worse.
He didn't work for Richard.
Richard worked for him.
Eleanor stared at the words.
Then she looked at Sophie.
“Who is this man?”
Sophie answered:
“Your husband's brother.”
Eleanor froze.
“My husband's brother died twenty-five years ago.”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
“He's alive.”
“And he's been running everything.”
