Chapter 13 - THE TRAP AT THE ABANDONED MILL
The laboratory lights went out at 8:17 p.m.
Claire stood perfectly still.
From the hallway came footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then a familiar voice.
“Claire?”
Victoria Hale.
Claire backed away from the door.
“Where’s Grace?”
Victoria laughed softly.
“Still trying to save everyone.”
“Let her go.”
“Give me the ledger.”
Claire looked toward the conservation table.
The original blue notebook lay inside a protective enclosure.
She had already photographed every page and sent the images to Rebecca.
But Victoria did not know that.
“You can have it,” Claire said.
“Open the door.”
“Unlock it first.”
A metallic click sounded.
The door opened.
Victoria stood outside holding a small pistol.
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“Put the ledger in the bag.”
Claire obeyed slowly.
Victoria watched every movement.
“You should have stayed unemployed,” she said.
Claire looked at her.
“You destroyed my career.”
“I gave you opportunities to disappear.”
“You framed me for theft.”
“Daniel handled that.”
“And then you killed him?”
Victoria’s face tightened.
“Daniel became greedy.”
Claire swallowed.
“You’re admitting it?”
“I’m telling you why smart people know when to stop asking questions.”
Victoria motioned toward the service elevator.
“Move.”
Claire walked ahead of her.
Her phone remained inside her coat pocket.
Rebecca had instructed her to keep an emergency location-sharing connection active.
Claire prayed it was working.
They descended to the loading dock.
A black SUV waited outside.
Victoria opened the rear door.
“Get in.”
Claire hesitated.
Victoria raised the pistol.
“Now.”
The drive to Lowell took nearly forty minutes.
Claire counted turns.
Bridges.
Traffic lights.
Anything that might help her remember the route.
At the abandoned mill, two men escorted her inside.
Grace sat near a concrete pillar.
Her wrists were tied, but she appeared conscious.
“Claire!” she cried.
“I’m here.”
Victoria pulled the ledger from the bag.
She opened it.
Then frowned.
“Where are the other pages?”
Claire stared.
“What?”
“The missing pages. The trust authorizations.”
“I don’t know.”
Victoria slammed the notebook onto a table.
“Your mother knows.”
“Then why bring me here?”
“Because she’ll come for you.”
Claire understood.
She was bait.
Victoria wanted Evelyn.
And the missing documents.
A door opened behind them.
Graham Mercer entered.
Claire stiffened.
Victoria turned.
“You’re late.”
Graham looked at Claire.
“Are you hurt?”
Victoria rolled her eyes.
“Don’t start pretending you care.”
Graham stepped closer.
“Let the women go.”
Victoria laughed.
“You don’t give orders anymore.”
“I never agreed to kidnapping.”
“You agreed to everything that made you rich.”
Graham’s face darkened.
“I agreed to keep the company alive.”
“And now you want to confess because your nephew grew a conscience?”
Claire watched them carefully.
Graham looked genuinely frightened.
Not of Victoria’s gun.
Of something else.
“Victoria,” he said, “Price has been arrested.”
Her smile vanished.
“What?”
“The independent investigators found the payments.”
“That’s impossible.”
“He gave them your name.”
Victoria raised the pistol toward Graham.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
For a second, nobody moved.
Then a loud crash echoed from the rear entrance.
Victoria spun around.
A man shouted.
“Police! Drop the weapon!”
Everything happened at once.
Victoria grabbed Claire.
Grace screamed.
Graham lunged toward the table.
A gunshot shattered a window.
Claire ducked.
Ethan appeared near the entrance with Rebecca and several officers behind him.
“Claire!”
Victoria pressed the pistol against Claire’s shoulder.
“Stay back!”
Ethan stopped.
His face went white.
“Victoria. Let her go.”
“She’s coming with me.”
“No.”
“You think you can buy your way out of everything, Ethan?”
He took one careful step.
“I’m not here for the money.”
Victoria tightened her grip.
“Then what are you here for?”
Ethan looked directly at Claire.
“For her.”
Claire felt tears burn behind her eyes.
Victoria hesitated.
And in that instant, Graham seized her wrist.
The pistol discharged into the ceiling.
Officers rushed forward.
Claire stumbled free.
Ethan caught her before she hit the floor.
Victoria was restrained.
Grace was rescued.
Graham surrendered.
For several seconds, Claire could hear only Ethan’s heartbeat.
He held her tightly.
“You scared me.”
She buried her face against his chest.
“I scared myself.”
Rebecca approached.
“It’s over.”
But Graham shook his head.
“No,” he said.
Everyone turned.
He looked at Ethan.
“You still don’t understand.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“What?”
Graham swallowed.
“The stolen manuscript isn’t the most valuable thing in the collection.”
Claire looked up.
“What is?”
Graham glanced at Victoria.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“Your father left a second will, Ethan. And it names Claire Bennett.”
