Chapter 5 - THE THREE PINE CHARMS
My bracelet contained six tiny numbers.
I had never seen them.
Under magnification:
43.7
110.5
Coordinates.
Wyoming.
Nathaniel’s charm contained elevation.
Madeline’s supposedly contained a tract code.
All three together identified one location.
Nobody needed all three if they were willing to search thousands of acres.
But with them?
Precise.
The land belonged today to a Blackridge-controlled conservation company.
Convenient.
Nathaniel proposed a joint site inspection.
I laughed.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you and Grant will turn it into a territorial parade.”
He considered.
“Fair.”
My lawyer proposed something better.
Neutral surveyor.
Court-supervised preservation if sufficient evidence existed.
Nathaniel’s attorney agreed.
Grant’s did not.
Interesting.
Grant claimed my mother’s records were stolen corporate documents.
He demanded return.
Rebecca responded:
“Then sue.”
He did not.
Probably because discovery would be catastrophic.
Then Madeline called me.
I almost ignored it.
She surprised me.
“I want to give you Michael’s bracelet.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want Daniel anymore.”
I laughed.
“That was quick.”
“He lied to me too.”
There.
Apparently Daniel told Madeline their public selection was purely strategic.
No romance.
Then kissed her later.
Not because he loved her.
Because cameras remained.
She realized she had become theater too.
“Where are you?”
She came to Rebecca’s office.
No bodyguards.
Silver bracelet in a velvet box.
The charm matched mine.
Madeline looked at me.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know about you.”
“What?”
“Not really.”
Daniel told her he had a casual employee flirtation.
Nothing serious.
Then he warned her I might overreact at the gala.
There it was.
He prepared both women to misunderstand each other.
I no longer hated Madeline.
I barely knew her.
Then she gave us something else.
Cross Development’s internal project deck.
Project:
SILVER PINE.
Lithium extraction.
Projected value:
$480 million over fifteen years.
Mineral-rights assumption:
100% Blackridge-controlled.
If Pinehaven retained rights?
Economics changed dramatically.
If my mother’s agreement was valid?
The entire project could stop.
Then one slide:
Risk mitigation - Hayes/Reeves legacy documentation.
I stared.
“What does mitigation mean?”
Madeline looked ashamed.
“My father said both families were handled.”
Both families.
Reeves.
Hayes.
Daniel’s public selection may have been part of that.
And me?
Employment suspension.
Pressure.
Search my apartment.
Then Nathaniel called.
His voice was colder than usual.
“Someone broke into my plane.”
“What?”
“My father’s charm is gone.”
Only three existed.
Now someone had mine, Madeline’s had been delivered, and Nathaniel’s had been stolen.
Except—
He had made a replica.
The real charm?
Inside his safe.
I sighed.
“You lie as a hobby?”
“As insurance.”
“Same thing.”
Then he added:
“The thief took the decoy.”
Good.
What did the decoy coordinates indicate?
Nathaniel paused.
“An abandoned Blackridge hunting cabin.”
Rebecca looked at me.
Trap.
Not ours.
Someone who believed they had Nathaniel’s clue would go there.
And by sunset, security footage showed two vehicles arriving.
May you like
One belonged to Grant Holloway.
The other belonged to Daniel Reeves.
