Chapter 5 - THE SECRET IN THE STUDY AND THE HIT AND RUN
I drove like a maniac back to the safe house. Sirens blared behind me but I didn't stop. All I could think about was Victoria's warning. Arthur was gone. He had sent people. They knew where Grace and Lily were.
My phone rang. The security chief.
"Nathan! Don't come to the front entrance. They have eyes on the street. We have men engaging them but they're pressing hard. They want inside."
"Grace and Lily?" I shouted over the line.
"Safe inside the panic room. But they won't hold out forever. These guys are professionals. They brought tools."
I slammed the steering wheel. Arthur hadn't waited. He hadn't hesitated. The moment Victoria failed, he had unleashed hell.
"I'm coming in through the rear," I said. "Cover me."
Ten minutes later I was inside. My security team held the perimeter. Two men were down on the opposing side. The attackers had fled when backup arrived. Grace unlocked the panic room door the moment she heard my voice. She ran to me, pale and shaking, throwing her good arm around my neck while Lily clung to her leg, wide-eyed and quiet.
"They had guns," Grace whispered into my shoulder. "They were going to break the door down. Nathan... they meant to kill us."
"I know," I said, holding them both. "But they failed. And now we end this."
That same night, with Victoria's directions fresh in my mind, we struck back. While half my team guarded Grace and Lily in a new location, the rest accompanied me to Arthur's estate. We entered his private study. Found the bookshelf. Found the false back. Found the filing cabinet. Opened it with the key Victoria had described, which we retrieved from Arthur's safe deposit box hours earlier.
What we found inside was worse than anything we had imagined.
Ledgers. Handwritten. Detailed. Every payment. Every bribe. Every name. Police officers. Judges. Bank officials. Politicians. Arthur had bought his way through life one transaction at a time. And the final section contained the most horrifying entries of all.
*Payment for Elena's accident — $150,000.*
*Payment to doctor — alter death certificate for James Harrington (my father) — $50,000.*
*Payment to — witness silenced — $75,000.*
*Contract issued — Grace and Lily — to be handled discreetly.*
The names of the men sent to the safe house were listed there too. Paid and waiting for Arthur's signal.
And beneath it all, one single sheet of paper, folded and tucked at the very bottom. Arthur's handwriting. Dated the day Victoria was arrested.
*Plan B. Remove Grace and child. Frame Nathan. Make it appear he killed them in a fit of rage then took his own life. Trust defaults to designated beneficiary. Complete control. Final payout.*
I stared at those words until my eyes burned. He had intended to murder all three of us. And make it look like I did it. Arthur would mourn us publicly. Collect the fortune. And walk away free and clear.
"He was going to kill me too," I said quietly to my security chief. "Frame me for everything. And then collect it all."
"There's more, sir," he said, holding up a second sheet. "Beneficiary name."
I took the paper. Read it.
*Upon death or incapacitation of Nathan Harrington — Arthur Sterling.*
Of course. Everything was written. Planned. Timed. Executed.
"We have enough here to put him away for life," my chief said. "Enough to execute him in some states."
"Yes," I said. "But Arthur is still missing. And he knows we have the records. Which means... he has absolutely nothing left to lose."
We left the estate immediately. I carried the original ledgers myself. Copies went to my lawyer, to the district attorney, to trusted contacts in law enforcement who weren't on Arthur's payroll. Warrants went out for Arthur's arrest. Alerts across every border. Every airport. Every port.
But days passed and Arthur remained vanished. Like smoke.
We moved locations repeatedly. Grace stayed strong. Lily remained brave, though she began asking when we could go home, when things would stop being scary. Each question felt like a knife twisting in my chest. She was four years old. She deserved safety. Normalcy. Not this endless running.
Then it happened.
Two weeks later. Rainy evening. Crosswalk near the temporary apartment. We were crossing together. Me. Grace. Lily holding both our hands. Headed toward the car.
A black SUV without plates came tearing around the corner.
Grace saw it first. She threw me and Lily backward.
The vehicle struck Grace instead.
Hard.
She went flying.
I screamed her name. Lily began screaming too. The SUV sped away into the rain before I could get a single plate number.
I crawled to Grace. She lay broken and bleeding on the wet pavement, staring up at me. Tears mixing with rain. Her voice barely audible.
"He knows we have the proof," she whispered. "He knows... and he's making certain... we can't use it."
Paramedics loaded her into the ambulance. I handed Lily to my security chief and ran alongside Grace. She held my hand all the way to the hospital. Squeezing weakly.
"Protect her," Grace whispered. "Protect our daughter. Don't let him win."
"I won't," I promised, tears spilling freely now. "Grace, stay with me. You're going to be okay. You have to be okay."
She smiled faintly. Blood on her lips.
"Tell her... I loved her... every single day."
Then her hand went limp in mine.
The machines beeped wildly. Doctors pushed me gently aside. Worked on her. For what felt like an eternity.
I stood in that hallway, soaked and shaking, holding Lily tight against me while she sobbed and asked why Mommy wouldn't wake up.
And then the doctor stepped out. Took off his cap. Looked at me with sorrow in his eyes.
"She's alive," he said. "Barely. Severe injuries. Internal bleeding. Broken bones. We're doing everything we can. But... it's critical. She may not pull through."
I leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Lily climbed into my lap and buried her face against my chest.
May you like
Arthur had struck again. And this time... he had come dangerously close to succeeding.
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