Chapter 11 - BENTON’S REAL PLAN
“Stop Benton.”
Adrian moved first.
Charles ran.
Grace kicked the conference room door shut.
Charles slammed into it.
Samuel grabbed one guard’s wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Chaos exploded.
Adrian tackled Charles.
Victoria screamed.
Grace ducked behind the table.
A second guard raised his weapon.
Victoria slapped it downward.
“No shooting!”
Samuel struck the first guard with a chair.
Adrian pinned Charles against the floor.
“Where is Grace’s mother?”
Charles smiled.
“Finally asking the right question.”
Adrian hit him.
Once.
Hard.
Grace grabbed Adrian’s arm.
“Don’t.”
Adrian stared at her.
“He took your mother.”
“And if you knock him unconscious, he can’t tell us where.”
Adrian released him.
Charles coughed.
Victoria looked furious.
“You went behind me.”
Charles laughed.
“Of course I did.”
“You work for me.”
“No.”
Charles sat up.
“I worked around you.”
Samuel picked up the fallen gun.
Malcolm entered with two officers.
Victor was in handcuffs behind them.
Charles’s face finally changed.
Adrian spoke.
“Where is Elaine Miller?”
Charles said nothing.
Victor suddenly laughed.
“Ask him about the north greenhouse.”
Charles looked at him with murder in his eyes.
Victor shrugged.
“You left me holding a gun while you planned to disappear.”
Grace ran.
Adrian followed.
The north greenhouse had been abandoned for years.
Its glass roof was cracked.
Vines covered the entrance.
Grace threw open the door.
“Mom!”
Nothing.
Then a weak voice answered.
“Grace?”
She ran between old planting tables.
Elaine Miller sat tied to a chair.
Grace dropped beside her.
“Oh my God.”
Adrian cut the restraints.
Elaine clung to her daughter.
“I’m okay.”
Grace cried against her shoulder.
Adrian turned away.
He suddenly felt like an intruder.
Then Elaine looked at him.
“You.”
Adrian frowned.
She knew him?
“You’re Mr. Whitmore.”
Grace wiped her face.
“Mom, how do you—”
Elaine stared at Adrian.
“I worked for your father.”
Adrian froze.
“When?”
“Thirty years ago.”
“As what?”
“Bookkeeper.”
Samuel appeared in the doorway.
Elaine saw him.
Her face went white.
“Samuel.”
He whispered, “Elaine.”
Grace looked between them.
“You know each other?”
Elaine reached for her daughter.
“Grace, there’s something I never told you.”
Grace’s breathing slowed.
Elaine’s eyes filled.
“Your father didn’t die before you were born.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“He left because staying would have put us in danger.”
Adrian looked at Samuel.
Samuel closed his eyes.
Grace whispered, “Who was he?”
Elaine looked directly at Samuel Whitmore.
And Adrian understood one second before Grace did.
“No,” Grace said.
Elaine began crying.
Samuel stepped forward.
“Grace.”
Grace backed away.
“Don’t.”
Samuel stopped.
May you like
Elaine whispered,
“Samuel is your father.”
