Chapter 12 - MIDNIGHT
They had less than six hours.
Sophie explained on the drive.
Margaret’s triplets had been born twenty-four years and 364 days ago.
Thomas changed every record by three years.
Why?
Because the Westbridge trust transferred automatic voting control to Margaret’s biological children at age twenty-five.
At midnight, Thomas would lose control of an empire worth billions.
Unless no legal heirs could be identified.
Or survive.
Emily stared out the window.
“So tonight wasn’t about hiding the past.”
Daniel nodded.
“It was about stopping tomorrow.”
Claire leaned forward.
“He shot at us.”
“He set fire to the hospital.”
“He kidnapped Sophie.”
“And he knows where Rachel lives,” Margaret said.
Nobody spoke after that.
Rachel Hale lived in a quiet white house outside Greenwich.
Porch light on.
Children’s toys on the lawn next door.
American flag near the garage.
Normal.
Painfully normal.
Margaret rang the bell.
A woman opened the door.
She was visibly pregnant.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
Twenty-four.
And on her hand—
the birthmark.
Rachel smiled uncertainly.
“Can I help you?”
Margaret couldn’t speak.
Rachel looked past her.
Emily.
Claire.
Her smile disappeared.
“What is this?”
Sophie stepped forward.
“Rachel, my name is Sophie Reed.”
Rachel’s face hardened.
“The reporter.”
“Yes.”
“My husband said you were stalking us.”
Margaret almost laughed.
“Your husband lies very well.”
Rachel looked at her.
“Who are you?”
Margaret swallowed.
“My name is Margaret Ashford.”
Rachel’s face changed.
She knew the name.
“Thomas’s business partner?”
“His wife.”
Rachel stared.
“No.”
“I’ve been married to him for thirty years.”
Rachel shook her head.
“No. Thomas Hale is my husband.”
“His legal name is Thomas Ashford.”
Rachel backed into the house.
“You need to leave.”
Emily stepped forward.
“Look at my hand.”
Rachel did.
Then Claire’s.
Then Margaret held up the old photograph.
Rachel’s breathing became shallow.
“No.”
Sophie handed her a folder.
“DNA results.”
Rachel didn’t take it.
Margaret’s voice trembled.
“I believe you’re my daughter.”
Rachel slammed the door.
Claire flinched.
Emily looked furious.
“Can’t blame her.”
Margaret stood there.
Then they heard Rachel scream inside.
A crash.
Daniel drew his weapon.
“Rachel!”
They forced the door.
The living room was empty.
A broken lamp lay on the floor.
The back door stood open.
Margaret ran outside.
A black truck sped away.
Rachel was in the back seat, pounding against the glass.
Thomas was driving.
Claire shouted, “He took her!”
Emily ran toward Daniel’s SUV.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
May you like
The clock on the dashboard read 11:08 P.M.
Fifty-two minutes until midnight.
