Chapter 2 - HUNTED BELOW THE CLIFF
Margaret grabbed Clara's hand.
“Move.”
Clara stared at her broken arm.
“You can't.”
“We don't have a choice.”
The lanterns were getting closer.
Clara forced herself upright.
Pain stabbed through her ankle.
She nearly collapsed.
Margaret caught her with her good arm.
“You need to leave me.”
“No.”
“Clara—”
“No.”
Margaret's eyes hardened.
“You have a child to protect.”
“And you saved both of us.”
Clara wrapped Margaret's good arm around her shoulder.
“We leave together.”
They stumbled deeper into the forest.
Behind them, branches snapped.
The men were descending quickly.
Clara could hear their voices.
“Spread out.”
“Check the ravine.”
“Look for blood.”
Margaret whispered.
“They'll follow our tracks.”
Rain had turned the ground to mud.
Their footprints were impossible to hide.
Clara looked around desperately.
A narrow stream ran between the trees.
“There.”
They stepped into the freezing water.
Clara gasped.
The stream rose to her knees.
They moved upstream.
Every step hurt.
Margaret's breathing became rougher.
“Stay with me.”
“I am.”
After several hundred yards, Margaret stopped.
“There.”
An abandoned stone structure stood behind a wall of vines.
It looked like an old hunting cabin.
The roof had partially collapsed.
The windows were gone.
But it was shelter.
They climbed inside.
Clara lowered Margaret against the wall.
“We need a doctor.”
Margaret shook her head.
“We need the truth first.”
“What truth?”
Margaret looked toward the doorway.
Then back at Clara.
“I worked for Daniel's father for thirty-four years.”
“Thomas Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“He died before Daniel and I married.”
“That's what everyone was told.”
Clara stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret reached inside her torn dress.
She pulled out a small brass key attached to a chain.
“I've carried this for twelve years.”
Clara took it.
“What does it open?”
“A box.”
“Where?”
“Under the floorboards of the old chapel behind Bennett Manor.”
Clara stared at her.
“What is inside?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Thomas Bennett's real will.”
Clara felt her pulse quicken.
“Daniel showed me his father's will.”
“You saw a forgery.”
Clara's mouth opened.
Margaret continued.
“Thomas discovered Eleanor had been moving money out of the family trust.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
Clara felt sick.
“He planned to expose her.”
“Then he died.”
Margaret nodded.
“The official story was a heart attack.”
“And you don't believe it.”
“I watched Eleanor put something into his tea that morning.”
Clara stopped breathing.
Margaret's voice trembled.
“Thomas collapsed less than an hour later.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel was twenty-three.”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“He begged me to remain silent.”
“Daniel knew?”
“He told me he was terrified of his mother.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“He wasn't terrified today.”
“No.”
Margaret looked toward Clara's stomach.
“Thomas changed his will three days before he died.”
Clara tightened her grip on the key.
“What did he change?”
“He removed Eleanor's control of the family trust.”
“And Daniel?”
“Daniel could inherit only under one condition.”
“What condition?”
Margaret hesitated.
“He had to have a legitimate child.”
Clara slowly touched her belly.
Margaret nodded.
“But Thomas added another clause.”
Clara waited.
“If Daniel's wife or child died under suspicious circumstances, Daniel's entire share transferred away from him.”
“To whom?”
Margaret looked directly into Clara's eyes.
“To the surviving spouse or that spouse's descendants.”
Clara stared at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas knew what Eleanor was capable of.”
Footsteps sounded outside.
Both women froze.
A lantern moved between the trees.
Clara covered Margaret's mouth.
A man approached the cabin.
Mud squished beneath his boots.
He stopped outside.
Clara could hear herself breathing.
The man pushed through the vines.
He entered.
Clara grabbed a loose stone from the floor.
The lantern rose.
“Come out.”
Clara recognized the voice.
Victor Shaw.
Daniel's estate manager.
A man who had eaten dinner in her home.
A man who had congratulated her when she announced her pregnancy.
Clara stepped from the shadows.
Victor stared at her.
“You really are difficult to kill.”
Clara raised the stone.
“Stay away.”
Victor smiled.
“Daniel wants this handled quietly.”
“Daniel can come handle it himself.”
“He doesn't have the stomach.”
Margaret spoke from behind Clara.
“But you do?”
Victor looked at her.
“You should've stayed out of this, old woman.”
He reached inside his coat.
Clara saw the pistol.
She threw the stone.
It struck Victor's wrist.
The gun fired.
The bullet hit the ceiling.
Margaret screamed.
Clara lunged.
Victor slammed her against the wall.
“Stupid woman!”
He raised his fist.
Then Margaret drove a broken piece of wood into the back of his knee.
Victor collapsed.
Clara kicked the pistol away.
“Run!”
They stumbled out.
Victor roared behind them.
“You can't hide!”
Clara and Margaret disappeared into the trees.
Victor grabbed his gun.
Then he noticed something shining on the cabin floor.
The brass key.
Clara had dropped it.
Victor picked it up.
He examined the tiny engraving.
T.B.
His expression changed.
He knew exactly what it opened.
Victor smiled.
Then he turned toward the cliff.
Daniel needed to hear this immediately.
May you like
Because Clara Bennett wasn't merely alive.
She was hunting for the one document capable of destroying the entire Bennett family.
