Chapter 14 - THE LAST DEAL
Chaos erupted.
Police rushed the motel.
Sarah couldn’t hear anything except her own heartbeat.
Then an officer shouted:
“Child located!”
Sarah stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Child located!”
Seconds later, a female officer came through the motel entrance carrying Lily.
Sarah ran.
“Mommy!”
Lily launched herself into Sarah’s arms.
Sarah dropped to her knees.
She held her daughter so tightly Lily squeaked.
“I’ve got you.”
“Mommy…”
“I’ve got you.”
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
“Daddy dropped me.”
Sarah pulled back.
“Are you hurt?”
Lily shook her head.
“The loud noise scared him.”
Sarah kissed every inch of her face.
Behind them, police continued searching.
Mark had escaped through the rear stairwell.
Victor’s truck was gone.
But Lily was safe.
Nothing else mattered.
At least not for that night.
Three days later, federal charges were filed.
Kidnapping.
Wire fraud.
Identity theft.
Conspiracy.
Witness intimidation.
Mark vanished.
Victor vanished with him.
Evelyn, meanwhile, hired an attorney and began cooperating.
Sarah hated that she needed her.
But Evelyn knew where the money had gone.
Bank accounts.
Shell companies.
Fake investment firms.
The Phoenix house.
A condo in Nevada.
A business account in Belize.
Rebecca laid the paperwork across a conference table.
“Mark moved at least nine hundred thousand dollars in total.”
Sarah stared.
“Where did the rest come from?”
“Investors.”
“So my inheritance wasn’t the beginning.”
“No.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Your father discovered Mark’s scheme because one of the investors contacted him.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Dad knew everything.”
“Not everything.”
Sarah looked up.
Daniel slid the blue envelope toward her.
The one Evelyn had taken.
Police recovered it from the Phoenix house.
“Your father wrote this too?”
“Yes.”
Sarah opened it.
The letter was shorter.
Sarah, if Mark ever tells you he did all this for the family, don’t believe him.
She swallowed.
Your husband is afraid of being ordinary. That fear has made him dangerous.
Sarah continued reading.
He approached me once and asked for two million dollars. When I refused, he told me I would regret making him feel small.
Sarah felt sick.
Then the final lines:
There is one thing Mark does not know.
The trust was never the most valuable thing I left you.
Sarah looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Your father owned a company.”
“What company?”
“A boring one.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“Very helpful.”
“He manufactured industrial fittings.”
“I knew that.”
“You knew he worked there.”
Sarah stared.
“He owned it?”
“Forty-one percent.”
“How much is that worth?”
Daniel folded his hands.
“About eleven million dollars.”
Sarah nearly dropped the letter.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My father was worth…”
“A little over fifteen million by the end.”
Sarah sat back.
And suddenly none of it felt exciting.
It felt sad.
Her father had hidden his success because he had wanted normal relationships.
Mark had smelled money anyway.
Daniel continued.
“The shares were transferred into a foundation controlled by you.”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t want fifteen million dollars.”
“Good.”
She frowned.
“Good?”
“Your father hoped you’d say that.”
Sarah laughed through tears.
“Of course he did.”
Then Rebecca’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“When?”
She listened.
“Where?”
Sarah’s stomach tightened.
Rebecca ended the call.
“They found Mark.”
Sarah stood.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Rebecca looked directly at her.
“Phoenix.”
Sarah’s skin went cold.
“The house?”
“Yes.”
“What is he doing?”
“He has Evelyn.”
Sarah stopped.
May you like
Rebecca continued.
“And he says he’ll only release her if you come alone.”
