Chapter 12 - The Trustee
Charles Carter carried no weapon.
He didn’t need one.
Four armed men appeared behind him.
Bell slowly lowered his gun.
Stallone pulled Lily behind him.
Charles smiled.
“Still playing the hero.”
“Still stealing from children?”
“Such an ugly way to describe estate management.”
Keller looked sick.
“You said no one would get hurt.”
Charles laughed.
“And you believed me?”
Stallone stared at him.
“You arranged all of it.”
“Vanessa arranged most of it.”
“She worked for you.”
“At first.”
Lily whispered, “He came to see me.”
Stallone looked back.
“When?”
“Every birthday.”
Charles smiled.
“I made sure she had everything.”
“You kept her prisoner.”
“I kept her alive.”
Stallone stepped forward.
One gun lifted.
Bell murmured, “Easy.”
Charles continued.
“Rachel’s father hated you.”
“I know.”
“He feared his fortune would disappear into your world.”
“So he wrote a trust.”
“Yes. A very stupid trust.”
“What did Vanessa get?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Enough to ruin her.”
Stallone understood.
Never enough.
For people like Vanessa, money didn’t solve hunger.
It fed it.
Charles looked at Keller.
“Doctor, you disappointed me.”
Keller whispered, “I was done.”
“You were paid to be done when I said.”
Bell asked, “Why kill Rachel?”
Charles’s smile faded.
“I didn’t.”
Stallone’s eyes narrowed.
“Then who did?”
Charles looked directly at him.
“Vanessa.”
Lily gripped Stallone’s jacket.
Charles said, “Rachel discovered the twins had been moved. She confronted Vanessa. There was an argument.”
Stallone’s jaw tightened.
“And?”
“Vanessa altered her medication.”
Keller closed his eyes.
Stallone looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You helped cover it.”
“I was afraid.”
“You let me bury her without knowing the truth.”
“I know.”
Charles sighed.
“This is becoming emotional.”
Stallone turned back to him.
“You stole twelve years from my daughters.”
Charles shrugged.
“And now you have one back.”
Bell said, “One?”
Charles smiled.
Stallone felt the trap before he understood it.
“Sofia.”
Charles nodded.
“At this moment, men are entering your house in Los Angeles.”
Stallone lunged.
Two guns snapped toward him.
Charles didn’t flinch.
“You should answer your phone.”
It rang.
Maria.
Stallone answered.
Gunshots exploded through the speaker.
Maria screamed.
Then Ethan’s voice.
“Dad!”
The call cut off.
Stallone looked at Charles.
Every part of him wanted to attack.
But Lily was behind him.
Ethan and Sofia were hundreds of miles away.
Charles smiled.
“Now you understand leverage.”
Bell said quietly, “What do you want?”
“The sealed trust documents.”
“We don’t have them.”
“Vanessa does.”
“She’s in custody.”
Charles smiled wider.
“Not anymore.”
Bell’s phone buzzed.
He checked the message.
His face changed.
Vanessa’s transport vehicle had been attacked twenty minutes earlier.
Two officers injured.
Vanessa gone.
Charles stepped backward.
“Bring me the trust file, and perhaps the children keep breathing.”
Stallone’s voice dropped.
“You made one mistake.”
Charles raised an eyebrow.
“What’s that?”
“You think fear makes a father weak.”
May you like
For the first time, Charles stopped smiling.
Then the lights went out.
