Chapter 13 - THE TRAP
The offshore account was fake.
The money was real.
Twelve million dollars had actually moved from a dormant Cole Meridian subsidiary into a Cayman entity created under a version of my name.
Maria Elena Alvarez Holdings.
I had never heard of it.
Nathan stared at the transaction.
“How did anyone authorize this?”
His general counsel answered.
“Your signature token.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“We believe your credentials were copied.”
Reyes looked at the timestamp.
“11:36 p.m. last December.”
Nathan thought.
“I was at the Cole Foundation gala.”
Vanessa had been there too.
So had Richard.
So had half the board.
My phone buzzed.
Vanessa.
One message.
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND.
Nathan took the phone.
He typed:
What do you want?
Her response arrived immediately.
YOU KNOW.
SIGN THE SHARES.
Nathan typed:
Where?
Reyes grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t improvise.”
Nathan looked at him.
“We need her talking.”
Detective Bennett, now on video conference, agreed.
“Keep it simple. Let her choose location.”
Nathan typed:
I’ll sign. But Maria stays out of this.
Vanessa replied:
SHE’S THE REASON THIS HAPPENED.
Then:
BRING HER.
I felt Nathan tense.
“No.”
I took the phone.
“Yes.”
He stared at me.
“Absolutely not.”
“She wants me there.”
“That’s why you don’t go.”
“If police are trying to catch her—”
“You have a child.”
“Exactly.”
My voice sharpened.
“I want this woman away from my child forever.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“You don’t decide for me.”
“I’m not putting you in danger.”
“You didn’t put me in danger. Vanessa did.”
“Maria.”
I stepped closer.
“If I stay here and she gets away, Sophia spends the rest of her life with security following her to school.”
Nathan said nothing.
“She wants me there.”
I pointed at the phone.
“Use that.”
Detective Bennett sighed through the speaker.
“I hate agreeing with a civilian about operational strategy.”
Nathan looked at the screen.
“You’re not serious.”
“We can wire Maria. Track her. Put tactical teams nearby.”
“No.”
“Nathan—”
“No.”
I almost smiled.
“What?”
He glared at me.
“You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“Because apparently billionaires still think saying no repeatedly changes reality.”
Bennett covered a smile.
Nathan did not.
Vanessa sent the address at 2:14 p.m.
An abandoned private airfield forty miles north.
One hangar.
6:00 p.m.
Nathan was instructed to bring signed transfer documents.
No police.
No security.
And me.
At 5:51, we arrived.
Nathan drove.
I sat beside him wearing a transmitter beneath my shirt.
Police teams stayed nearly a mile away.
Reyes hated every second.
He had hidden a tracking device in Nathan’s watch.
We entered the hangar.
Vanessa stood beside a small private plane.
She was not alone.
A man stood beside her.
I recognized him from Cole Meridian board photographs.
Peter Lang.
Chief legal officer.
Nathan stopped.
“Peter.”
Lang smiled sadly.
“Nathan.”
It all clicked.
The trust documents.
The forged signatures.
The corporate access.
The offshore transfer.
Someone needed legal expertise.
Vanessa had never been doing this alone.
Nathan stared.
“You?”
Lang shrugged.
“Evan was useful. Richard was weak. Vanessa was ambitious.”
“And you?”
“I was patient.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Do you have the documents?”
Nathan lifted a folder.
“Maria walks out first.”
“No.”
Vanessa smiled at me.
“She stays.”
I looked at her.
“You really hate a three-year-old.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I hate mistakes.”
“Sophia was your mistake?”
“You bringing her into that house was.”
Anger flooded me.
Vanessa continued.
“She saw things.”
“So you threatened her?”
“I scared you.”
“You put poison under her bed.”
“You needed motivation.”
I moved toward her.
Nathan caught my arm.
“Maria.”
Vanessa laughed.
“See? This is why people like you lose.”
“People like me?”
“Emotional.”
I stared at her.
“You poisoned the man you were supposed to marry.”
“It was temporary hearing damage.”
Nathan’s eyes sharpened.
“You admit it.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“You were never supposed to die before the wedding.”
My heart stopped.
Nathan said, “Before?”
Vanessa looked at Lang.
He gave her a warning glance.
Too late.
Nathan caught it.
“What was supposed to happen after?”
Vanessa sighed.
“You would get sick.”
“How sick?”
“Sick enough.”
“Incapacitated.”
She smiled.
“Eventually.”
Nathan’s face went blank.
“And then?”
“I would act as proxy.”
“And Lang?”
“He would handle the board.”
“And Evan?”
Lang answered.
“Evan was never going to get anything.”
Vanessa looked at him.
Something changed in her face.
Nathan saw it too.
“You killed him.”
Lang smiled.
“He was unstable.”
Vanessa stared at Lang.
“You said he killed himself.”
Lang didn’t answer.
Her confidence cracked.
“You told me—”
“Vanessa.”
“You said—”
Lang suddenly pulled a gun.
Everything changed in half a second.
Nathan shoved me behind him.
Vanessa stepped back.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Lang aimed the gun at Nathan.
“Give me the folder.”
Nathan didn’t move.
“You killed Evan.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa whispered, “Peter.”
Lang ignored her.
“Evan wanted more money. Then he started talking about immunity.”
Nathan raised the folder slowly.
“And my father?”
Lang smiled.
“Charles handled that.”
“You knew.”
“I designed the amendment.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
Lang pointed the gun toward me.
“Folder.”
Nathan handed it over.
Lang opened it.
Blank paper.
His face changed.
Nathan said:
“You really thought I’d sign away three billion dollars without reading the instructions?”
Lang raised the gun.
Then gunfire exploded outside.
Police.
Lang spun.
Vanessa screamed.
Nathan tackled me behind a metal tool cabinet.
Bullets slammed into steel.
The hangar erupted into shouting.
“POLICE! DROP THE WEAPON!”
Lang grabbed Vanessa by the neck.
Pulled her in front of him.
She screamed.
“Peter!”
He pressed the gun to her head.
“Back off!”
Detective Bennett’s voice echoed.
“Put the gun down!”
Lang dragged Vanessa toward the plane.
Nathan whispered to me.
“Stay here.”
I grabbed him.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
Then at Vanessa.
For all she had done, he still couldn’t watch her get shot.
That was Nathan.
It was also dangerous.
He stepped out.
“Nathan!” I hissed.
Lang aimed at him.
Vanessa screamed:
“DON’T!”
May you like
Lang fired.
Nathan dropped.
