Chapter 8
Detective Ruiz wanted to arrest me.
Not literally.
But her face said she was considering handcuffing me to a chair.
“You are not going alone.”
“He said he’ll hurt Luis.”
“He kidnapped your son yesterday. You think obeying him makes anyone safer?”
“No.”
“Then stop acting like it does.”
We were inside the bank conference room.
Ethan had been moved to a secure location with Rachel and two state officers.
Margaret went with him.
Dana stayed beside me.
Ruiz studied the photograph Daniel sent.
“This is bait.”
“I know.”
“He wants the trust documents.”
“Probably.”
“Then we give him something he thinks is the trust documents.”
Dana immediately objected.
“You’re proposing a controlled exchange?”
“Yes.”
“With a civilian?”
Ruiz looked at me.
“With a stubborn civilian who will apparently go anyway.”
“I’m sitting right here.”
“I know.”
An hour later, I drove toward Waxahachie with a fake legal envelope on the passenger seat.
The real trust documents were secured elsewhere.
A tracking device was hidden inside the envelope.
So was a tiny microphone.
Ruiz and a tactical team followed at a distance.
The bluebird house stood at the end of an overgrown county road.
It looked smaller than I remembered.
Paint peeling.
Porch sagging.
Windows boarded.
Seven years earlier, Emily had stood in front of it laughing.
“We could fix it.”
I had laughed too.
“With what money?”
“We’ll rob a bank.”
“Great plan.”
“Fine. You cook. I’ll rob the bank.”
“You don’t even like my cooking.”
“I like your pancakes.”
“You said they’re always burnt.”
“I like burnt pancakes.”
I parked where instructed.
The memory vanished.
A porch light flicked on.
I carried the envelope inside.
“Luis?”
No answer.
The front room was empty.
My phone buzzed.
UPSTAIRS.
I climbed.
Every board creaked.
At the top of the stairs, one bedroom door was open.
Luis sat tied to a chair.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
I rushed toward him.
“Stop.”
Daniel stepped from behind the door.
He held a handgun.
I froze.
Luis tried to shout through the tape.
Daniel smiled.
“You came.”
“Let him go.”
“Envelope.”
“Let him go first.”
“You don’t negotiate well.”
“And you kidnap children.”
His smile disappeared.
“Ethan was never in danger.”
“You tied him up in a cellar.”
“For less than an hour.”
“You had him dragged into a van.”
Daniel sighed.
“You’re emotional.”
“Funny how that happens when someone takes your kid.”
“Your kid.”
He studied me.
“Still getting used to saying that?”
I said nothing.
Daniel pointed at the envelope.
“Put it down.”
I placed it on the floor.
“Kick it over.”
I did.
He picked it up.
Didn’t open it.
Smart.
“You know,” he said, “Emily chose this house because she thought you were simple.”
My jaw tightened.
“She liked simple.”
“No. She liked pretending.”
“What do you want?”
“I want my company.”
“It isn’t yours.”
His face changed.
“It was built for me.”
“Your father disagreed.”
“My father became senile.”
“His doctors didn’t.”
Daniel smiled coldly.
“You’ve read the documents.”
“Enough.”
“You think my sister deserved control?”
“I don’t care who controls it.”
“You will.”
“No.”
“You’re trustee.”
“For my son.”
“For hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Still for my son.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Everyone says that before they see the number.”
“I own a diner, Daniel.”
“You’re proud of that?”
“More than you should be proud of anything.”
His eyes hardened.
He opened the envelope.
The papers looked convincing.
He scanned the first page.
Then smiled.
“Good.”
“Now Luis.”
He walked behind Luis and cut the rope around his wrists.
Luis tore off the tape.
“You crazy son of a—”
“Luis.”
I shook my head.
Daniel pointed the gun.
“Downstairs.”
Luis hesitated.
“Go.”
He moved toward the stairs.
Daniel stopped him.
“Not you, Michael.”
Luis looked back.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Michael—”
“Go.”
He descended.
Daniel waited until the front door closed.
Then he laughed.
“You really do have a hero problem.”
“What now?”
“Now we talk.”
“About?”
“Emily.”
My stomach tightened.
“You want answers, don’t you?”
“From you?”
“I’m the only person alive who knows everything.”
“Margaret knows plenty.”
“My mother knows what makes her feel less guilty.”
He lowered the gun slightly.
“Emily didn’t disappear only because I threatened you.”
I remembered his comment at the courthouse.
“Then why?”
“She discovered something about you.”
I laughed once.
“That’s your play?”
“Ask yourself why your name was in my father’s trust.”
I didn’t respond.
Daniel continued.
“You think he picked some random diner cook because you had an honest face?”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out an old photograph.
He slid it across the floor.
I looked down.
My father.
Standing beside Emily’s father.
My father had died when I was nineteen.
He had been a truck mechanic.
At least that was what I believed.
“What is this?”
“Our fathers knew each other.”
My heartbeat changed.
“How?”
“Your father worked for Blake Meridian.”
“No.”
“For twelve years.”
“He worked at Patterson Truck Repair.”
“After we fired him.”
My mouth went dry.
“Why was he fired?”
Daniel smiled.
“Because he accused my father of fraud.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Fraud?”
“Your father discovered diverted company funds.”
“So?”
“So he threatened to report it.”
“What happened?”
“My father paid him.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“He took the money.”
“No.”
“He signed an agreement. He stayed quiet.”
I shook my head.
“My father hated your family afterward. But guilt changes men.”
“What does this have to do with Emily?”
“She learned about it.”
“When?”
“Right before she disappeared.”
My mind raced.
Had Emily found records connecting our fathers?
Had that been another reason she left?
Daniel stepped closer.
“She thought you knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because I want you to understand something.”
He raised the gun again.
“Your father was not the righteous man you remember.”
My anger flared.
“And yours locked his children in a cellar.”
Daniel’s expression went dead.
Wrong thing to say.
He crossed the room and struck me across the face with the gun.
Pain exploded through my jaw.
I fell against the wall.
“Do not talk about my father.”
I tasted blood.
“There he is.”
“What?”
“The real Daniel.”
His breathing changed.
I stood slowly.
“You hide him well.”
He aimed the gun at my chest.
“You think this is a game?”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“I think you’re scared.”
He laughed.
“Of you?”
“Of losing.”
His smile disappeared.
“You kidnapped a six-year-old because paperwork scared you.”
“Be quiet.”
“You spent seven years chasing your sister because you couldn’t control her.”
“Shut up.”
“She beat you.”
His hand tightened around the gun.
“She ran. She hid. She raised Ethan. She collected evidence.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“And now she’s dead and she’s still beating you.”
Daniel stepped closer.
That was what Ruiz wanted.
Keep him talking.
Keep him angry.
Give the team time.
“You think Emily won?” Daniel whispered.
“She got Ethan to me.”
“I found her.”
The words came too quickly.
I froze.
“What?”
His face changed.
He realized.
I stared at him.
“You found her before she died.”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
He raised the gun.
“Stop.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You said she didn’t have six weeks left.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You saw the videos.”
“What did you do to her?”
“I said stop.”
“You went inside the trailer.”
“I did not kill my sister!”
The words exploded through the room.
I stared at him.
He breathed hard.
Then quieter:
“I only wanted her weak enough to sign.”
My blood ran cold.
“What did you give her?”
His face went blank.
I took one step closer.
“What did you give Emily?”
“I gave her nothing.”
“Then who did?”
“Michael.”
“Who?”
His eyes moved toward the window.
That tiny movement told me everything.
Someone else.
Someone he feared.
“Daniel.”
The first gunshot came from outside.
A window shattered.
Daniel ducked.
I hit the floor.
Another shot.
Not police.
Daniel shouted and fired toward the window.
I crawled behind the bed.
“Ruiz!”
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Then silence.
Daniel was bleeding.
A bullet had grazed his shoulder.
He staggered toward the hallway.
I grabbed his wrist.
We crashed against the wall.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
He punched me.
I held on.
We fell down the stairs together.
At the bottom, tactical officers flooded the house.
“Drop it!”
Daniel’s gun slid across the floor.
Officers pinned him.
I rolled onto my back, gasping.
Ruiz rushed inside.
“Michael!”
“I’m fine.”
“You are never doing this again.”
“Fair.”
Luis was outside with paramedics.
Alive.
Daniel was handcuffed.
But Ruiz wasn’t looking at him.
She was staring through the broken upstairs window.
“Shooter?”
An officer shook his head.
“Gone.”
“Vehicle?”
“Possible motorcycle.”
Daniel started laughing.
Ruiz turned.
“What’s funny?”
He looked at me.
Blood ran down his sleeve.
“You wanted to know who gave Emily something?”
My heart stopped.
“Tell me.”
May you like
His smile trembled.
“You’ve been sleeping under the same roof as her.”
