Chapter 6 - The Missing Page
Nathaniel answered on the fifth call.
“Emily?”
“Where is your daughter?”
Silence.
Then frantic movement.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
“At my sister-in-law’s apartment.”
“Call her.”
“Why?”
“Call her now.”
Emily heard Nathaniel switch lines.
Twenty seconds later, he returned.
His breathing had changed.
“She’s gone.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“A man arrived claiming I sent him.”
Daniel whispered,
“Police.”
Michael was already calling.
Nathaniel’s voice broke for the first time.
“Emily, they have Sophie.”
Sophie.
Emily repeated the name silently.
Her niece had a name.
And Preston had taken her.
“I received a photograph.”
“What do they want?”
“Page forty-seven.”
Nathaniel went silent.
“You found the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have the page?”
“No.”
Another silence.
Then Nathaniel whispered,
“I do.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
“Arthur gave it to me.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“When?”
“The last time we met.”
“Why?”
“He said the ledger was useless without that page.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“What’s on it?”
Nathaniel’s voice became quieter.
“The names of everyone involved.”
“In what?”
“Meridian.”
“No.”
Nathaniel paused.
“In your father’s death.”
Emily felt the room disappear around her.
“How many names?”
“Six.”
“Is Preston one?”
“Yes.”
She had expected it.
Still, hearing it nearly destroyed her.
“Who else?”
“I won’t say over the phone.”
“Nathaniel.”
“They have my daughter.”
“I’m not giving them another reason to hurt her.”
Emily looked at Preston’s message.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to you.”
“No.”
“What?”
“They’re expecting that.”
“Emily, my daughter—”
“I know.”
She forced herself to think.
Preston wanted page forty-seven.
He believed Emily had it.
That meant he did not know Arthur had given it to Nathaniel.
That was their advantage.
“Send me a photograph of the page.”
Daniel shook his head.
Nathaniel understood immediately.
“You want to bluff him.”
“Yes.”
A long pause.
Then Nathaniel said,
“I’m sending it.”
The image arrived.
Emily enlarged it.
Six names.
Preston Vale.
Marcus Bell.
Gregory Lawson.
Vanessa Caldwell.
Charles Whitmore.
And one name Emily never expected.
Margaret Vale.
Preston’s mother.
Emily stared.
“Margaret?”
Daniel looked over her shoulder.
“My God.”
Emily’s mind raced backward through years of memories.
Margaret criticizing her.
Margaret encouraging Preston to take more control of Harrington Global.
Margaret convincing Emily to let Dr. Bell oversee Arthur’s care.
Margaret.
Emily whispered,
“She introduced Dr. Bell to my father.”
Daniel looked at her.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Everything connected.
Emily’s phone rang.
Preston.
She answered.
“Where is Sophie?”
No greeting.
No denial.
Preston simply said,
“You found the page.”
Emily forced her voice to remain steady.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Read the first name.”
“Yours.”
Another pause.
“The last.”
“Your mother.”
Preston exhaled.
Emily heard something in the background.
A child crying.
Her entire body stiffened.
“Sophie?”
The crying stopped.
Preston said,
“She’s fine.”
“If you touch her—”
“Careful.”
His voice was cold now.
Nothing like the charming husband Emily had married.
“You’re not in control.”
Emily looked around her father’s ballroom.
Less than an hour earlier, she had been kneeling.
Maybe Preston still believed that woman existed.
Good.
“Tell me what you want.”
“The page.”
“You’ll get it when Sophie is safe.”
“No.”
“I choose the terms.”
Emily almost smiled.
There he was.
The real Preston.
“You don’t have many choices anymore.”
He laughed.
“You inherited property.”
“That doesn’t make you powerful.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
Then Michael.
Then the executives who were slowly realizing their CEO might be involved in something monstrous.
“You’re wrong.”
Preston became silent.
Emily continued.
“I control Harrington Global.”
“I control the mansion.”
“I control the trust funding your acquisitions.”
“And tomorrow morning, I’m freezing every account connected to you.”
His breathing changed.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
“Emily.”
“I’m also removing you as CEO.”
“You can’t.”
“I own fifty-eight percent of the voting shares.”
Silence.
Daniel smiled.
Emily continued.
“You wanted me on my knees tonight.”
“Enjoy the memory.”
“Because it’s the last time you’ll ever see me there.”
She ended the call.
Everyone stared at her.
Michael spoke first.
“That was either brilliant or extremely dangerous.”
“Probably both.”
Emily looked at the photograph of Sophie.
“We find her.”
“How?”
Emily turned toward Lawson.
He had been trying to quietly move toward the exit.
“Start with him.”
Lawson stopped.
Emily approached.
“Where would Preston take a child?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I swear.”
Emily studied him.
Then she remembered something.
Preston owned almost nothing personally.
Everything belonged to Harrington structures.
Except one place.
A lake house.
Purchased before their marriage.
Emily looked at Daniel.
“Lake Mercer.”
Daniel understood.
Michael was already moving.
Then Lawson laughed.
Emily turned.
“What?”
Lawson shook his head.
“You really think Preston is stupid enough to take her somewhere you know?”
Emily watched him.
He was enjoying this.
That meant he knew something.
Michael grabbed his phone again.
Lawson suddenly lunged.
Not toward Michael.
Toward Emily.
Daniel shouted.
Emily stepped backward.
Lawson reached into his jacket.
Michael tackled him before he could pull anything out.
They hit the marble floor.
Guests screamed.
Security personnel rushed forward.
Michael pinned Lawson down.
A small pistol slid across the floor.
Emily stared at it.
Lawson had brought a gun into her home.
Michael pulled his arms behind his back.
Lawson laughed again.
Then looked directly at Emily.
“You’re already too late.”
Emily’s heart stopped.
“For what?”
Lawson smiled.
“Ask your husband what happened at the hospital.”
Emily went cold.
“What hospital?”
May you like
Lawson said nothing.
Then Emily felt a sudden sharp pain across her abdomen.
