Chapter 7 - THE MAN IN ROOM NINE
The address led them to a motel forty minutes outside Milwaukee.
Mara wanted backup.
Claire refused to wait.
Ethan refused too.
“You two are becoming extremely difficult to protect.”
Mara parked across the street.
“That runs in the family.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
“She wasn’t talking about you.”
“I know.”
Room Nine was at the end of the second-floor walkway.
Ethan knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
“Dad?”
Claire looked at him.
He immediately regretted saying it.
Footsteps moved inside.
The door opened three inches.
An elderly man looked out.
Not Richard.
Ethan’s hope disappeared.
“Can I help you?”
Ethan showed him the note.
“Someone told us to come here.”
The man looked at the paper.
His expression changed.
“Inside.”
Mara stopped him.
“Who are you?”
“Dr. Nathan Cole.”
Claire recognized the name.
“You worked at St. Agnes.”
He stared at her.
“Yes.”
“Room 214.”
His face turned pale.
“Close the door.”
They entered.
Nathan locked it.
Then he looked at Ethan.
“You’re Richard’s son.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan’s anger flared.
“The note says he’s alive.”
“He was.”
“When?”
“Fourteen months ago.”
Claire froze.
Nathan continued.
“I treated him after Eleanor brought him to St. Agnes.”
“Why was he admitted under a false name?”
“Because she paid for privacy.”
“Did you know who he was?”
“Not initially.”
“When did you find out?”
“The second night.”
Nathan sat down.
“Richard woke up confused.”
“He kept asking for Ethan.”
“He said his brother tried to kill him.”
“He said his wife was helping cover it up.”
Ethan’s voice was cold.
“Then why didn’t you call the police?”
Nathan looked ashamed.
“Because Julian arrived.”
“He showed me photographs of my daughter.”
“He knew where she lived.”
“He knew where my grandchildren went to school.”
Claire thought of Peter.
Same method.
Same fear.
Nathan continued.
“They transferred Richard two days later.”
“To where?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Then last year Richard contacted me.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Contacted you how?”
“He appeared outside my house.”
“Alive?”
Nathan nodded.
“Thin.”
“Older.”
“Terrified.”
“But alive.”
Ethan gripped the edge of the table.
“What did he say?”
“He had escaped.”
“From where?”
“A private property somewhere near the Canadian border.”
“He didn’t know the exact location.”
“Julian kept him there.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“For years?”
Nathan nodded.
“Richard said Julian needed him alive.”
“Why?”
“Signatures.”
“Passwords.”
“Corporate approvals.”
“Julian was using him to access accounts.”
Ethan stared at the floor.
“My father was a prisoner.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after he escaped?”
Nathan looked toward the window.
“I helped him disappear.”
Ethan stood.
“You hid him from me?”
“He begged me.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed Julian had people watching you.”
“He said if he contacted you too soon, Julian would disappear forever.”
“He wanted evidence first.”
Claire whispered.
“The trust.”
Nathan nodded.
“Richard told me there was one document Julian could never reproduce.”
“The original Blackwood Trust.”
“Where is it?”
Nathan looked at Claire.
“He gave it to you.”
Claire stared at him.
“No.”
Nathan frowned.
“He said you had it.”
“I don’t.”
“He was certain.”
Claire thought back.
Paris.
The empty deposit box.
The black key.
The photograph.
Then she remembered something.
Richard had mailed her a book years earlier.
After her mother died.
A first edition of Jane Eyre.
She had never understood why.
Her eyes widened.
“Oh my God.”
Ethan saw it.
“What?”
“My storage unit.”
They drove to Claire’s rented storage locker outside Chicago.
She had not opened it in three years.
Boxes lined the narrow unit.
Clothes.
Books.
Furniture.
Claire found the box labeled OFFICE.
She opened it.
Jane Eyre sat beneath a stack of files.
Ethan picked it up.
Nothing unusual.
Claire opened the cover.
Richard had written a message inside.
For Claire.
Sometimes the safest place for truth is inside a story everyone thinks they already know.
Claire stared.
“Cut the spine.”
Ethan used his pocketknife.
Inside the hollow binding was a folded document wrapped in plastic.
The Blackwood Family Trust.
Original.
Signed by Richard.
Notarized.
Ethan read the amendment.
Then he stopped.
Claire watched him.
“What?”
He handed it to her.
Richard had transferred temporary voting authority over his controlling shares to Claire.
Not forever.
Until an independent investigation into the foundation was completed.
Claire understood.
“He didn’t give me your company.”
“He gave me enough power to expose them.”
Ethan nodded.
“And that’s why they needed you gone.”
Mara photographed every page.
“Julian believes you’ve had this for three years.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“I had it in a book.”
Her phone rang.
Midnight was approaching.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Julian’s voice was calm.
“Claire.”
She froze.
Ethan heard.
“Julian.”
“Good.”
“You finally figured that out.”
“Where is Rosa?”
“Alive.”
“Prove it.”
A video call appeared.
Rosa sat inside the old Blackwood boathouse.
Julian stood behind her.
Claire saw his face clearly for the first time.
He looked like Richard.
Older.
Colder.
“Bring the trust.”
Claire held up the document.
“I have it.”
Julian smiled.
“I knew Richard chose you.”
“Why keep him alive?”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
Ethan stepped into view.
“Answer her.”
Julian stared at his nephew.
“Ethan.”
“Where is my father?”
Julian looked almost amused.
“You still think Eleanor is the monster.”
“She helped you.”
“She survived me.”
“There’s a difference.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
Julian continued.
“Ask your mother what happened the night Richard went into the lake.”
“She’ll tell you she tried to save him.”
“She didn’t.”
“She saved you.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“From what?”
“From finding out what your father intended to do.”
“What?”
Julian leaned closer to the camera.
“Richard wasn’t only going to expose the fraud.”
“He was going to remove you from Blackwood Holdings.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
Julian smiled.
“Because Richard discovered you weren’t his son.”
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
Claire slowly looked at Ethan.
May you like
His face had gone completely white.
And midnight was eighteen minutes away.
