Chapter 39 - The Fuse
Richard stood beneath the broken stained-glass window with two men behind him.
He looked older than in the family photographs.
But his eyes were exactly the same.
Cold.
Calculating.
Unmoved.
Evan stepped between him and me.
Richard smiled.
“There he is.”
Evan's voice was hard.
“You used me.”
“I raised you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You told me Natalie was dangerous.”
“She is.”
I looked at Richard.
“You told me my mother was dead.”
“I told you what you needed to believe.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You've always confused control with protection.”
Richard's face changed.
“Evelyn.”
“You thought you buried me.”
“I knew you survived.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you come after me?”
Richard smiled.
“Because you were useful where you were.”
Evelyn looked at me.
“He needed me to keep you hidden.”
I turned to Richard.
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan wanted the trust.”
“And you?”
Richard looked at Evan.
“I wanted my son to survive.”
Evan laughed bitterly.
“You tried to make me sign the trust.”
“I tried to keep you alive.”
“By using Natalie?”
“By giving you a future.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
Richard looked at me.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
He sighed.
“The original trust doesn't merely control money.”
“I know.”
“It controls ownership.”
“Of what?”
“Everything the Brooks family built.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“And you wanted all of it.”
Richard's eyes hardened.
“I wanted what my family promised me.”
“You were never the rightful heir.”
“I was the only son strong enough to take it.”
Evelyn laughed sadly.
“You still say that.”
Richard turned to me.
“That is why Jonathan feared you.”
I froze.
“He feared me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the original trust was written before he was born.”
Richard stepped closer.
“It names one successor.”
“Who?”
He pointed at me.
“Natalie.”
My chest tightened.
“But the sixth clause?”
“Jonathan added it later.”
“Why?”
“To trap you.”
Richard nodded.
“And I spent years trying to break that clause.”
“So Evan is the sixth.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you want me to sign?”
“To transfer your control.”
I looked at Evan.
He was devastated.
Richard continued.
“Evan didn't know.”
I stared at him.
“Then what did he know?”
“That he loved you.”
Richard's expression softened for the first time.
“And I knew that was the only thing I could use against him.”
Evan looked at his father.
“You're sick.”
“I am your father.”
“I wish you weren't.”
Richard flinched.
Evelyn stepped beside me.
“You should never have brought Benjamin here.”
Richard looked toward the boy.
“Benjamin belongs to me.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“He belongs to the trust.”
I felt sick.
A person.
A child.
Still being spoken about as property.
Benjamin suddenly spoke.
“I don't belong to anyone.”
Everyone turned.
He looked terrified but determined.
“My mother taught me that.”
Evelyn began crying.
Richard looked at him.
“You don't understand what happens if the trust opens.”
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
Benjamin's voice grew stronger.
“I know what happened to the children.”
Richard's face hardened.
“I saved this family.”
“You destroyed it.”
He raised his hand.
One of the men behind him moved forward.
The investigator shouted:
“Drop your weapon!”
The man fired.
Chaos exploded.
Evelyn pulled me behind a pew.
Evan tackled Richard.
The investigator exchanged fire with the armed men.
Benjamin ran toward the side exit.
Rachel and Anna, who had followed us with the officers, pulled Lucas and Daniel behind the altar.
Diane screamed.
“Lucas!”
The boy turned.
For one moment, mother and son looked at each other.
Then Daniel grabbed his brother.
“Come on!”
They ran together.
I crawled toward the trust case we'd brought.
It had fallen near the altar.
I reached for it.
A bullet struck the wooden floor inches from my hand.
I ducked.
Then someone grabbed the case.
Richard.
He stood over me.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He pulled me up.
Evan charged.
Richard struck him across the face.
Evan fell.
I screamed.
Richard raised the gun.
“Don't.”
He stared at me.
“You know what Jonathan did to Evelyn?”
“He hunted her.”
“He made her disappear.”
“He's dead.”
Richard smiled.
“No.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Jonathan isn't dead.”
Evelyn gasped.
Richard continued.
“He's the one sending you messages.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
“He survived the fire.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I saw the body.”
“Not his.”
Richard's voice lowered.
“He planned the fire.”
My heart pounded.
“You're lying.”
“Look at the trust.”
He held it.
“The activation date is tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because that's the anniversary of your birth.”
My stomach dropped.
“He's going to activate it.”
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“He's going to make you activate it for him.”
The investigator reached us.
Richard shoved me aside and ran.
Evan chased.
I grabbed the trust.
The cover opened by itself.
A hidden compartment slid outward.
Inside was a new document.
One sentence.
THE SIXTH BENEFICIARY MUST DIE BEFORE THE TRUST OPENS.
I looked at Evan.
He had stopped moving.
Richard's voice echoed from the church doorway.
“Now you know why your father told you to stay away from her.”
Evan stared at the paper.
Then he looked at me.
“They're going to kill me.”
I grabbed his hand.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Natalie.”
“I won't let them.”
A phone began ringing.
Not mine.
Evan's.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice spoke.
Jonathan.
“Hello, son.”
Evan's face went white.
Jonathan continued.
“You have one hour.”
“One hour for what?”
“To decide whether you die protecting Natalie…”
A pause.
“…or live by betraying her.”
The call ended.
Evan looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then my phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
It was a live image of Diane.
And Lucas.
Inside the police vehicle.
A second message followed.
May you like
BRING NATALIE ALONE.
OR YOUR MOTHER WILL WATCH ANOTHER SON DISAPPEAR.
