Chapter 5 - THE TRUST
Claire returned to Sterling Manor the next afternoon under police protection.
The grand staircase had been sealed with yellow tape.
She stared at the place where she had fallen.
Lucas noticed.
“You don’t have to stay here.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why.”
“Because whoever wanted me frightened expects me to run.”
She looked at him.
“I’m done running.”
Mason met them inside the library.
The hidden surveillance room smelled of dust, electronics, and expensive perfume.
Claire stepped inside.
Six monitors covered one wall.
Bedrooms.
Hallways.
Offices.
The nursery.
Her nursery.
Rage replaced fear.
“They watched me build my daughter’s crib.”
Mason nodded.
“Somebody did.”
Lucas punched the desk.
“Who installed this.”
“The equipment was purchased through a Sterling Global subsidiary.”
“Which one.”
Mason handed him a document.
Lucas read the name.
His jaw tightened.
“Vale Strategic Services.”
Graham.
Claire opened a drawer.
Empty.
Another.
Empty.
The third drawer held a photograph.
Henry Sterling.
Lucas’s late father.
He stood beside a much younger Helena.
Evelyn was a teenager.
Lucas was perhaps twelve.
On the back, someone had written three numbers.
28.
29.
30.
Claire showed Mason.
“What does this mean.”
Lucas answered.
“Ownership.”
Claire turned.
He pointed at the numbers.
“Twenty-eight percent goes to our daughter.”
“Thirty-one belongs to me.”
“Forty-one is distributed among my mother, Evelyn, family trusts, and outside investors.”
Claire understood.
“With our daughter’s shares, you and I could control the company together.”
“Yes.”
“And without them.”
“My mother can form a controlling bloc.”
Mason leaned against the desk.
“Now we have motive.”
Lucas shook his head.
“Motive isn’t proof.”
Claire turned toward him.
“Are you defending her.”
“She’s my mother.”
“And I’m your wife.”
Lucas looked wounded.
Claire hated that part of her still cared.
Mason’s phone vibrated.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where.”
He ended the call.
“We found Rosa.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Is she all right.”
“She’s alive.”
“Where was she.”
Mason looked toward the ceiling.
“In the attic.”
Lucas stared at him.
“Our attic is locked.”
“Not anymore.”
They hurried upstairs.
Police officers surrounded a narrow storage room.
Rosa sat on the floor wrapped in a blanket.
Her wrists were bruised from restraints.
Claire knelt beside her.
“Rosa.”
The older woman began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what.”
“I should have told you sooner.”
“Told me what.”
Rosa looked at Lucas.
Then at Claire.
“Your father-in-law knew someone would try to stop that baby from inheriting his shares.”
Lucas froze.
Rosa reached into the lining of her uniform.
She pulled out a tiny brass key.
“Mr. Henry gave me this two days before he died.”
“He said if anything happened to Mrs. Sterling or her child.”
May you like
Rosa pressed the key into Claire’s palm.
“I was supposed to open the box beneath his grave.”
