Chapter 8 - THE FIRE AT LAKE ARROW
Smoke thickened inside the basement.
Ethan pulled his shirt over his mouth.
Richard searched the room for another exit.
There was one narrow window near the ceiling.
It had been painted shut.
Ethan grabbed a metal stool.
He struck the frame until the glass broke.
Cold air rushed inside.
Richard pushed a storage cabinet beneath it.
“Go.”
Ethan climbed.
“You first.”
“Don’t argue.”
“I’m not leaving you down here.”
Richard stared at his son.
For a second, neither moved.
Then Ethan climbed through and turned back.
He reached down.
“Take my hand.”
Richard hesitated only briefly.
Ethan pulled until his father reached the window.
Together they crawled onto the wet ground outside.
Smoke rose from the rear section of the house.
The fire was limited.
Someone had created enough smoke to frighten and trap them, but not enough to consume the property quickly.
The message mattered more than the flames.
Police arrived soon after Ethan reached emergency services.
Detective Brooks was furious.
“I specifically told you not to come here alone.”
Richard looked at Ethan.
“We weren’t alone.”
Brooks stared at him.
“That is not what I meant.”
Investigators found signs that someone had entered through a side door.
A camera near the road captured a dark SUV.
The license plate was obscured.
The driver could not be identified.
Ethan stood near the lake holding the photograph of Caleb’s family connection.
His phone rang.
Sophia.
He almost ignored it.
Then he answered.
“What?”
Sophia sounded frightened.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Ethan, answer me.”
“Lake Arrow.”
Silence.
Then Sophia whispered.
“You need to leave.”
Ethan stared at the smoking house.
“You knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That someone would come here.”
Sophia’s breathing changed.
“Get away from that house.”
“Caleb is Victor Hale’s grandson.”
Sophia said nothing.
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
The admission did not surprise him anymore.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Caleb made me promise.”
“How long have you known?”
“My whole life.”
Ethan nearly laughed.
“Your whole life?”
“Caleb is technically my half-brother.”
Richard was close enough to hear.
His expression changed.
Sophia continued.
“My mother married his father when Caleb was nine.”
“So you knew he was a Hale.”
“Yes.”
“And you married me anyway.”
“That had nothing to do with you.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“I don’t believe you.”
Sophia’s voice sharpened.
“I loved you.”
“Past tense?”
She went quiet.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“What does Caleb want?”
“He thinks Richard destroyed his family.”
Richard stepped closer.
Ethan put the call on speaker.
Richard spoke.
“I didn’t.”
Sophia went silent.
Richard continued.
“Victor stole from my company.”
Sophia’s voice became bitter.
“That’s your version.”
“It’s documented.”
“Caleb has documents too.”
“Then show them.”
Sophia laughed.
“You still think this is about proving who was right.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
“What is it about?”
“Revenge.”
Ethan looked toward the burned section of the house.
“Sophia.”
She did not answer.
“Did Caleb lock us in that basement?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
The panic in her voice sounded real.
For the first time, Ethan believed her fear.
Sophia lowered her voice.
“Caleb has changed.”
“When?”
“When Daniel tried to back out.”
Richard stared at the phone.
“What does that mean?”
Sophia continued.
“Daniel was supposed to help us force Richard out.”
Ethan felt sick hearing the word us.
Sophia kept talking.
“No one was supposed to get hurt.”
Richard touched his bruised cheek.
Ethan looked away.
Sophia understood the irony.
“You know what I mean.”
Ethan answered coldly.
“No.”
Sophia’s voice cracked.
“Caleb said we only needed pressure.”
“Pressure?”
“Make Richard look unstable.”
“Frame him for assault.”
“Yes.”
“Steal from the trust.”
“That started before.”
Ethan went still.
“Before what?”
“Before I agreed to help.”
Richard leaned closer.
“Who started the theft?”
Sophia was silent.
Richard repeated.
“Who?”
“Caleb.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“When did you become involved?”
“Eight months ago.”
Richard frowned.
“The theft started nearly three years ago.”
“I know.”
Ethan looked at his father.
That meant Sophia had not initiated the financial scheme.
But she had chosen to join it.
“Why?”
Sophia cried quietly.
“Because Caleb showed me what Richard’s company did to his grandfather.”
Richard shook his head.
“What?”
“He showed me records proving Victor was forced out.”
“Victor remained my partner until he retired.”
“He said you forced him to sign away assets.”
“That is false.”
Sophia laughed bitterly.
“Everybody says everything is false.”
Ethan interrupted.
“Where is Caleb?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
“At the hotel.”
“Stay there.”
“Why?”
“Because if Caleb is threatening people, you may be next.”
Sophia’s voice dropped.
“He already threatened me.”
Ethan froze.
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“What did he say?”
“That I talked too much.”
Richard looked toward Brooks.
She was already moving closer.
Sophia continued.
“He told me not to answer Daniel’s questions.”
“What questions?”
“Daniel wanted to confess.”
Ethan frowned.
“He did confess.”
“Not everything.”
Richard’s voice became sharp.
“What else is there?”
Sophia breathed slowly.
“The original plan wasn’t to transfer trust money.”
“Then what was it?”
“To make Richard sell his voting shares.”
“To whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard nearly shouted.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“I never met the buyer.”
“Caleb did.”
“Yes.”
“Who is V.H.?”
Sophia went silent.
Richard repeated.
“Who is V.H.?”
“I don’t know.”
The call disconnected.
Ethan immediately called back.
No answer.
Brooks contacted officers near Sophia’s hotel.
Two minutes later, her expression changed.
“What?”
Ethan asked.
Brooks looked at him.
“Sophia checked out forty minutes ago.”
Ethan stared.
“She said she was there.”
“She lied.”
Richard shook his head.
“Maybe.”
Brooks frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Richard pointed toward Ethan’s phone.
“Did you hear the background?”
Ethan replayed the call mentally.
There had been traffic.
A horn.
Then a low mechanical sound.
Richard continued.
“She wasn’t in a hotel room.”
Brooks called the phone company for emergency location data.
The last signal placed Sophia’s phone near an industrial district on the south side.
Ethan recognized the area.
“Mercer Development has a warehouse there.”
Police moved immediately.
Ethan insisted on going.
Brooks refused to let him enter the property.
He and Richard waited across the street while officers approached.
The warehouse lights were off.
The side door was unlocked.
Inside, police found Sophia’s handbag.
Her phone lay smashed on the concrete floor.
There was blood on one sleeve of her coat.
Ethan stared at it.
Brooks turned toward him.
“We don’t know whose blood that is.”
Richard examined the room.
One wall contained photographs.
Dozens of them.
Pictures of Richard leaving his office.
Pictures of Grace’s house.
Pictures of Ethan and Sophia at restaurants.
Pictures of Daniel.
Pictures of Whitmore Holdings.
At the center hung a photograph of Victor Hale.
A red line connected Victor to Richard.
Another connected Richard to Ethan.
Another connected Ethan to Sophia.
At the bottom was Caleb.
Beside Caleb’s photograph, someone had written a sentence.
SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW THE END.
Ethan whispered.
“What end?”
Brooks looked toward another board.
There was a schedule.
Monday.
The day of the trust audit.
Beside it were two words.
CONTROL TRANSFERS.
Then Richard saw a photograph pinned beneath the schedule.
It had been taken that morning.
It showed Ethan entering his office.
A red circle had been drawn around his chest.
And across the bottom, someone had written.
May you like
IF RICHARD DOESN’T SIGN, USE THE SON.
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