Chapter 8 - GRACE'S RED BOX
Emma had spent two years pretending the red box did not exist.
Grace gave it to her three nights before the boating accident.
“If I ask for it, don't give it back,” Grace had said. “Only open it if Ethan is in danger.”
Emma hid it beneath a loose floorboard in her apartment and told no one.
Now Isabella knew.
William looked at her. “What did Grace give you?”
Emma told him.
Pain turned to anger on his face. “You kept evidence from me for two years?”
“She was afraid of someone inside your house.”
“You thought it was me?”
“I didn't know.”
That answer hurt him because it was honest.
Ortiz arranged a controlled trip to Emma's apartment. The red box was still beneath the floorboard.
Inside were property deeds, photographs, a flash drive, and a handwritten letter addressed to Ethan.
The flash drive contained Grace's investigation.
William's father had used shell companies to force elderly tenants from Manhattan buildings. Vale's father provided false medical reports declaring owners incompetent. The Sterlings gained properties for almost nothing.
Grace planned to expose it and create a restitution fund.
Isabella had been Vale's partner long before she met William.
But one file mattered more than the rest.
A video showed Isabella and Daniel on the Sterling yacht the night Grace died.
Grace stood near the rail, unsteady but alive.
Isabella held a syringe.
Daniel said, “She has enough in her system.”
The camera shook as Grace hid it beneath a seat.
Then Isabella pushed her toward the water.
The video ended before the fall, but the sound was clear.
William turned away and struck the wall with his fist.
Emma read Grace's letter.
She had written that Ethan was the legal beneficiary of a separate trust worth three hundred million dollars. Isabella could not control it unless both parents were dead or declared unfit.
Grace died.
William was being declared unfit.
Ethan's basement imprisonment was designed to create a psychiatric record that would keep him under guardianship for decades.
Ortiz said, “We have enough to arrest Isabella, but Pike still has hostages.”
The phone rang.
Isabella gave them one hour to deliver the box to the abandoned Sterling Theater in Brooklyn.
“No police,” she said.
William answered, “I am coming alone.”
“No. Emma brings it.”
Emma took the phone.
“Let the family go first.”
Isabella laughed softly. “You still think you are the brave one.”
A gunshot cracked through the call.
May you like
Martin's daughter screamed.
Then Isabella whispered, “One hour.”
