Chapter 13 - The Deadline
Nathan refused to hide.
Detective Bennett insisted.
By morning, officers were stationed outside his office and home.
The criminal case had grown too large for Chloe to escape by intimidation alone.
But she still possessed the copied patent archive.
And she still had access to people willing to help her.
We had twenty-four hours before Nathan’s scheduled emergency hearing to permanently remove Chloe from the trust.
If Nathan failed to appear, the proceeding could be delayed.
If it was delayed, Chloe would have more time to challenge the suspension.
That made him the “last problem.”
At 8:30 a.m., a courier delivered a package to his office.
Police intercepted it.
Inside was nothing dangerous.
Only a photograph.
Nathan’s seven-year-old daughter walking into school.
That ended his argument.
His family went into protective custody.
“You were right.”
He looked furious.
“I hate being right about this.”
We prepared for court from a secure conference room.
Mom gave a recorded deposition.
Dr. Monroe provided sworn testimony.
Maya provided her medical records and footage.
The bank provided transfer attempts.
Investigators provided evidence linking Northstar to Chloe.
The case against her control of the trust was overwhelming.
At 4:15 p.m., Chloe called me again.
“I heard you’re having a busy day.”
“You’re running out of places to hide.”
“I’m not hiding.”
“Then come home.”
She was silent.
For one strange moment, I remembered sitting beside her on our honeymoon.
Watching her sleep.
Believing I knew the person beside me.
“Was any of it real?”
I hadn’t planned to ask.
Chloe laughed softly.
“What answer would make you feel better?”
“The truth.”
“You wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
“Try me.”
Another pause.
Then her voice changed.
“I wasn’t supposed to love you.”
My chest tightened.
“But you did?”
“For a while.”
“What happened?”
“You kept choosing them.”
“My family?”
“Your mother.”
“She never hurt you.”
“She existed between me and everything I was promised.”
“By Caleb?”
“By myself.”
That was when I understood.
Her father may have sent her.
But somewhere along the way, Chloe stopped being Caleb’s pawn.
She became the architect.
“What happens now?”
I asked.
“Now you give me the authentication key.”
“No.”
“Then tomorrow someone you care about loses something.”
“Who?”
She hung up.
At 7:03 p.m., Maya stepped outside the secure conference area to answer a call from Luis.
She never came back.
Her phone was found on the sidewalk.
The screen was cracked.
And the authentication key we believed was secured inside Nathan’s evidence bag was gone.
Someone had switched it.
The real key had been inside Maya’s coat pocket.
May you like
And Maya had disappeared with it.
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