Chapter 13 - THE SCHOOL GATE
Mark called the school before Detective Chen finished speaking.
The principal activated lockdown procedures immediately.
Sophie was removed from her classroom and taken to an interior office.
Police surrounded the campus.
Mark's security team reached the front entrance within minutes.
Samuel never arrived.
The traffic camera had captured a vehicle registered under one of his aliases, but investigators later found it abandoned in a supermarket parking lot.
The school had been a distraction.
Mark felt fury replacing fear.
Samuel knew exactly how to control him.
Threaten Sophie.
Everything else disappeared.
Mark refused to send Sophie back to school until Samuel was caught.
For several days she studied from Caroline's house.
At first Sophie treated it like a vacation.
By the third morning, she was angry.
"This isn't fair."
Mark looked up from his laptop.
"I know."
"I didn't do anything."
"I know."
"Then why do I have to hide?"
Mark closed the computer.
He wanted to give her an answer that made sense.
There was none.
"Because somebody dangerous is making bad choices."
Sophie crossed her arms.
"Then make him stop."
Mark almost smiled.
"I'm trying."
She walked away.
The simplicity of her anger stayed with him.
Adults had turned greed into trusts, shell companies, forged amendments, leverage, and murder investigations.
To Sophie, it was simple.
Someone was doing something wrong.
Stop him.
That afternoon, Victoria asked to see Mark.
The meeting occurred at a secure government office.
Two officers remained outside.
Victoria looked different without expensive jewelry and perfect makeup.
Tired.
Smaller.
But Mark reminded himself that appearances did not erase choices.
She sat across from him.
"You look terrible."
"So do you."
Victoria gave a faint smile.
It disappeared quickly.
"I heard about Sophie's school."
Mark's eyes hardened.
"Why did you ask to see me?"
Victoria looked down at her hands.
"I know where Samuel keeps emergency identities."
"Police already searched the storage unit."
"Not those."
She described a hunting lodge owned by a corporation in Pennsylvania.
Samuel had taken her there once.
Inside was a concealed office containing passports, cash, and documents.
"Why didn't you tell investigators?"
"I forgot."
Mark stared at her.
"No."
"You held it back."
Victoria did not deny it.
"Why?"
"Leverage."
Mark stood.
"Of course."
"Sit down."
"No."
"Mark."
He turned toward the door.
Victoria suddenly said.
"I saw Samuel put something in Dad's drink."
Mark stopped.
Slowly he turned around.
"What?"
Victoria's eyes filled with fear.
"Nine days before Dad died."
"You were there?"
"I came to the house."
"But the security footage only shows Samuel."
"I entered through the garden."
"Why?"
"I didn't want you or Dad's staff knowing I was meeting Samuel."
Mark sat again.
Victoria continued.
"I watched through the study window."
"Samuel poured whiskey."
"He opened something small."
"A bottle."
"Maybe medicine."
"Did Dad drink it?"
Victoria nodded.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't know what it was."
"Then Dad died nine days later."
"I told myself it was coincidence."
Mark stared at her.
"You told yourself whatever allowed you to keep chasing the inheritance."
Victoria's eyes dropped.
"Yes."
The admission surprised him.
No excuse.
No anger.
Just yes.
Mark leaned back.
"Why tell me now?"
Victoria looked at the table.
"Because Samuel threatened Sophie."
"So?"
Victoria raised her eyes.
"Because I wanted her inheritance."
"I never wanted her dead."
Mark held her gaze.
"There is a very large distance between those two statements."
"I know."
"Do you?"
Victoria swallowed.
"When Sophie was born, Dad couldn't stop talking about her."
"Every photograph."
"Every birthday."
"Every little thing."
"I hated how happy he looked."
Mark's expression hardened.
"She was a baby."
"I know."
"And you blamed her."
"I blamed everyone."
Victoria's voice became quiet.
"That's what people like me do when admitting the truth would hurt too much."
Mark said nothing.
Victoria pushed a slip of paper toward him.
It contained the lodge address.
"Give this to Chen."
Mark took it.
As he stood, Victoria said one more thing.
"Mark."
He looked back.
"If Samuel is going after Sophie, the inheritance isn't his only reason."
"What do you mean?"
Victoria's face tightened.
"He thinks Harold gave Sophie something else."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"Samuel called it the Bennett key."
Mark froze.
In his pocket was the brass key from Harold's watch.
The key marked 317 had opened the bank box.
But Mark suddenly remembered something.
The bank manager had returned that key to him after they closed the box.
May you like
Maybe 317 had never been its only purpose.
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