Chapter 4 - What Preston Needed Her to SignI reached the rear porch before anyone could stop me.
The kitchen door was unlocked.
I entered darkness.
“Caroline!”
“Mom?”
Her voice came faintly from upstairs.
I ran toward the staircase.
A hand seized my arm.
I turned swinging.
It was Daniel.
“Quiet.”
“I heard her.”
“So did everyone.”
He pulled me behind a wall as footsteps crossed the upper landing.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Enough to reveal the staircase.
Gavin Cross appeared at the top.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
I hated how calmly he said my name.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Caroline is having a medical episode.”
“Get out of my way.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Daniel stepped beside me.
Gavin’s eyes narrowed.
“Reyes.”
“Cross.”
“You never learned.”
“I learned plenty.”
Two security men appeared behind Gavin.
Marcus entered through the kitchen with his badge raised.
“County sheriff. Hands where I can see them.”
Gavin smiled.
“You’re outside your jurisdiction.”
“I’m witnessing a suspected kidnapping.”
“You’re witnessing a family medical emergency.”
A crash sounded upstairs.
Then Caroline shouted:
“MOM!”
That ended discussion.
I ran.
Gavin moved to stop me.
Daniel hit him.
The entire hallway erupted.
Marcus tackled one guard.
Daniel and Gavin slammed into a side table, sending a lamp crashing.
I reached the second floor.
“Caroline!”
“Here!”
I followed her voice to a bedroom.
Locked.
I threw myself against it.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the key in the outside lock.
They had locked my daughter inside.
I turned it.
Caroline sat on the floor beside the bed wearing her wedding gown.
One strap was torn.
Her hair had fallen loose.
A bruise darkened her cheek.
Blood covered two fingers on her left hand where one nail had been ripped.
That explained the bouquet.
She looked up.
“Mom?”
I crossed the room and dropped beside her.
She collapsed into me.
“Oh God.”
“I knew you’d come.”
“Of course I came.”
“I thought they caught you.”
“They tried.”
Her eyes struggled to focus.
“They drugged me.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“What?”
“The new trust.”
Downstairs, something shattered.
We didn’t have time.
I helped her stand.
Her legs buckled.
“I can’t walk.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Mom—”
“You came into this world after thirty-one hours of labor while I threatened three nurses and your father fainted twice. We are not ending tonight because your legs are sleepy.”
A tiny laugh escaped her.
That laugh nearly broke me.
I put her arm around my shoulders.
We reached the hallway.
Preston stood at the end.
Alone.
His tuxedo jacket was gone.
His bow tie hung loose.
Blood marked one corner of his mouth.
He looked at Caroline.
Then me.
“This has gone far enough.”
I almost couldn’t believe him.
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“She’s my wife.”
“She asked to leave.”
“She’s confused.”
Caroline straightened.
“I am not confused.”
Preston’s expression changed.
The pleasant mask vanished.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“You’ll destroy both families.”
“You mean your company.”
His jaw clenched.
Caroline looked at me.
“That’s what this is about. Hale Development is nearly bankrupt.”
Preston stepped forward.
“Caroline.”
“No.”
“Give me five minutes.”
“You had eighteen months.”
“We can fix this.”
“You broke my rib.”
He stopped.
My entire body went cold.
Caroline continued.
“You shoved me down the stairs at your mother’s house and told everyone I slipped.”
“Caroline—”
“You held my head underwater in the pool because I said I wanted to postpone the wedding.”
My hands started trembling.
Not from fear.
Preston looked at me.
“You’re hearing one side.”
“One side is enough when it includes attempted drowning.”
He sighed.
Like we were being difficult.
“You don’t understand the stakes.”
“Then explain them.”
His eyes shifted toward Caroline.
“Hale Development owes nine hundred million dollars.”
Even Caroline looked surprised by the number.
Preston continued.
“The Arden acquisition solves everything, but we need Mercer’s voting block to secure financing.”
“So you married her for her shares,” I said.
“I love her.”
“You assaulted her.”
“I lost control.”
“Repeatedly.”
He ignored me.
“The wedding activates provisions allowing us to consolidate family assets.”
“Fraudulent provisions.”
Preston’s eyes sharpened.
“You went to the locker.”
There it was.
Confirmation.
Caroline whispered, “How did you know about it?”
“Your maid saw you leave the backpack.”
Her face fell.
“Melissa?”
“Everyone has a price.”
He stepped closer.
“Give me the drive, Diane.”
“No.”
“Give it to me, and Caroline walks away tonight.”
Caroline whispered, “He’s lying.”
“I know.”
Preston’s mouth hardened.
“My mother has attorneys who will bury you for years.”
I laughed.
I actually laughed.
“Your mother threatened me in a bathroom three hours ago, your people chased me through a train station, and now I’ve found my drugged daughter locked in a bedroom. You think I’m worried about attorneys?”
His eyes went to my dress.
“You don’t have the drive on you.”
I did.
It was taped beneath the lining of Marcus’s jacket downstairs.
But Preston didn’t know that.
He smiled.
“Daniel has it.”
A gunshot cracked downstairs.
Caroline screamed.
Preston didn’t.
That told me everything.
He had expected it.
He turned toward the stairs.
“Stay here.”
I grabbed a brass candlestick from the hallway table and hit him across the shoulder.
He stumbled into the wall.
Caroline stared at me.
“Mom!”
“What? I’m having a difficult evening.”
We moved.
Halfway downstairs, smoke began pouring from the kitchen.
Fire.
Someone had set the house on fire.
Marcus appeared through the smoke.
“Outside!”
“Daniel?”
“Still inside.”
Another shot.
Gavin Cross came out of the study holding a handgun.
Marcus shoved us behind the staircase.
“Cross! Drop it!”
Gavin aimed.
Before he fired, Preston tackled him.
All of us froze.
The gun skidded across the floor.
Gavin punched Preston.
“You idiot! Your mother said no witnesses.”
Preston stared at him.
“What?”
Gavin realized his mistake.
So did we.
Preston shoved him backward.
“What did she order?”
Gavin said nothing.
“WHAT DID SHE ORDER?”
Fire alarms began screaming.
Victoria Hale appeared in the doorway.
Perfect hair.
Perfect gown.
No panic.
She looked at her son.
Then at Caroline.
Then at me.
“You really should have stayed at the reception, Diane.”
Preston turned.
“Mother, what did you tell Gavin?”
Victoria’s face didn’t change.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Did you order him to kill her?”
Caroline stopped breathing.
Victoria looked almost bored.
“We needed a clean solution.”
Preston went pale.
“A clean—”
“Your wife was never going to cooperate.”
“My wife?”
“Don’t become sentimental now.”
The flames reached the curtains.
Smoke rolled across the ceiling.
Victoria looked directly at Caroline.
“The marriage was useful. Her continued presence was not.”
Caroline tightened her grip on me.
And I understood.
Preston had abused my daughter.
He had coerced her.
He had married her for money.
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But Victoria Hale had planned something even her own son hadn’t known.
Caroline was never supposed to survive her honeymoon.
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