Chapter 5 - The Man Who Disappeared
Ethan pulled Charlotte through the darkness.
Behind them, shouting filled the loading bay.
Another gunshot echoed.
Charlotte wanted to stop.
She wanted to find Arthur.
Ethan refused.
“There are six armed men down there.”
“Arthur is still inside.”
“And if you go back, both of you die.”
He forced open a maintenance door.
They entered an underground tunnel connecting Solmere Hotel to an office tower across the street.
Charlotte pulled away.
“Where have you been?”
Ethan looked at her.
“This isn’t the time.”
“You disappeared four months ago.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Charlotte almost laughed.
“You didn’t answer one call.”
“Because your phone was compromised.”
“My mother died.”
“I know.”
“Were you there?”
Ethan stopped walking.
That silence was the answer.
Charlotte stared at him.
“You were there.”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“The night she died.”
Charlotte slapped him.
The sound echoed through the tunnel.
Ethan didn’t react.
“She called me.”
He spoke quietly.
“She said someone inside the family was trying to kill her.”
Charlotte fought tears.
“And you never told me?”
“I tried.”
“No.”
“You vanished.”
Ethan removed a folded document from his coat.
He gave it to Charlotte.
It was a toxicology report.
Her mother’s name was printed across the top.
Charlotte read the chemical findings.
Digitalis.
Administered repeatedly over several weeks.
Her mother had been poisoned.
Charlotte’s hands trembled.
“Where did you get this?”
“A private laboratory.”
“The official autopsy said heart failure.”
“Because the official samples were switched.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“By who?”
Ethan hesitated.
“Detective Warren Pike.”
The same detective Arthur had warned her about.
Charlotte felt sick.
“How deep does this go?”
Ethan gave a humorless smile.
“Deep enough that we can’t trust the police.”
They reached the opposite building.
Inside an abandoned office, Ethan had established a temporary command center.
Photographs covered the walls.
Bank statements.
Corporate charts.
Security images.
Charlotte saw Malcolm.
Vivian.
Detective Pike.
Her uncle Daniel.
And several Solmere board members.
“You’ve been investigating them.”
“For four months.”
Charlotte looked at Ethan.
“Why?”
He moved toward another photograph.
It showed Elizabeth Vale leaving a restaurant.
Standing beside her was Daniel Vale.
The photograph was dated two weeks before Elizabeth’s death.
“Your mother believed Daniel had returned to take the company.”
Ethan pointed to another picture.
A man was following them.
Detective Pike.
Charlotte touched the photograph.
“I need to see Daniel.”
“No.”
“I need answers.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Daniel isn’t the man you remember.”
“Neither are you.”
That hurt him.
Charlotte didn’t care.
Her phone suddenly rang inside Ethan’s equipment case.
Ethan frowned.
“That isn’t possible.”
He pulled out an old burner phone.
Only three people knew the number.
Ethan answered.
A woman’s voice whispered.
“Charlotte?”
Charlotte took the phone.
“Yes?”
The woman started crying.
“My name is Anna Mercer.”
Charlotte recognized the name.
Her mother’s private nurse.
Anna had disappeared immediately after Elizabeth died.
“I know what happened to your mother.”
Charlotte gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
Anna’s voice became frantic.
“They found me.”
A crash sounded.
Then screaming.
Charlotte shouted.
“Anna!”
A man picked up the phone.
Charlotte heard slow breathing.
Then Daniel Vale spoke.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Charlotte went completely still.
May you like
Her uncle laughed.
“It’s time we finally had our family reunion.”
