Chapter 10 - THE MOUNTAIN ROAD
The Whitmore lodge had been abandoned for twelve years.
Grant’s father once used it for private meetings far from the estate.
The property stood above a reservoir at the end of a narrow mountain road.
A storm had washed out part of the main route, leaving only one accessible entrance.
Detective Cole believed Renata had chosen the lodge because police could not approach without being seen.
Grant insisted on going alone.
Cole refused.
In the end, Grant drove the copied ledger to the lodge while officers followed at a distance.
I hid beneath a blanket in the rear storage compartment of his SUV.
Grant had forbidden me from coming.
I ignored him.
Lily had risked her life to leave us clues.
I would not abandon her now.
The lodge appeared through the trees shortly before midnight.
Its stone walls were dark.
One upstairs window glowed with pale yellow light.
Grant stopped near the front steps and carried the ledger inside.
I waited until the door closed.
Then I slipped from the vehicle and moved around the side of the building.
A broken basement window provided an entrance.
Inside, voices echoed through the heating vents.
Renata was arguing with Nathaniel.
“You said Harris would be dead.”
“He escaped.”
“He knows too much.”
“So does the girl.”
My blood went cold.
A third voice responded.
“We follow the plan.”
It belonged to Malcolm Voss, Renata’s attorney.
He was the fourth person Harris had refused to name.
Voss had not merely defended Renata.
He had helped create the entire conspiracy.
Through a gap in the floorboards, I saw Lily tied to a chair.
Nathaniel stood beside the fireplace wearing the red coat.
Renata held a pistol.
Voss carried a metal case.
Grant entered the room and placed the ledger on the table.
“Release my daughter.”
Voss opened the book and examined several pages.
“This is a copy.”
Renata struck Grant across the face with the pistol.
“You thought we wouldn’t notice?”
Grant fell to one knee.
Lily tried to scream behind the tape.
Nathaniel moved toward Grant.
“You inherited everything because Father believed you were weak enough to control.”
Grant wiped blood from his mouth.
“What did Evelyn discover?”
“She discovered our father built Whitmore Global with bribes, blackmail, and stolen money.”
Voss closed the ledger.
“She wanted to confess everything to federal investigators.”
“And you killed her,” Grant said.
Renata smiled.
“I pushed her.”
Nathaniel looked toward Lily.
“But the child saw me hold her mother beneath the water.”
Lily’s eyes filled with terror.
I lifted my phone and began recording.
Voss removed a syringe from the metal case.
“We should finish this before the police arrive.”
Footsteps sounded behind me.
A hand covered my mouth.
May you like
Harris whispered into my ear.
“Don’t scream.”
