Chapter 5 - THE FIRST BETRAYAL
Daniel smashed the phone against the concrete wall.
It shattered.
“Run.”
They ran.
Or at least Sarah and Daniel ran.
Chloe moved as fast as her exhausted body allowed.
Daniel eventually swept her into his arms.
“Put me down.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I don't trust you.”
“You don't have to.”
He carried her anyway.
Chloe held the baby against her chest.
The garage appeared ahead.
A black sedan waited near the exit.
Daniel opened the rear door.
Sarah inspected the vehicle first.
“No driver?”
“Me.”
They climbed inside.
Daniel started the engine.
Then headlights appeared behind them.
Three SUVs.
Sarah cursed.
“They found us.”
Daniel accelerated.
The sedan shot between concrete pillars.
One SUV followed.
Then another.
Chloe shielded the baby.
“Daniel!”
“I see them.”
The exit barrier descended.
Daniel did not brake.
The sedan smashed through it.
Glass and plastic exploded across the windshield.
They burst into daylight.
Traffic.
Sirens.
Rain beginning to fall.
Daniel drove toward the interstate.
Sarah turned.
“They're still behind us.”
Chloe looked at the envelope.
“Why don't we just give the evidence to police?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Because the chief of police plays golf with my mother.”
“FBI?”
“She has friends there too.”
“Then who can we trust?”
Sarah answered.
“Someone Eleanor doesn't know exists.”
Daniel glanced at her.
Sarah continued.
“My mother kept a second archive.”
Daniel almost lost control of the car.
“What?”
“Rebecca’s records.
Arthur’s letters.
Payment transfers.
Everything.”
“Where?”
Sarah looked toward Chloe.
“Baltimore.”
A gunshot shattered the rear window.
Chloe screamed and covered her baby.
Daniel swerved.
Another bullet struck the trunk.
“Get down!”
The sedan raced through rain-soaked traffic.
Sarah pressed herself over Chloe and the infant.
Daniel took an exit without signaling.
The pursuing SUVs followed.
Then Chloe noticed blood.
“Daniel.”
He did not answer.
“Daniel!”
Blood was spreading across his white shirt.
A bullet had grazed his side.
“I’m fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I said I’m fine.”
He drove another mile.
Then his face drained of color.
Sarah leaned forward.
“Pull over before you kill us.”
“I know somewhere.”
He turned onto a narrow rural road.
Ten minutes later, they reached an abandoned church.
Daniel stopped behind it.
Sarah treated his wound while Chloe stood beneath the church awning with her daughter.
Rain covered the countryside.
For the first time since giving birth, Chloe had a moment to think.
Her husband had betrayed her.
Perhaps.
Her mother-in-law wanted her child.
Definitely.
A nurse she barely knew had become the only person she trusted.
And somewhere in Baltimore was evidence that could destroy one of America’s richest families.
Daniel approached slowly.
“Chloe.”
She stepped backward.
“Don't.”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Another secret?”
“Yes.”
She almost laughed.
“Of course.”
Daniel looked at their daughter.
“My mother doesn't only want the inheritance.”
Chloe waited.
“She believes Arthur left something else.”
“What?”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“A private account.”
“How much?”
“Over two billion dollars.”
Chloe stared.
“But nobody has ever found it.”
“Then why does she need our daughter?”
Daniel looked at the baby.
“Because Arthur designed the account to unlock only for his youngest verified descendant.”
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Chloe’s arms tightened around her child.
Daniel continued.
“And Eleanor believes the biometric key is hidden inside the genetic records.”
Chloe looked down at the envelope.
Suddenly it was no longer evidence.
May you like
It was a map.
And everyone powerful enough to understand it would come looking for her daughter.
