Chapter 7 - Laura Sends One Impossible Message
Police traced the private flight.
The aircraft was registered through a Caribbean holding company.
Scheduled departure: 9:10 p.m.
Route filed to Nassau.
Passenger manifest incomplete.
Two adults.
One child.
Richard’s pulse hammered.
Emily was meant to be the child.
Who were the adults?
David and Vanessa?
Marcus and Emily?
Laura and Emily?
Nobody knew.
Ortiz coordinated with federal agents to stop the aircraft.
Meanwhile, Laura’s phone suddenly powered on.
Location ping.
Thirty miles south.
An industrial park near Woodbridge.
Then it vanished.
Thirty seconds later, Richard received a text.
DAD. DO NOT COME HERE.
Another:
EMILY SAFE?
Richard replied immediately.
YES. WHERE ARE YOU?
No answer.
Then one final message.
DAVID IS NOT ALONE.
Ortiz stared.
“What does that mean?”
Richard did not know.
But Evelyn did.
She looked sick again.
“I need to tell you something.”
Richard almost laughed.
“Another thing?”
“Margaret suspected David had help.”
“From who?”
“She never knew.”
“Then why mention it?”
“Because she believed someone inside Hale Biotech was feeding him information.”
Richard stared.
“Six years ago?”
“Yes.”
That changed everything.
David’s plan was not recent.
Not built after his fake death.
It had roots going back before Margaret died.
Project Orchid.
Trust amendments.
Board succession.
Someone inside the company.
Richard asked for the list of executives with access to both governance files and his family schedule.
Evelyn gave him seven names.
One stood out.
Claire Morgan.
Chief strategy officer.
Claire.
Vanessa’s anonymous handler called herself Claire.
Richard’s stomach tightened.
Claire Morgan had worked with him for twelve years.
She attended Margaret’s funeral.
Brought casseroles to Laura after Emily was born.
Sat beside Richard in board meetings while Adrian Vale tried to buy the company.
Claire had always argued against selling.
Too strongly, maybe.
Ortiz called the company.
Claire had left at noon.
No one knew where she went.
Richard checked security logs.
Claire’s badge entered the executive archive two nights earlier.
She downloaded Project Orchid.
Then used a private printer.
The same office model used to print trust-related templates.
Richard whispered:
“Claire.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“She knew everything.”
Not everything.
But enough.
The false hospital record.
The fake guardianship.
The private flight.
The schedule.
The desk.
The trust.
Claire was the link between business and family.
Then Thomas entered.
“We found something in the SUV.”
A second phone.
Hidden under the spare tire.
It contained no contacts.
Only one draft message.
If Richard gets Emily first, use Laura.
Richard felt cold.
Another draft.
If Laura resists, remind her what happened to Margaret.
He read it twice.
“What happened to Margaret?”
Evelyn turned white.
Richard looked at her.
“Margaret died of pancreatic cancer.”
“Yes.”
“Then what does this mean?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Before she died, she thought someone had been altering her medication.”
Richard’s blood ran cold.
“What?”
“She told me once.”
“And you never told me?”
“She had advanced cancer, Richard. The doctors were changing medications constantly.”
“That is not an answer.”
“She had no proof.”
Richard looked away.
Margaret’s last months returned.
Confusion.
Nausea.
Periods of strange sleepiness.
He had blamed the disease.
Everyone had.
Had David accelerated it?
Had Claire?
Was that why Margaret created the hidden trust?
Then Ortiz’s phone rang.
The industrial park was searched.
They found Laura’s car.
Empty.
Inside was blood on the passenger seat.
And a necklace.
Margaret’s necklace.
Laura never wore it.
Richard had locked it in a family safe after Margaret died.
Only three people knew the code.
Richard.
May you like
Laura.
And Claire Morgan.
