Chapter 5 - Rachel Knew The Mountain’s Value
Claire led Daniel into the lodge’s old wine cellar.
Vanessa stayed with Lily upstairs under the watch of Daniel’s cousin
Ethan, the only relative Daniel trusted enough to ask.
The generator still had not restarted.
Claire used a battery lantern.
“My father bought this property in 1998,” she said.
“Arthur Caldwell.”
“Yes.”
Daniel remembered Arthur as a quiet, charming businessman who died two
years after Daniel married Vanessa.
“What did he have to do with Rachel?”
“He knew her father.”
Daniel stopped.
“Rachel’s father died when she was seventeen.”
“That’s what she told you.”
Daniel stared.
Claire inserted the flash drive into an old offline laptop stored in the
cellar.
Scanned deeds appeared.
One listed Rachel Anne Foster as beneficiary of a 640-acre parcel
surrounded by Caldwell land.
Daniel recognized the topography.
The lodge stood near its northern boundary.
“Rachel owned land here?”
“She inherited it through her grandmother.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“She probably didn’t either until shortly before she died.”
Claire opened an email.
It was from Arthur to Margaret.
RACHEL HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. IF SHE CONNECTS THE PARCEL TO MERIDIAN, WE
HAVE A PROBLEM.
Daniel read it.
“What is Meridian?”
“A holding company Dad created with Rachel’s biological father.”
Daniel’s pulse changed.
“Biological father?”
Claire nodded.
“Rachel was adopted.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Another secret.
“Who was he?”
“Jonathan Vale.”
The name meant nothing.
Claire opened a photograph.
Arthur Caldwell stood beside a younger man in front of drilling
equipment.
“Vale was a geologist. He believed the mountain contained one of the
largest lithium deposits in the region.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
Lithium.
Suddenly “hundreds of millions” no longer sounded impossible.
“Did they find it?”
“They found indications. Technology and prices made extraction
uneconomic then.”
“And now?”
“Now it could be worth billions.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why does Lily own forty-nine percent?”
“Vale put his interest into Alpine Meridian. When he died, it passed to
Rachel.”
“And Rachel left it to Lily.”
“Yes.”
“What does Margaret own?”
“Through Dad’s estate, fifty-one percent.”
Daniel understood.
Margaret technically controlled the company.
“But she still needs Lily.”
Claire nodded.
“Because the mineral rights on Rachel’s 640 acres were never transferred
into Alpine Meridian. Rachel’s parcel controls the only practical access
corridor.”
Daniel looked at the map.
“No access, no mine.”
“No mine, no deal.”
“How much is the deal?”
Claire swallowed.
“An energy company offered 1.4 billion dollars.”
Daniel sat back.
“And Margaret needs Lily’s guardian to approve the land transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
Daniel felt sick.
The guardianship petition was not about protecting Lily.
It was about controlling her signature.
“What did Arthur do to Rachel?”
Claire looked down.
“After Rachel discovered the inheritance, she contacted Dad.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before her accident.”
Daniel remembered that period.
Rachel had seemed distracted.
She told him she was preparing a school exhibition.
He had believed her.
“Dad met her in Denver.”
Claire opened another email.
“She refused to sell.”
“Why?”
“She believed mining would destroy the watershed.”
That sounded exactly like Rachel.
“She threatened to challenge Alpine Meridian’s ownership structure.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“And then she died.”
Claire nodded.
“Her brakes failed.”
The official report had blamed black ice.
Daniel’s hands curled.
“Did Arthur sabotage her car?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just told me he caused her death.”
“I said he had something to do with it.”
“Show me.”
Claire opened an audio file.
Arthur’s voice filled the cellar.
Margaret, I told Harris to frighten her, not kill her. The idiot cut the
wrong line.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Margaret’s younger voice answered.
Then fix it before Daniel starts asking questions.
The recording ended.
Daniel stared at the laptop.
Margaret knew.
Maybe she had not ordered Rachel’s death.
But she helped conceal it.
“Who’s Harris?”
“Dad’s property manager.”
“Where is he?”
Claire looked toward the ceiling.
“He’s still here.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
“The lodge manager?”
“Yes.”
Daniel remembered the gray-haired man who had taken their coats that
afternoon.
The man with access to the generator.
The roads.
The vehicles.
“Why are you telling me now?”
Claire began crying.
“Because I helped Mom with the guardianship papers.”
Daniel stared at her.
“I thought it was business. I thought Vanessa knew everything.”
“She didn’t.”
“I know.”
Claire wiped her face.
“Then tonight I saw Lily’s hand.”
Daniel said nothing.
Claire looked ashamed.
“My family has spent years calling terrible things ‘business.’ I finally
heard what it sounded like.”
A noise came from above.
A heavy thump.
Then another.
Daniel ran upstairs.
The guest-room door stood open.
Ethan was unconscious in the hallway.
Vanessa was gone.
So was Lily.
On the bed lay Bunny, Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
Pinned beneath it was a note.
May you like
BRING THE DRIVE TO THE OLD CABLE STATION.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR DAUGHTER BACK.
