Chapter 3
Elena did not contact Detective Reed.
She called federal investigator Ava Morgan, a woman Augustus had trusted during an earlier financial investigation.
Morgan arrived at the resort with a small team before dawn.
Elena showed her the footage, the police identification card, and the kidnapping video.
“Reed could have dropped his own card to frighten you,” Morgan said.
“Or someone planted it to make me suspect him.”
“Either way, he lied about seeing your grandfather.”
Adrian paced beside the windows.
“We have six hours before midnight.”
Morgan studied the kidnapping video frame by frame.
There were no windows.
No visible landmarks.
But Sofia’s chair had a blue embroidered S on the back.
Elena recognized it.
“The chairs came from the original mountain lodge.”
The property had closed after a fire seven years earlier. Daniel wanted to demolish it, but Augustus refused.
A federal team surrounded the abandoned lodge at eleven.
Elena accompanied Morgan in the command vehicle.
Adrian remained at the resort to monitor the trust systems.
The entry team found Sofia in the ballroom.
A cable connected her chair to the old chandelier.
If she moved, the fixture would fall.
Bomb technicians stabilized it and cut her free.
The masked kidnapper was gone.
Sofia had a deep cut across her forehead, but she was conscious.
“Vanessa took my badge,” she whispered. “Daniel needed it to move money from the trust.”
“Who locked you here?” Elena asked.
“I never saw his face.”
“Was it Reed?”
“I don’t know.”
Sofia reached inside her torn sleeve and removed a memory card.
“I pulled this from Daniel’s office camera before they caught me.”
The recording showed Daniel and Vanessa meeting with three people.
One was Judge Franklin Hale, who would decide the trust-control petition.
The second was Dr. Miriam Cole, who had prepared documents claiming Elena suffered from delusions.
The third was Adrian.
Elena stopped breathing.
On the video, her brother placed a folder on the desk.
“Once Elena is declared dead or incompetent, Daniel gets the controlling shares,” Adrian said. “I receive the coastal properties.”
Sofia touched Elena’s arm.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena watched her brother betray her again and again as the recording replayed.
Adrian had not merely known about Daniel’s plan.
He had designed part of it.
The shooting in the penthouse might have been staged to win Elena’s trust.
Morgan called agents at the resort.
Adrian had vanished.
The gold badge was gone.
Without it, Elena could not override certain trust transactions.
Then every screen in the command vehicle displayed an emergency notification.
MAJORITY TRUSTEE STATUS CHALLENGED.
Judge Hale had opened the competency hearing six hours early.
Daniel’s attorney claimed Elena had assaulted Vanessa, falsely imprisoned resort guests, and manipulated security footage.
Dr. Cole submitted a diagnosis declaring Elena dangerous.
“She has never examined me,” Elena said.
“She doesn’t need truth,” Morgan replied. “She needs a judge willing to accept the lie.”
The hearing was being held remotely.
Elena joined from the command vehicle.
Daniel appeared from an interview room at the police station. He had been released after Detective Reed claimed the crash footage could not be authenticated.
Judge Hale looked directly into the camera.
“Ms. Somor, your brother has testified that you suffer from paranoid episodes.”
Adrian appeared on a second screen.
“I tried to help you,” he said tearfully. “But you need treatment.”
Elena held up Sofia’s memory card.
“And you need a better attorney.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
Before Elena could play the recording, the feed disconnected.
Morgan checked the system.
“Someone cut our connection.”
A loud explosion shook the abandoned lodge.
Flames spread across the ballroom roof.
The same lodge had burned seven years earlier.
Someone was trying to finish the job.
As agents pulled Elena toward the exit, Sofia pointed into the smoke.
A man stood behind the collapsing doorway.
May you like
Augustus Somor.
Elena’s grandfather was alive.
