Chapter 5
Elena struck the passenger window with her elbow.
It did not break.
Adrian drove faster as federal vehicles followed them down the mountain.
“You helped Daniel run me off the road,” she said.
“I gave him your schedule.”
“Why?”
“Because Grandfather chose you.”
“He made both of us trustees.”
“He gave you fifty-one percent and me twelve.”
“You received properties worth millions.”
“I received buildings. You received power.”
Rain covered the windshield.
Adrian turned onto an unfinished service road.
The federal vehicles could not follow without slowing.
“You came to the resort pretending to rescue me.”
“I needed the badge.”
“And now?”
“Now I need your signature.”
He produced a digital tablet.
The document transferred Elena’s shares to him.
“You kidnapped me for a signature?”
“The transfer requires your face and voice too.”
“You think I’ll cooperate?”
Adrian removed a phone from his pocket.
A live video showed Augustus lying beside the road.
Sofia knelt over him while paramedics worked.
“He may already be dead,” Adrian said. “Sign, and I’ll tell the agents where Daniel is holding your mother.”
Elena’s blood turned cold.
Her mother, Celeste, had supposedly been traveling in Europe.
“Where is she?”
“Daniel moved her three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows who killed Stefan.”
The road ended at a cliff overlooking the flooded river.
Adrian stopped the SUV.
He forced Elena out and handed her the tablet.
“Sign.”
She looked at the river below.
“If you kill me, the transfer is invalid.”
“Not if the system records your approval first.”
She entered her name.
The tablet requested facial confirmation.
Elena looked into the camera.
“My name is Elena Somor. I am signing under threat after my brother kidnapped me.”
Adrian struck the device from her hands.
“You always think you’re smarter than everyone.”
“No. I only know you’re desperate.”
Federal sirens approached.
Adrian grabbed Elena and pulled her toward the cliff.
“Tell them to stop.”
She refused.
He tightened his arm around her injured ribs.
Pain tore through her body.
Then a gunshot struck the ground beside him.
Morgan stood behind the nearest vehicle.
“Release her!”
Adrian dragged Elena backward.
The earth crumbled beneath their feet.
Elena caught a tree root.
Adrian fell over the edge but seized her ankle.
She screamed as his weight pulled her downward.
“Help me!” he begged.
For one second, they were children again.
Adrian was eight, clinging to her hand while crossing a stream.
Elena had promised never to let him fall.
Now he had tried to kill her.
Still, she reached down.
“Take my hand.”
Adrian released her ankle and grabbed her wrist.
Agents pulled them both to safety.
Morgan handcuffed him.
Elena leaned close.
“Where is my mother?”
Adrian began laughing.
“You still don’t understand. Celeste isn’t the hostage.”
“What does that mean?”
“She’s the one who ordered Daniel to kill you.”
Back at the lodge, Augustus was alive but badly injured.
When Elena confronted him about Celeste, he refused to meet her eyes.
Her mother had managed trust operations before retiring.
She selected Daniel as acting chairman.
She introduced him to Vanessa.
And on the night Stefan died, Celeste was the last person seen entering the penthouse.
Morgan traced her private aircraft.
Celeste had never gone to Europe.
She was staying on an island owned by the Somor trust.
At that moment, a helicopter rose beyond the burning trees.
It landed near the emergency vehicles.
Celeste stepped out wearing a black suit.
May you like
She looked at Augustus on the stretcher, then at Elena.
“My daughter,” she said calmly. “You have ruined thirty years of work.”
