Chapter 11 - THE MAN WHO CAME HOME WITH THE WRONG MEMORY
-11
Emergency lighting flashed on.
Daniel was on the floor.
Marcus stood beside him.
Claire was gone.
“Daniel!”
Chadworth dropped beside him.
A dart protruded from his shoulder.
Marcus pulled it free.
“Sedative.”
Footsteps echoed behind the laboratory wall.
A hidden door.
Claire had escaped through an internal passage.
The guard attempted to pursue.
Chadworth stopped him.
“No.”
“We can catch her.”
“We get Daniel out first.”
Marcus looked surprised.
Chadworth understood why.
An hour earlier he would have chased Claire.
Now he saw the structure clearly.
Every trap depended on separation.
Evelyn alone on a highway.
Marcus diverted to the hospital.
Chadworth isolated through suspicion.
The girls separated emotionally from their father.
Rosamund made to appear dangerous.
Sabina made to appear like the only villain.
Claire won whenever people ran in different directions.
Not anymore.
They carried Daniel through the maintenance tunnel.
By the time they reached the drainage exit, he was unconscious but breathing.
A private medical team waited at the railway bridge.
Chadworth insisted Daniel be transported to a hospital outside Voss’s network under an alias.
Then he called Rosamund.
She answered immediately.
“Gemma and Lorelai are safe.”
Chadworth nearly collapsed from relief.
“Stay with them.”
“Did you find Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then a small sob.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Rosamund could not speak for several seconds.
“Thank you.”
“We’re coming home.”
“No.”
The word was sharp.
“What?”
“Don’t come back.”
Chadworth’s body stiffened.
“Why?”
“We found another camera.”
“Where?”
“Inside your safe room.”
He looked at Marcus.
Rosamund continued.
“Whoever installed it knew the security plans better than anyone.”
Chadworth stared at the man beside him.
Marcus heard every word.
“Rosamund,” Chadworth said carefully, “leave the mansion.”
“With the girls?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
He thought.
No company property.
No hotel.
No family office.
Anywhere connected to Prescott could be compromised.
“Evelyn’s church.”
Rosamund understood immediately.
St. Agnes.
A tiny stone church Evelyn had attended since childhood.
No corporate ties.
No private staff.
“I’ll take them.”
“Use the old service vehicle.”
“Yes.”
“Tell no one.”
“Not even Edmund?”
Chadworth paused.
“No one.”
He ended the call.
Marcus stared at him.
“You think I installed the camera.”
“I think I don’t know.”
“That’s fair.”
The lack of defensiveness was almost worse.
Chadworth entered the car.
Marcus sat opposite him.
For several miles, neither spoke.
Finally Chadworth said, “Tell me about the highway.”
Marcus looked through the rain-covered window.
“Evelyn called me from the restaurant.”
“What did she say?”
“She had confirmed Sabrina existed. She had documents suggesting Voss falsified tests.”
“And Daniel?”
“She believed he might still be alive.”
“Yet you told her he was dead.”
“Because three hours before, I received confirmation from a private investigator in Quebec.”
“Fake dental records.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she push you?”
“Because she thought I had stopped investigating too soon.”
“Had you?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Yes.”
The answer surprised Chadworth.
“I was tired. Your family had become my entire life. Every lead ended in another fake company, another dead witness.”
He looked down.
“I told Evelyn maybe we were seeing patterns because we wanted there to be patterns.”
Chadworth recognized the sentence.
It was almost exactly what he had once told Evelyn when she said someone was following her.
The guilt cut deeper.
“What happened after the restaurant?”
“I followed her.”
“Why?”
“She asked me to stay close.”
“The camera shows you approaching her car.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Voss arrived.”
“You knew him?”
“Only as Arthur’s former physician.”
“What did he say?”
“He told Evelyn she was emotionally unstable.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“He was already building the story.”
“Then?”
“She got back into her car.”
“And you?”
“I followed.”
“In Edmund’s SUV?”
“No. My security sedan.”
Chadworth frowned.
“Then the video is false.”
“Partly.”
“Where did you go?”
Marcus stared ahead.
“I lost her.”
“How?”
“A truck cut between us.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Gemma’s emergency call came through.”
“You turned around.”
“Yes.”
“How long before you reached the hospital?”
“Thirty-six minutes.”
Chadworth tried to remember.
Marcus had appeared shortly before police arrived.
Timing fit.
But Claire could fabricate timing too.
“Why didn’t you tell police about Voss?”
“I did.”
“What?”
“I gave a statement.”
“There’s nothing in the report.”
“I know.”
“Who took the statement?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Detective Alan Mercer.”
Chadworth knew the name.
Mercer had later become deputy police commissioner.
Two years ago, he retired.
Six months later, he joined the board of a private healthcare company.
Chadworth asked, “Which company?”
Marcus understood immediately.
“Voss Medical Group.”
There it was.
Another connection.
The web was larger than the mansion.
Larger than Prescott Holdings.
Maybe larger than Claire herself.
Chadworth’s phone vibrated.
Edmund.
He ignored it.
It rang again.
Then a message:
WHERE ARE THE GIRLS?
Chadworth’s heart stopped.
Edmund should have believed they were still inside the safe room.
Unless he knew otherwise.
Another message appeared.
CHAD, CALL ME NOW.
Marcus read it.
“Don’t.”
Chadworth typed instead.
WHY?
The response came instantly.
BECAUSE ROSAMUND JUST LEFT THE ESTATE WITH THEM.
Chadworth looked at Marcus.
“How does he know?”
“Security.”
“I told Rosamund not to tell anyone.”
“Guards saw her leave.”
Another message.
SHE TOOK THE WRONG CAR.
Chadworth’s pulse accelerated.
He called.
Edmund answered immediately.
“What wrong car?”
“The gray service SUV.”
“Yes.”
“It isn’t ours.”
Chadworth went cold.
“What?”
“I checked the fleet system because the gate didn’t recognize the plate.”
“Whose is it?”
“I don’t know. The plate is cloned.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“When was the vehicle delivered?”
Edmund typed.
“Yesterday.”
“Who accepted it?”
“Estate logistics.”
“Under whose authorization?”
A pause.
Edmund’s voice changed.
“Yours.”
Chadworth closed his eyes.
Another forged authorization.
“Track it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“No Prescott GPS installed.”
Marcus grabbed his own phone.
“Traffic cameras.”
Chadworth called Rosamund.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Lorelai answered from Rosamund’s phone.
“Daddy?”
His entire body nearly collapsed with relief.
“Where are you?”
“In the car.”
“Put Rosamund on.”
A pause.
“Rosie’s sleeping.”
Chadworth froze.
“What?”
“She said she felt dizzy.”
Marcus heard.
“Tell Lorelai not to touch anything.”
Chadworth forced calm into his voice.
“Sweetheart, listen carefully. Is the car moving?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s driving?”
“Mr. Henry.”
The driver.
Chadworth did not employ anyone named Henry.
“Lorelai, tell me what he looks like.”
Before she could answer, a man’s voice came through.
“Phone.”
Lorelai screamed.
The line ended.
Marcus shouted at the driver.
“Turn around.”
Chadworth stared through the rain.
Claire had anticipated the evacuation.
She had planted the replacement vehicle before the fake Canada trip even began.
The scheme had never depended on what Chadworth discovered.
It had been designed to adapt.
May you like
And now Claire had exactly what Daniel warned she needed.
Gemma Prescott.
