Chapter 16 - THE MOTHER WHO REFUSED TO DIE
Eleanor Vale did not move.
For several seconds, she only stared at her daughter.
Then Charlotte crossed the room.
She wrapped her arms around the mother she had mourned for three years.
Eleanor held her tightly.
“I am sorry.”
Charlotte pulled away.
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
“I believed Conrad would stop searching once he thought I was dead.”
“He began searching for me.”
“I know.”
“You watched him erase my identity.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to build a case strong enough to destroy all of them.”
Charlotte pointed toward the photographs on the wall.
“You watched me from a distance while people tried to kill me.”
“Every time I moved closer, Adrian followed.”
Eleanor touched the scar on her face.
“He pulled me from the car after the crash.”
Mason entered the room but remained near the door.
“Why would he save you?”
“He needed the vault oath.”
Eleanor sat beside the bed.
“Adrian kept me in a private clinic for four months.”
Charlotte remembered the false psychiatric records created in her name.
“He used your medical imprisonment to create my history.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I escaped with the help of a nurse.”
“Why not contact the police?”
“Adrian had officers, judges, and bankers on his payroll.”
“What was inside the metal box he stole?”
Eleanor’s face changed.
“The master account codes.”
Charlotte understood.
Adrian now possessed access to every hidden account created through the false Solmere loans.
“How much money?”
“Nearly nine hundred million dollars.”
Mason checked his phone.
“Adrian cannot move that amount without triggering international alerts.”
“He does not intend to move it through a bank.”
Eleanor crossed to the radio transmitter.
“The Solmere Foundation holds a private digital reserve used for emergency acquisitions.”
Charlotte stared at her.
“He can convert the stolen funds and transfer them through the foundation.”
“At midnight.”
Mason looked at the time.
They had less than five hours.
Eleanor removed a thin key from beneath the transmitter.
“The transfer requires approval from the Solmere owner.”
“Adrian has no owner authorization.”
“He has your biometric profile from the clinic records created in your name.”
Charlotte felt cold.
“He can imitate my face and voice.”
“He also needs a living authorization pulse.”
Mason frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor looked toward the ocean.
“He needs Charlotte alive during the transfer.”
A vehicle stopped outside.
Headlights swept across the bedroom wall.
Mason reached for his weapon.
The front windows shattered.
Masked men entered the house.
A canister rolled across the floor.
White gas filled the room.
Charlotte reached for her mother.
Her knees failed.
May you like
The last thing she saw was Adrian Cross standing in the doorway.
“Thank you for bringing me both Vale women.”
