Chapter 12 - THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
The wire beneath Claire's blouse went silent.
Samuel had activated a jammer.
"Tell me what happened to her," Claire said.
"She found the bribery accounts. She planned to give the ledger to federal investigators. Thomas and I stopped her."
Claire's knees weakened, but she stayed standing.
"You killed your own sister."
"Thomas cut the brake line. I cleaned the scene. Richard blamed himself, which was useful."
Outside, an agent shouted through a loudspeaker.
Samuel lifted the detonator.
"Call them off."
Claire moved toward the window. "They're leaving."
They were not.
Grace had spotted a second signal coming from the boathouse.
Claire needed time.
"Why marry me to Daniel?" she asked.
"Daniel was desperate for his father's approval. You were lonely. It was easy. Once your marriage lasted three years, certain trust protections weakened."
Every tender memory of her marriage turned to ash.
Samuel tossed the missing ledger pages onto the desk. "Give me the key."
"Vanessa took it."
His expression changed.
Claire grabbed a heavy book and threw it at the detonator.
It hit Samuel's wrist. The device fell.
She lunged.
They crashed into a table. Samuel seized her hair and slammed her shoulder against the wall. Claire drove her knee into his leg and broke free.
The library doors burst open.
Richard entered first.
Samuel snatched the detonator and pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Grace appeared behind Richard holding a pair of cut wires.
"Wrong circuit," she said.
Samuel ran through the back doors toward the frozen lake.
Richard chased him.
Claire followed and saw a figure rising from the boathouse.
Thomas Cole.
He aimed a handgun at Richard's back.
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Claire screamed, "Dad!"
The shot echoed across the lake.
