Chapter 6 - Unearthing the Ghost
Nathan didn't hesitate.
In a single, fluid motion, he tackled Claire to the flagstone terrace, wrapping his body over hers like an armored vault. Claire gasped as the cold stone met her shoulder, but Nathan took the brunt of the impact, his heavy frame shielding her completely from the courtyard below.
"Stay down!" Nathan hissed, his jaw clenched, his eyes darting toward the treeline flanking the edge of the symphony park.
A second later, the heavy glass French doors were kicked open. Two of Nathan’s personal security operatives, weapons drawn, burst onto the terrace.
"Sir! Get inside!"
Nathan hauled Claire to her feet, keeping himself between her and the open balustrade, shoving her through the doors into the VIP staging area. The door slammed shut, the heavy deadbolts clicking into place.
Claire leaned against the wall, her chest heaving, the tuxedo jacket still clutched around her shoulders. Her knees shook so violently she could barely stand. "Was that... was someone shooting at us?"
"A high-powered hunting rifle," Nathan said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, but his eyes burned with a lethal fury Claire had never seen in any human being before. He turned to his lead operative. "Lock down the perimeter. Call the Metro SWAT commander directly. I want every inch of that park searched."
Julian Vance sprinted into the hallway, his face pasty white. "Nathan! God almighty, are you two all right?"
"We’re fine," Nathan bit out, adjusting his cuffs with chilling calm. "Kane has crossed the line from corporate extortion to open violence. He’s panicked. He knows if the Bennett estate falls through, his development partners will pull their funding and default his holding company."
"Denise wouldn't do this," Claire whispered, her voice trembling. "She’s cruel, she’s greedy, she’s malicious... but hiring a sniper? That’s... that’s insane."
"Denise didn't hire anyone," Nathan said, walking over to Claire, taking her cold hands into his own. "Marcus Kane did. Kane has tied his entire personal fortune to the Bennett ridge buyout. He owes over forty million dollars to private offshore lenders. If the sale doesn't close by the end of this month, those lenders won't just seize his assets—they will end him. He is a cornered beast."
Nathan looked at Julian. "Get the armored suburban to the underground loading dock. We are moving Claire back to Belle Meade immediately under full armed escort."
***
The following morning, Whitmore Manor felt like a command bunker during a siege. Armed private security personnel in discreet tactical gear patrolled the perimeter grounds, their communication radios crackling softly through the mist.
Claire sat at the dining room table, wearing a simple gray cashmere sweater and dark jeans. Before her sat a cup of black coffee that had gone cold.
Julian Vance walked in, carrying a banker’s box packed with original paper files. He slammed it onto the table, sending up a faint puff of dust.
"We caught a break," Julian announced without preamble.
Nathan walked into the room, holding an unlit cigar between his fingers, his eyes dark with lack of sleep. "What did Knoxville uncover?"
Julian pulled out a thick ledger labeled *Dr. Robert Bennett – Personal Accounts 2018–2023.*
"I sent an independent forensic team to raid the public probate filings in Knox County before Kane’s judges could seal them," Julian explained, turning the ledger toward Claire. "Claire, your father wasn't just keeping track of his dental practice. He knew Denise was stealing from him."
Claire’s breath hitched. "What?"
"Look here," Julian pointed to a series of meticulous, handwritten entries in her father’s unmistakable slanted cursive. "Six months before his death, Dr. Bennett noticed eighty thousand dollars missing from his operating capital. He didn't confront Denise immediately because he wanted absolute proof. He hired a private forensic accountant in Chattanooga to track her movements."
Julian flipped to an appended medical report dated two weeks before Dr. Bennett’s fatal heart attack.
"Your father’s cardiologist prescribed him a specific beta-blocker for his arrhythmia," Julian said, his voice dropping into a somber, serious tone. "Three days before he died, Dr. Bennett made an emergency appointment with his doctor, complaining of severe dizziness, disorientation, and blurred vision. The blood tests taken that afternoon showed trace amounts of an unprescribed calcium-channel blocker in his system—a drug that, when combined with his heart medication, can induce a fatal cardiac arrest."
Claire stared at the paper, the world spinning in sickening circles. Her hands flew to her mouth as a suffocating wave of horror washed over her.
"She... she didn't just let him die," Claire choked out, tears burning her eyes. "She poisoned him?"
"We don't have the physical evidence to secure a murder indictment yet," Julian admitted grimly. "The body was cremated within forty-eight hours of his death—Denise authorized the cremation before you even arrived from Nashville where you were visiting a conservatory. But Dr. Bennett knew his life was in danger. Look at the final entry in this ledger, Claire."
Claire pulled the book toward her. Her vision blurred with tears as she read the last words her father had ever written:
*“If God calls me home before I can set this right, Evelyn’s piano holds the key. The true testament is sealed inside the sounding board. Forgive me, Claire. I loved you more than my own life.”*
Claire gasped, a ragged sob tearing from her throat.
*Evelyn’s piano holds the key.*
"The walnut grand," Claire cried, looking up at Nathan with wild, desperate eyes. "The 1928 Steinway that Denise sold! It wasn't about the twenty-eight thousand dollars! Denise didn't know the will was in it, but Kane might have figured it out, or Denise was trying to destroy anything my father touched!"
Nathan leaned down, his eyes blazing with focused, predatory intent. "Claire. Who bought the piano?"
"I don't know," Claire sobbed, shaking her head in panic. "Denise just had men wheel it out of the house into an unmarked white truck. She said an anonymous buyer from an estate liquidation company took it!"
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Nathan spun toward Julian. "Track every high-end piano dealer, private collector, and instrument auction house between Knoxville and Atlanta. Find that Steinway. If Marcus Kane realizes what's hidden inside that sounding board, he’ll burn it to ash before we can retrieve it."
***
