Chapter 9 - the place samuel would run
Christina had not written the location down.
Nolan only remembered her words.
The place where the Prescott name began.
Jonathan understood immediately.
Prescott Mill.
His father had opened the original textile plant in 1961.
The company no longer used it.
The facility had been closed for almost twenty years, but Jonathan refused to sell the property.
It sat six miles outside his hometown beside a river.
The first Prescott office remained above the old factory floor.
Margaret used to joke that Jonathan loved the building more than most relatives.
Samuel knew the property.
Of course he did.
Twenty-eight years earlier, Jonathan and Samuel had negotiated their first major acquisition from that office.
Daniel arranged surveillance before Jonathan approached.
No vehicles appeared outside.
No visible movement.
But thermal imaging showed two heat signatures inside.
One on the first floor.
One upstairs.
Jonathan stared at the screen.
“Christina?”
Daniel would not promise.
“Could be.”
Police tactical teams moved into position.
Jonathan insisted on entering after the building was secured.
Daniel argued.
Jonathan ignored him.
They went through the side door.
Dust covered the factory floor.
Old machinery cast long shadows beneath broken skylights.
A chair stood near the center of the room.
Someone had been tied to it.
The rope lay cut on the floor.
Blood stained one armrest.
Jonathan’s stomach turned.
Daniel crouched.
“Not much blood.”
Jonathan kept moving.
They reached the staircase.
Upstairs, the old office door was open.
The room was empty.
One heat signature had vanished.
Daniel swore.
“Hidden exit.”
Jonathan knew the building better.
“Storage passage.”
They moved behind an old cabinet.
A narrow corridor led toward the river loading dock.
Outside, officers shouted.
A man ran across the yard.
Daniel’s team caught him before the water.
It was Samuel.
Jonathan reached the loading dock seconds later.
Samuel stood surrounded by armed officers.
His elegant suit was dirty.
There was blood on one cuff.
For the first time in twenty-eight years, Jonathan looked at him and saw a stranger.
Samuel looked tired.
Not afraid.
“Where is she?”
Samuel smiled faintly.
“Still starting with the wrong question.”
Jonathan moved toward him.
Daniel blocked him.
“Where is Christina?”
Samuel’s eyes shifted toward the river.
“She was always smarter than you gave her credit for.”
Jonathan’s anger rose.
“Where?”
Samuel looked back at him.
“She left.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Jonathan searched his face.
Samuel enjoyed holding information.
Even now.
Even surrounded.
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Police placed Samuel in restraints.
He did not resist.
Then he said, “Check your house.”
Jonathan froze.
Samuel smiled.
“Not the estate.”
Jonathan understood.
Manhattan.
The apartment.
Margaret’s apartment.
He turned to Daniel.
“Call the team there.”
No answer.
The security officer assigned to the apartment was not responding.
Jonathan’s blood went cold.
They drove to Manhattan under police escort.
When Jonathan entered the apartment, the living room lights were on.
A cup of tea sat on the table.
Still warm.
A blanket lay across the sofa.
Daniel checked the bedrooms.
Then Jonathan heard a sound.
A floorboard.
From Margaret’s old study.
He walked toward the door.
It opened.
A woman stood there.
Thin.
Pale.
Hair cut unevenly near one side of her face.
A fading bruise beneath her eye.
Jonathan stopped.
For one second, neither moved.
Then Christina whispered, “Dad.”
Jonathan crossed the room.
He held his daughter so tightly she winced.
He immediately released her.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay.”
“You are not okay.”
She laughed once.
Then began crying.
Jonathan held her again.
For the first time since the wedding hallway, his body stopped feeling ready for war.
Christina was alive.
That should have been enough.
But when she finally pulled away, her first question was not about Samuel.
Not Florence.
Not the police.
“Where’s Leo?”
“At the estate.”
“Is he safe?”
“Yes.”
Christina covered her mouth.
“He gave you the drive.”
Jonathan nodded.
“He did exactly what you told him.”
She cried harder.
Jonathan held her.
After several minutes, Christina sat down.
Daniel gave her water.
A doctor was already on the way.
Jonathan knelt in front of her.
“Tell me everything.”
Christina looked toward her mother’s old photograph.
“I will.”
Then she looked back at him.
“But Samuel getting arrested doesn’t end this.”
Jonathan’s face tightened.
“Why?”
“Because he wasn’t protecting only himself.”
“Who?”
Christina hesitated.
“Dad, there’s someone inside Prescott Industries who knew what happened to Mom before Samuel ever touched the trust.”
Jonathan thought of Nolan.
Christina shook her head.
“Not Nolan.”
“Then who?”
Christina said the name.
Jonathan stared at her in disbelief.
May you like
It was someone who had been inside his home that very morning.
Someone currently sitting beside Leo.
