Chapter 10 - The Price of a Mother
Claire watched Malcolm’s video eleven times.
Each time, she noticed something different.
A railway signal reflected in the window.
A church bell in the distance.
A blue industrial water tower.
Catherine’s left hand tapping slowly against the seat.
Three taps.
Four taps.
One.
Catherine was sending numbers.
Adrian spread maps across the hotel conference table.
Luca circled abandoned factories near railway lines.
Rebecca contacted federal aviation and transportation units.
Nobody found the vehicle.
Malcolm called at six in the morning.
“Adrian.”
Adrian answered on speaker.
“I am listening.”
“Prepare the transfer documents.”
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
Malcolm laughed.
“You are willing to sacrifice Catherine?”
“I am unwilling to pretend you will release her after I sign.”
“That is cruel.”
“That is experience.”
Malcolm’s voice became colder.
“Claire may feel differently.”
Claire stepped toward the phone.
“I do.”
Adrian looked at her.
She continued.
“I will bring the documents.”
“No,” Adrian said.
Malcolm sounded pleased.
“Finally, someone reasonable.”
“Where?”
“The old Ashford textile mill.”
“Ten o’clock.”
“Come with Adrian.”
“No security.”
The line ended.
Adrian turned toward Claire.
“You are not going.”
“He has my mother.”
“He will kill you both.”
“Then give him the shares.”
“I cannot.”
“You can.”
“No.”
Claire stared.
“Your company is worth more than her life?”
“My company employs eighty thousand people.”
“If Malcolm controls it, he controls hospitals, transport systems, security contractors, and billions in pension funds.”
“He does not want a business.”
“He wants infrastructure.”
Claire looked toward the blue ledger.
“The Crown.”
Adrian nodded.
“He wants a legal empire to replace the criminal one.”
Claire paced the room.
“There has to be another way.”
Rebecca entered.
“We found a clue in Catherine’s hand signal.”
“Three-four-one matches an abandoned utility tunnel beneath the textile mill.”
Luca displayed the plans.
“The public entrance is here.”
“The tunnel reaches the basement from the river.”
Adrian looked at Claire.
“We enter through the front.”
“Luca enters below.”
Malcolm believes we are alone.”
Claire nodded.
Adrian opened a secure case.
Inside were transfer documents.
“Are those real?”
“Yes.”
“You are actually giving him the company?”
“For twelve minutes.”
“The board has approved an automatic reversal if I trigger the emergency clause.”
Claire looked at him.
“You planned for someone to steal your company?”
“My mother raised me.”
“That answers more than I expected.”
At ten o’clock, Claire and Adrian entered the textile mill.
Snow blew through broken windows.
Malcolm stood on a metal platform above the factory floor.
Catherine sat in a chair beside him.
A wire ran from her chair to a row of gas cylinders.
Malcolm held a remote trigger.
“Place the documents on the table.”
Adrian did.
Malcolm sent one of his men to inspect them.
“They are valid.”
Malcolm smiled.
“Sign.”
Adrian looked at Catherine.
“Release her first.”
“No.”
“You need my signature.”
“And you need her heartbeat.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Malcolm.”
He looked at her.
“You worked for this family for thirty years.”
“They treated you like staff.”
“That is why you hate them.”
His eyes sharpened.
“You know nothing about me.”
“I know Victoria ordered you around.”
“I know Edward refused to trust you with the ledger.”
“I know the Crown used you to carry other people’s crimes.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
Claire continued.
“You do not want power.”
“You want the Ashfords to admit you mattered.”
Malcolm raised the remote.
“Do not test me.”
Catherine spoke quietly.
“She is right.”
Malcolm turned.
Catherine looked at him.
“You were always waiting for my father to call you a son.”
“He never did.”
Malcolm struck her.
Claire moved forward.
Adrian grabbed her arm.
Malcolm pointed the remote toward the gas cylinders.
“Sign.”
Adrian signed.
The man beside Malcolm verified the signature.
Malcolm smiled.
“At last.”
Adrian looked at his watch.
“Twelve minutes.”
“What?”
“The transfer reverses in twelve minutes.”
Malcolm’s smile disappeared.
A metallic sound echoed beneath the platform.
Luca’s team entered through the utility tunnel.
Malcolm pressed the remote.
Nothing happened.
Catherine lifted one hand.
The wire beneath her chair had been pulled free.
She had cut it against a sharp bolt.
Malcolm grabbed her.
Claire ran up the stairs.
A guard moved toward her.
Adrian struck him.
Another guard fired.
Luca returned fire from below.
Claire reached the platform.
Malcolm dragged Catherine toward the edge.
“Stay back.”
Claire stopped.
Catherine’s face was bruised.
Her eyes remained clear.
Malcolm held the gun against her temple.
“You cost me everything.”
Catherine looked at him.
“You never owned anything worth keeping.”
Malcolm shoved her away.
Claire caught her.
Adrian tackled Malcolm.
The remote slid across the platform.
A stray bullet struck one gas cylinder.
A sharp hiss filled the factory.
Luca shouted.
“Evacuate!”
Claire and Catherine ran toward the stairs.
Adrian dragged Malcolm with them.
Malcolm broke free.
He grabbed the transfer documents.
“You are not taking this from me.”
The gas ignited.
Fire raced across the ceiling.
The explosion tore through the upper platform.
Claire threw herself over Catherine.
Adrian was thrown against the railing.
Malcolm disappeared inside the smoke.
Luca pulled Adrian upright.
They reached the river tunnel seconds before the roof collapsed.
Outside, Claire counted everyone.
Catherine.
Adrian.
Luca.
Rebecca’s agents.
Malcolm was missing.
Fire consumed the textile mill.
Catherine looked toward the flames.
“He escaped.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No one survived that platform.”
A black sedan sped from the far side of the mill.
Claire saw Malcolm behind the wheel.
The transfer documents rested beside him.
Adrian’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
The emergency reversal had failed.
Malcolm had changed the authorization codes before the explosion.
Ashford Global now belonged to him.
A second message appeared.
The company’s entire security network had been disabled.
Claire called the estate.
No answer.
Then Sophie called from an unknown number.
Her voice was whispering.
“Mommy.”
Claire gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“Grandma Eleanor told me to hide.”
“What happened?”
“Men came through the gate.”
“Where is Eleanor?”
Sophie’s breathing shook.
“They took her.”
“Who took her?”
A man’s voice answered instead.
Malcolm.
May you like
“You saved one mother.”
“Now let us see what you are willing to pay for the other.”
