Chapter 10 - Leonard Pike
We found Leonard Pike before sunrise.
Not because police were smarter than him.
Because he wanted us to.
The industrial property sat behind chain-link fencing in a valley outside Pittsburgh.
One warehouse.
Two empty fuel tanks.
A small office building.
State police surrounded the property.
Detective Mitchell ordered me and Emily to remain behind the perimeter.
I ignored her until she threatened to put me in a patrol car.
At 5:11 a.m., a man walked out.
Hands raised.
Seventy years old.
Gray hair.
Thin body.
Expensive coat.
Leonard Pike.
Even from fifty yards away, I recognized him from the Riverstone video.
Police ordered him to the ground.
He complied.
Too easily.
That frightened me.
Because men like Pike didn’t surrender unless surrender was part of the plan.
They searched the warehouse.
Rachel wasn’t there.
Neither was Mom.
Mitchell questioned Pike inside a patrol command unit.
I wasn’t allowed in.
Thirty minutes later, she returned.
“He says your mother left voluntarily with Rachel.”
“Where?”
“He won’t say.”
“Charge him.”
“We will.”
“With kidnapping?”
“Not yet.”
I stared at her.
“He abducted Nathan.”
“Nathan can identify the men who took him, but Pike wasn’t physically present.”
“He burned the farmhouse.”
“We’re working on it.”
I wanted to punch something.
Emily took my hand.
“Daniel.”
Then Pike looked through the patrol vehicle window.
Directly at me.
And smiled.
I walked toward him before officers stopped me.
“He wants me angry.”
“Yes,” Emily said.
“He’s good at it.”
Mitchell returned to Pike.
Five minutes later she waved me over.
“He’ll talk to you.”
“Why?”
“He says he has a message from your mother.”
I entered the command unit.
Pike sat handcuffed to the table.
Up close, he looked smaller than the monster in my imagination.
That bothered me.
“You look like Thomas,” he said.
“Where’s my mother?”
He smiled.
“Straight to business.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“With Rachel?”
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
His smile widened.
“You really are Thomas.”
I leaned forward.
“You spent twenty years destroying my family.”
“No.”
Pike’s face changed.
“I exposed what was already weak.”
“My father trusted you.”
“Your father judged everyone.”
“He caught you stealing.”
“He stole my company.”
“You blackmailed Nathan.”
“Your brother drove drunk.”
“You manipulated my mother.”
“Your mother was lonely.”
Every answer shifted blame.
That was Pike’s gift.
He could turn every sin into somebody else’s fault.
“What do you want?”
“Hayes Tower.”
I laughed.
“You’re under arrest.”
“For questioning.”
“Dad’s evidence will bury you.”
“Will it?”
His calm made me uneasy.
“You think old bank statements prove murder?”
“They prove extortion.”
“Maybe.”
“Fraud.”
“Perhaps.”
“Arson.”
“You’ll need evidence.”
I leaned closer.
“What do you want with Hayes Tower?”
“It belongs to me.”
“No. It belongs to the trust.”
“Thomas bought it with money from our partnership.”
“Then sue me.”
Pike smiled.
“I tried lawful solutions twenty years ago.”
I almost laughed again.
Then he said, “Your mother signed a transfer agreement last night.”
My face went cold.
“She doesn’t own it.”
“No.”
“But she holds something more valuable.”
“What?”
“The original trust amendment.”
I stared at him.
Dad had created the trust secretly.
Could Mom revoke it?
Pike leaned back.
“Thomas made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted his wife.”
He claimed the trust required a co-trustee confirmation after Dad’s death.
Mom.
Without her signature confirming the transfer, ownership could be challenged.
“Rachel has the document.”
“Then why do you need me?”
“Because litigation is messy.”
He leaned closer.
“Give me Hayes Tower. I tell you where Margaret is.”
I stood.
“You’re insane.”
“Your mother isn’t well, Daniel.”
Rage surged.
He knew.
He had exploited her memory problems.
“How do you know?”
“Because she told me.”
“Before or after you convinced her Emily wanted her institutionalized?”
His eyes flickered.
Tiny.
But I saw it.
He had said that.
We had no proof before.
Now I knew.
I walked toward the door.
Pike spoke.
“Ask your wife about the blue folder.”
I stopped.
Emily stood outside.
“What blue folder?”
Pike smiled.
“She hasn’t told you everything.”
Again.
The same weapon.
Suspicion.
Shame.
Divide the family.
I refused to turn around.
“Nice try.”
Then Pike added, “She met Rachel before your father’s letter was found.”
I looked at Emily through the window.
Her face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
My stomach tightened.
When I stepped outside, I asked one question.
“Did you know Rachel Pike before three weeks ago?”
May you like
Emily went pale.
“Yes.”
