Chapter 9 - The Ashworth SecretI did not strike Samuel.
I wanted to.
I imagined the sound of my hand against his face and the momentary satisfaction of making pain visible.
But violence would not give me three stolen years back.
It would only make me easier to dismiss.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Samuel sat at the desk while Marcus locked the door.
Malcolm remained against the wall, shaking.
“I met Gregory and Daniel when they were teenagers,” Samuel began. “Their fathers invested in my first clinic. I became the family physician, then a director when the company expanded.”
“You were Daniel’s godfather.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You spoke at our wedding.”
“Yes.”
“You held Zoey the day she was born.”
His voice broke.
“Yes.”
“Then explain how you helped erase her father.”
Samuel removed a handkerchief and wiped his glasses.
“Daniel reached the clinic before dawn after the crash. A truck driver found him walking beside the highway. He had a skull fracture, internal bleeding and no identification.”
“How did Gregory find him?”
“The hospital contacted me after recognizing his surgical scar.”
“And you called Gregory.”
“I believed he would help.”
“You did not call me.”
“Gregory said you were involved.”
“With what?”
“He showed me transfers from your private accounts to the driver who struck Daniel’s car.”
“Forged.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew enough to change dental records.”
Samuel’s hands began trembling.
“Gregory brought another body from the vehicle. A man who worked for one of his contractors. Similar height. Similar age. The body was badly burned.”
“And you certified him as Daniel.”
“I altered the file.”
“Why?”
“He threatened my daughter.”
It was always a child.
Gregory understood that people who could endure danger for themselves often surrendered when danger moved toward someone they loved.
Samuel looked at me.
“He said if Daniel was declared dead, he could move him into private care while investigating your role. I believed it would be temporary.”
“How long did that belief last?”
“Two weeks.”
“And after?”
“After that, I was guilty.”
Marcus leaned against the wall.
“Where is the clinic?”
Samuel gave him an address.
Malcolm shook his head.
“He won’t be there.”
Samuel looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“Gregory moved him this afternoon.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
I turned toward Malcolm.
“What was your part?”
“My family fund was failing. Gregory offered contracts, stock information and debt relief.”
“In exchange for your votes.”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“Properties. Vehicles. Accounts.”
“The Greenwich house?”
“Yes.”
“Why use my old home?”
“Gregory said it would frighten you.”
The casual cruelty of the answer made my stomach turn.
“He took Zoey to make me resign.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“That was not Gregory’s plan.”
“What?”
“He ordered us to prepare the house and record the messages. But someone else took her before his men arrived.”
“Daniel?”
“I think so.”
The warehouse video returned to me.
The man with a scar.
The blanket placed around Zoey.
The words Daddy was sorry.
Perhaps Daniel had not kidnapped her to harm her.
Perhaps he had intercepted Gregory’s attempt.
But why leave her alone?
Why not come to me?
“Where is Diane?” Samuel asked suddenly.
“With police.”
His face tightened.
“She is the only person who knows the second clinic.”
Diane had not mentioned another clinic.
We called Ortega.
No answer.
We called the precinct.
Diane had been transferred thirty minutes earlier after an attorney arrived claiming to represent her.
The attorney’s name was false.
The transport vehicle never reached its destination.
Gregory had taken her.
My phone rang.
This time, his name appeared on the screen.
I answered.
“You have been busy,” he said.
“Where is Diane?”
“With her husband.”
“She is a witness.”
“She is confused.”
“You forced Daniel off the road.”
“And yet he lives.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“So you admit it.”
“I admit nothing.”
“Where is he?”
A pause.
“Do you truly want him back?”
The question struck harder than expected.
“He is my husband.”
“He is not the man you remember.”
“You made sure of that.”
“No. You did.”
I looked at Samuel.
“What did you show him?”
Gregory laughed softly.
“Ask yourself why Daniel believed me so easily.”
“Because he had brain damage.”
“Because the evidence fit his suspicions.”
“What suspicions?”
“That you intended to take full control of the company.”
“I already owned control.”
“Through Daniel. Not independently.”
“That is false.”
“Is it?”
The line went quiet for a moment.
Then Diane screamed in the background.
“Bring the luggage tag to the old Ashworth estate,” Gregory said. “Midnight.”
“Release Diane.”
“Bring the tag.”
“And Daniel?”
“If he chooses to see you.”
The call ended.
Samuel stood abruptly.
“You cannot go.”
“Where is the old estate?”
“Westchester.”
“I know where it is,” Malcolm said.
Marcus looked at me.
“It will be surrounded.”
“Then we do not enter the way he expects.”
The Ashworth estate had been abandoned after Gregory’s father died. The main gate was chained, but a service road crossed the rear woods.
At eleven fifty, police waited half a mile away.
Gregory had threatened to kill Diane if he saw law enforcement.
Marcus and I approached through the trees.
The mansion appeared through the snow like a dark ship.
One downstairs window glowed.
Inside, Diane sat at a dining table with her wrists bound.
Gregory stood behind her.
Dr. Samuel Price entered through the front door carrying the brass luggage tag.
I had not given it to him.
Marcus cursed beneath his breath.
Samuel had taken it from the evidence desk while we argued with Malcolm.
He had betrayed us again.
Gregory embraced him like an old friend.
Then struck him across the face.
“You brought company,” Gregory said.
Samuel looked toward the windows.
“I came alone.”
“No. You brought guilt. It has been following you for years.”
Gregory took the tag.
Diane saw movement beyond the glass.
Her eyes found mine in the darkness.
She did not react.
For the first time since I had met her, she protected someone without needing to be seen doing it.
Gregory poured himself a drink.
“Where is Daniel?” Samuel asked.
“Safe.”
“You promised me he would remain safe.”
“I promised many things.”
Diane spoke quietly.
“Tell Eleanor the truth.”
Gregory grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.
“You do not use her name in my house.”
I stepped through the open side door.
“Then use mine.”
Gregory turned.
His face changed when he saw me.
Not surprise.
Admiration.
“You always did know how to make an entrance.”
“Let her go.”
He placed the luggage tag in his pocket.
“You came without police?”
“Yes.”
“Without your soldier?”
“Yes.”
Marcus remained hidden outside.
Gregory smiled.
“I almost believe you.”
Diane’s eyes flicked toward a mirror behind him.
In its reflection, I saw a second figure standing at the top of the staircase.
A man with a gray beard.
A scar along his jaw.
Daniel.
He looked at me without recognition.
May you like
Then he raised a gun.
And pointed it at my heart.
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