Chapter 6 - Vanessa’s Ultimatum
"How did you track this?" Mark demanded, leaning closer to the phone.
"Ah, Mark," Arthur chuckled. "The grieving husband plays the hero. I didn't track the phone. I knew Evelyn would eventually take the ledger if she escaped."
"Vanessa is in jail," Mark snapped. "Your empire is crumbling."
"My daughter is a temporary casualty," Arthur replied coldly. "She made a mistake by hitting the child where cameras could see. But you?"
There was a brief pause, filled with the sound of a lighter flicking on the other end.
"You abducted your wife, faked her death for three years, and stole my family's ledger to extort me," Arthur lied smoothly.
"No one will believe that," Evelyn said, her voice surprisingly steady.
"I have the police chief, the local judge, and three witnesses ready to swear to it," Arthur countered.
"What do you want?" Mark asked, knowing Arthur hadn't called just to gloat.
"A trade," Arthur proposed. "Bring the ledger to the old Union Station train depot at midnight. Just you, Mark."
"And if I don't?"
"Then the Amber Alert for my kidnapped granddaughter goes live in five minutes," Arthur said. "Every cop in the state will be hunting you."
The line went dead.
Mark stared at the burner phone, running a hand over his exhausted face.
"He's going to frame me," Mark muttered, looking at the sleeping form of his daughter.
"He’s not going to frame you," Evelyn corrected, closing the ledger. "He’s going to kill you the second you hand that book over."
"Then we have no choice," Mark said. "We go to the media."
"The media needs proof, Mark," Evelyn sighed. "This ledger is just numbers. It doesn't prove I didn't write it myself."
May you like
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, rusted safety deposit box key.
"But I know where the proof is," she whispered.
