Chapter 5 - THE WAREHOUSE BY THE RIVER
Florence woke to the smell of rust and cold concrete.
A single lamp hung above her.
Her wrists were secured to the arms of a metal chair with padded restraints. Someone had changed her hospital gown for an old gray robe.
Across the room, rain struck broken warehouse windows.
Victor Hale stood beside a folding table, reading a document.
Gwendolyn watched from the shadows.
“What have you done?” Florence whispered.
Victor set the paper down.
“I’m giving you one final opportunity to protect your family.”
“You hurt my family.”
“Your son will go to prison if these insurance documents remain unchallenged.”
“You created them.”
“Can Lucas prove that?”
Florence looked at Gwendolyn.
“You married him for the land.”
Gwendolyn crossed her arms.
“At first, I didn’t even know about it.”
“Then when did you find out?”
“Four years ago. I saw the tax records.”
“And you told your father.”
Gwendolyn said nothing.
Victor placed a pen between Florence’s fingers.
“You will sign a statement saying Lucas pressured you to transfer the property. You will also state that your daughter-in-law treated you with patience and kindness.”
Florence let the pen fall.
“No.”
Victor’s expression did not change.
“You are in no position to refuse.”
Gwendolyn stepped closer.
“Just sign it. The property will be sold, the company will handle the contamination, and Lucas can walk away.”
“You mean you can walk away.”
“I gave seven years to that marriage.”
“You gave seven years to yourself.”
Gwendolyn slapped her.
Florence’s head turned, but she did not cry.
That seemed to frighten Gwendolyn more than tears would have.
“You’re going to lose everything,” Florence said.
Gwendolyn leaned close.
“You have no idea how many people my father owns.”
Outside the warehouse, Lucas sat in an unmarked police vehicle with Detective Ruiz.
They had located the building through the emergency pendant Florence wore around her neck. Lucas had bought it after her stroke. Gwendolyn often complained that the service was unnecessary, but Lucas had quietly renewed the subscription every year.
The pendant transmitted a weak signal from the Hale Meridian industrial property near the river.
A tactical unit surrounded the warehouse.
“We wait until we confirm her position,” Ruiz said.
“They could be hurting her.”
“And rushing in could get her killed.”
Lucas stared at the dark building.
Every instinct told him to move.
Then his phone rang.
Gwendolyn.
Detective Ruiz activated the recorder.
Lucas answered.
“Where is she?”
“Your mother is safe.”
“You dragged her out of a hospital.”
“She agreed to leave.”
“I saw the security footage.”
Gwendolyn sighed.
“You always believe whatever makes me the villain.”
“You poured water on her. You drugged her.”
“You have no idea what it was like taking care of her.”
“Where is she?”
“Sign an agreement giving up any claim to the river property.”
“It isn’t mine.”
“You’re her legal heir.”
“She’s alive.”
“That can change.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
Detective Ruiz signaled for him to keep her talking.
“What happened to you, Gwen?”
For several seconds, she was silent.
Then her voice softened.
“You happened to me.”
“I loved you.”
“You loved being the good son. The reliable employee. The man everyone admired. You never saw me.”
“I saw you. I just didn’t know what I was looking at.”
Her voice became cold again.
“Sign the papers by midnight.”
“And then?”
“Your mother comes home.”
“How do I know she’s still alive?”
There was movement on the other end.
Then Florence’s weak voice came through.
“Lucas, don’t give them anything.”
A hand struck something.
Florence cried out.
Lucas stood so fast he hit the roof of the vehicle.
“Touch her again and—”
“And what?” Gwendolyn asked. “You’ll record me?”
The call ended.
Detective Ruiz looked toward the tactical commander.
“We have confirmation.”
The officers moved.
They entered through three doors at once.
Lucas was ordered to remain in the vehicle, but when smoke suddenly poured from a rear window, he ignored the command.
An alarm began screaming inside the warehouse.
Victor had poured gasoline over Walter’s document boxes and set them on fire.
Flames climbed a wall of old wooden shelving.
Serena ran toward a loading door and collided with two officers. They forced her to the floor.
Gwendolyn tried to drag Florence’s chair through a side corridor, but one wheel caught on broken concrete.
“Help me!” Florence shouted.
Lucas followed her voice through the smoke.
He found Gwendolyn pulling at the chair while fire spread across the ceiling.
“Get away from her.”
Gwendolyn turned.
Her mascara had begun running down her cheeks.
“You ruined everything.”
“You did that yourself.”
“You think you’re better than me?”
“No. I think she deserves to live.”
Lucas reached for Florence.
Gwendolyn grabbed a metal pipe from the floor.
She swung it.
Lucas raised his arm. The pipe struck his forearm with a sickening impact.
Pain shot to his shoulder, but he stayed on his feet.
Gwendolyn lifted it again.
Florence drove her foot against the back of Gwendolyn’s knee.
It was not a powerful movement, but it was enough.
Gwendolyn lost her balance and fell.
Lucas released the chair restraints and lifted Florence into his arms.
A section of burning ceiling collapsed behind them.
Gwendolyn screamed.
A beam had trapped her ankle.
Lucas looked toward the exit.
He could carry Florence out and leave Gwendolyn behind.
For one terrible second, he wanted to.
Then he lowered Florence beside the wall and returned.
“Lucas!” Gwendolyn shouted.
He lifted the beam enough for her to pull her leg free.
Two tactical officers rushed through the smoke. One carried Florence outside while the other pulled Gwendolyn away from the flames.
Victor was arrested near a private dock. He had tried to escape in a speedboat with a briefcase containing forged deeds, cash, and three passports.
Firefighters controlled the blaze before it destroyed the entire building.
Most of Walter’s evidence had already been copied by police.
Gwendolyn sat on the wet pavement with her hands cuffed behind her.
She looked at Lucas.
“Why did you save me?”
He held his injured arm against his chest.
“Because I refuse to become what you are.”
Paramedics rushed Florence back to St. Catherine Medical Center.
At first, she appeared stable.
Then her heart rhythm changed.
The monitor began sounding.
Dr. Chen ordered Lucas out of the room as nurses surrounded the bed.
“What’s happening?” he demanded.
“Her blood pressure is collapsing.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know yet.”
A nurse found a fresh injection mark near Florence’s shoulder.
Serena had drugged her during the abduction.
Lucas stood behind the glass as doctors fought to stabilize his mother.
After twenty minutes, Dr. Chen emerged.
“She’s alive, but the drug triggered a cardiac emergency. We need to perform surgery.”
“Will she survive?”
“I can’t promise you anything.”
Lucas looked through the glass.
Florence’s face was nearly colorless.
Rebecca arrived carrying a court notice.
“The final property hearing is tomorrow morning,” she said. “Victor’s attorneys are arguing that the arrest doesn’t invalidate the documents. If Florence cannot testify, they’ll claim she remains incompetent and that the sale agreement was voluntarily executed before the investigation.”
Lucas stared at her.
“She might be in surgery.”
“I know.”
“Then delay it.”
“We’re trying. But Hale Meridian’s lenders are threatening bankruptcy unless the transaction closes. Too many powerful people want that land transferred.”
The operating-room doors opened.
Nurses began wheeling Florence away.
Her eyes opened briefly.
“Lucas.”
He leaned close.
“I’m here.”
“Walter’s recording,” she whispered. “The last one.”
“We found the drives.”
“No. His last recording. He gave it to the doctor.”
“What doctor?”
Florence tried to answer, but the anesthesia pulled her under.
The doors closed.
Lucas looked at Rebecca.
Dr. Stephen Carver had disappeared after the guardianship hearing.
His office was empty.
His phone had been disconnected.
May you like
And if Florence was right, the missing doctor possessed the one recording that could destroy Victor Hale’s final defense.
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