Chapter 13 - The Chairwoman
Margaret Sloan had chaired the Mercer Foundation for twelve years.
She also controlled the committee that approved confidential settlements.
Including Robert Vale's.
Nathan dug through old minutes.
"She signed the internal memo burying the safety report."
Ethan stared at the screen.
"So Collins protected her too."
Daniel nodded.
"She protected him. He protected her."
"And Victoria was useful."
Victoria's voice came from the secure speaker.
"I was an idiot."
Sarah looked at her.
"No. You were angry. Then you chose to hurt people who had nothing to do with it."
Victoria looked away.
Detective Chen traced Margaret to a private airfield.
Too late.
Her plane had never taken off.
They found it empty.
Then Ethan received a message.
COME TO THE FOUNDATION ARCHIVE ALONE.
Attached was a photograph of Nathan tied to a chair.
Sarah looked around.
Nathan had stepped outside ten minutes earlier to take a call.
Gone.
Ethan grabbed his coat.
Chen stopped him.
"You are not going alone."
"If she sees police--"
"She already knows we're involved."
Sarah said, "She wants something."
Daniel pointed at Caroline's metal case.
"The original report."
Ethan understood.
It was the one document that connected Margaret directly to the cover-up.
At the Foundation Archive, police surrounded the block quietly.
Ethan entered carrying a copy.
Margaret stood under the old chandelier.
Nathan sat tied near the records vault.
"You always were your father's weakest child," Margaret said.
Ethan held up the file.
"And you're a kidnapper."
"I'm a realist."
"You nearly took my son."
"I tried to protect an institution."
"From a toddler?"
"From scandal."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"That's the word all cowards use."
Margaret's face hardened.
She demanded the report.
Ethan tossed it across the marble.
She bent to pick it up.
Nathan kicked the chair backward into her legs.
She fell.
Officers flooded the room.
Margaret screamed as she was restrained.
Then the building alarm began.
Smoke rolled from the records vault.
Margaret looked toward it and smiled.
"You think that's the only copy I burned?"
Ethan stared at the flames.
Sarah's voice came over his earpiece.
"It isn't."
She was at Hawthorne Cottage with Leo.
May you like
And Caroline's notebook had just revealed one final hiding place.
Inside Leo's crib.
