Blood and Inheritance - Full Story / Chapter 4 / 10

Chapter 4 - Ghost Files and False GravesBy 10:00 PM, Daniel was back in the penthouse. The transformation in Sarah was profound. She had showered, her hacked hair was neatly styled, and she wore a soft cashmere sweater Daniel had ordered for her. Grace was sleeping peacefully in a crib that the hotel staff had brought up under Daniel’s strict orders.

"We have Mercer," Daniel said, pulling off his tie and tossing it onto a chair. "He confessed. He admitted my mother paid him half a million dollars to swap the dental records of an unidentified Jane Doe with yours."

Sarah let out a shaky breath, covering her mouth. "So it's over? We can go to the police?"

"Not yet," Daniel said, sitting next to her and taking her hands. "A confession from a corrupt medical examiner is a start, but Evelyn has the best lawyers money can buy. She will claim Mercer acted alone or that he's fabricating the story to save himself. We need the physical evidence linking her directly to your kidnapping. We need the paper trail of the payments. And we need to show the board of directors exactly who they have been doing business with."

He opened his laptop, bringing up a secure database. "For the last two years, I haven't just been grieving, Sarah. I’ve been tracking every penny that flowed out of my mother’s private accounts. She used a shell company called 'Apex Holdings' to pay the guards at the cabin. The director of Apex is a man named Thomas Vance—no relation to Marcus—who has been my mother’s fixer for twenty years."

"Thomas," Sarah whispered, her face going pale. "He was the one who visited the cabin. He brought the papers for me to sign. He told me if I didn't sign them before the baby was born, he would make sure the baby 'disappeared' the moment she drew her first breath."

Daniel's expression darkened. The sheer cruelty of his mother’s actions was almost incomprehensible. "Thomas is the key. If we get him to flip, Evelyn is finished. Marcus is tracking him now. He’s at a private club in Soho."

"Daniel, be careful," Sarah pleaded, grabbing his arm. "Thomas is a dangerous man. He’s not just a white-collar criminal. He’s a monster."

"So am I, when someone threatens my family," Daniel said softly. He kissed her forehead. "I’m going to meet Marcus. I want to be there when they take Thomas down. I want him to know exactly who is pulling the strings."