Chapter 3 - The Heir Clause

By midnight, St. Gabriel's seventeenth floor had become a controlled zone.

Two police officers stood by the elevators.

Hospital security restricted badges.

Marcus replaced every member of his private security detail except one woman, Naomi Grant, who had been hired only three months earlier and had never reported to Thomas Vane directly.

Khloe remained under observation.

Her contractions had slowed.

The baby was stable.

None of that made anyone feel safe.

Naomi stood outside Khloe's room with a tablet in her hands.

Marcus approached.

"Any sign of Vane?"

"No."

"His phone?"

"Off."

"Home?"

"Empty."

"Bank cards?"

"No activity."

Marcus rubbed his face.

"How long did he work for me?"

"Six years."

"I trusted him with my sonogram appointments."

Naomi did not soften the answer.

"Then assume he gave those appointments to someone else."

Marcus looked through the glass panel at Khloe.

"She warned me."

"About Isabella?"

"Yes."

"And you dismissed it."

He looked at Naomi.

"Do you always speak to employers like this?"

"Only ones who need useful information more than comfort."

A voice came from behind him.

"I like her."

Daniel approached carrying a file folder.

Marcus sighed.

"Of course you do."

Daniel handed him the folder.

"I pulled everything the hospital has on Isabella's visits."

Marcus opened it.

"Anything?"

"She met Vane twice."

"Twice?"

"One meeting was hidden because he entered through a loading dock."

Naomi leaned closer.

"What department's camera found it?"

"Pharmacy receiving."

Marcus looked up.

"Pharmacy?"

Daniel nodded.

"That's why I'm here."

He took the folder back and removed a still photograph.

Isabella was visible near a secure service corridor.

Vane stood beside her.

A third person appeared partially obscured behind a cart.

Naomi studied the image.

"Do we know him?"

"Not yet."

Marcus pointed.

"Can you enlarge the badge?"

"We're trying."

Daniel lowered his voice.

"One more thing. A controlled medication count was wrong the day after that visit."

Marcus stared at him.

"What medication?"

"Oxytocin."

His expression changed.

Khloe had been reading through legal documents from her bed when Marcus entered.

She saw his face.

"What now?"

He closed the door.

"You don't need another problem tonight."

"That's not an answer."

"Daniel found something."

"Say it."

He told her.

Khloe became very still.

"Oxytocin."

"Yes."

"Which can induce labor."

"Yes."

"And Isabella visited near pharmacy receiving."

"Yes."

Khloe looked down at her hands.

"She wasn't improvising."

"No."

"She wanted me to deliver early."

"It looks possible."

"Why?"

"We still don't know."

Khloe looked up sharply.

"We know the trust activates when the baby is born."

"That doesn't mean—"

"Stop protecting your own ignorance."

Marcus recoiled.

She continued.

"You didn't know she had access to my schedule. You didn't know Vane was meeting her. You didn't tell me she had slept with you. You didn't tell me Victor becomes trustee if you die. Every time you say 'that doesn't mean,' what I hear is that you haven't looked hard enough."

Marcus's jaw tightened.

"Do you think I'm protecting Isabella?"

"I think you're protecting the version of yourself that didn't make a terrible mistake."

He looked away.

That landed.

Khloe's voice softened, but only slightly.

"I don't need you to be innocent, Marcus. I need you to be honest."

He sat in the chair beside the bed.

"All right."

"All right what?"

"I made a terrible mistake."

She waited.

"I thought power meant I could ignore problems until they became irrelevant."

"That's not power."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"I'm learning."

Khloe studied him.

"Tell me everything about the trust."

Marcus nodded.

"My grandfather, Arthur Thorne, created it thirty years ago. Victor Rossi helped him build the company. They were close."

"How close?"

"Brothers, practically."

"Until?"

"Until my father took over."

"What happened?"

"My father pushed Victor out of daily management after an accounting dispute."

"Fraud?"

"Never proved."

Khloe stared.

"Marcus."

"He suspected Victor was moving money through shell vendors."

"How much?"

"Millions."

"And your grandfather still left him as alternate trustee?"

"The trust predates the dispute."

"Did Victor know he was still named?"

"Yes."

"Of course he did."

Marcus opened another document.

"There's something worse."

Khloe almost smiled without humor.

"Naturally."

"If my biological child is born while I'm alive, the eleven percent transfers."

"I know."

"If I die before the birth, the shares remain distributed among the existing family branches."

"So Victor gets nothing."

"Correct."

"But if the baby is born first and then you die—"

"Victor controls the child's block until age twenty-five."

Khloe stared.

"So an early delivery starts the window."

"Yes."

"And then killing you gives Victor power."

Marcus nodded once.

Khloe closed her eyes.

"How could your family leave that in place?"

"My father spent years trying to break the trust."

"He failed."

"Yes."

The door opened.

Detective Brooks entered with Naomi.

Brooks looked at Khloe.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like everyone should stop asking that and start telling me things."

Brooks almost smiled.

"Fair."

She sat.

"We searched Isabella's phone under warrant."

Marcus stood.

"And?"

"Most of her recent messages were wiped."

"Can you recover them?"

"Some."

Khloe asked, "With Vane?"

"Yes."

Brooks opened a folder.

"One message from three weeks ago says, 'She has to be in the room before nine. No witnesses.'"

Khloe's face tightened.

"That's me."

"Likely."

"Anything about the baby?"

"Not directly."

Brooks looked at Marcus.

"Another says, 'Victor wants the clause active before the vote.'"

Marcus leaned forward.

"What vote?"

"Do you have a major board vote coming?"

He stared.

"The Bellamy acquisition."

"When?"

"Six days."

Khloe looked at him.

"Why does it matter?"

"If we acquire Bellamy, Thorne Capital's voting structure changes. Victor's influence becomes almost irrelevant."

Brooks nodded.

"So he has a deadline."

Naomi spoke.

"Which means the child had to be born before the vote."

Khloe's hand moved to her stomach.

"And Marcus would have to die before the shares were reorganized."

Marcus looked at Naomi.

"How would that work?"

She hesitated.

"Do you really want me to answer?"

"Yes."

"Vane controlled your transport."

Marcus's face went still.

Naomi continued.

"He chooses drivers. He clears vehicles. He coordinates routes."

Khloe looked at Marcus.

"Your car."

"What about it?"

"Did anything happen recently?"

He frowned.

"No."

Naomi asked, "Any mechanical issue?"

Marcus thought.

"Brake warning last week."

Everyone turned.

"It was cleared after service."

"Who arranged service?" Naomi asked.

"Vane."

Brooks stood.

"We need the vehicle impounded."

Marcus pulled out his phone.

"It's in my building garage."

Naomi stopped him.

"Don't call your garage."

"Why?"

"If Vane has someone inside, you'll warn them."

Brooks nodded.

"We'll handle it."

Khloe stared at Marcus.

"You're not leaving this hospital."

"I need to—"

"No."

"Khloe."

"If they tried to tamper with your car, you're not walking into a garage."

Marcus looked at Brooks.

"She's right," Brooks said.

He sat back.

"Fine."

Daniel entered without knocking.

"I have the pharmacy badge."

Naomi turned.

"The third person?"

Daniel placed a printed enlarged image on the bed table.

A young man in hospital scrubs stared toward the camera.

His badge read ANDREW KELLER, PHARMACY TECHNICIAN.

Daniel's expression was grim.

"Keller didn't report to work tonight."

Brooks took out her phone.

"Address?"

Daniel handed her a page.

Brooks called her partner.

While she spoke, Khloe studied the photograph.

Something felt familiar.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at her.

"Zoom his wrist."

Daniel enlarged the image on his tablet.

Keller wore a narrow black bracelet with a silver triangle.

Khloe's breathing changed.

Marcus noticed.

"What?"

"I've seen that."

"Where?"

"At our house."

"When?"

"The night of the anniversary dinner."

Marcus frowned.

"Keller was there?"

"Not as Keller."

She looked at him.

"He was one of the temporary catering staff."

Naomi's eyes sharpened.

"Who hired the caterer?"

Marcus already knew.

"Isabella recommended them."

Khloe nodded.

"He carried a tray into your study."

Marcus stood so quickly the chair scraped the floor.

"My study contains the trust files."

Naomi grabbed her phone.

"Do you still have hard copies there?"

"Yes."

"Then we need to assume they were photographed."

Khloe stared at her husband.

"Or changed."

Marcus stopped.

"What?"

She looked at the trust documents spread across her bed.

"Everyone keeps talking about what your grandfather wrote thirty years ago."

"Because the trust is irrevocable."

"Maybe."

She tapped the page.

"But what if the document you're relying on isn't the original?"

Marcus frowned.

Daniel looked at her.

"What are you thinking?"

Khloe spoke slowly.

"Victor Rossi had motive to know every clause. Isabella had access to our house. Keller had access to Marcus's study. Vane had access to everything."

She looked at Marcus.

"What if they weren't only planning around the trust?"

He stared back.

"What if they were changing it?"

No one answered.

A minute later, Brooks's phone rang.

She listened.

Her expression shifted.

"What?"

She looked at Daniel.

"Andrew Keller is dead."

The room became silent.

"How?" Daniel asked.

"Found in his apartment about an hour ago. Apparent overdose."

Khloe's eyes closed.

Marcus whispered, "He was a loose end."

Brooks ended the call.

"We don't know that yet."

Naomi spoke quietly.

"But whoever planned this knows we are looking."

Khloe opened her eyes again.

The monitor continued its steady rhythm.

The child inside her was alive.

Marcus was alive.

May you like

[COMPLETED] She waited ten years for her fiancé, but the night she marri...

[COMPLETED] Five Years After My Mafia Husband Chose Another Woman, He Me...

[COMPLETED] I CALLED MY HUSBAND 18 TIMES WHILE OUR SON WAS DYING. EIGHT...

But one man connected to the conspiracy had already died before police could question him.

And somewhere outside the hospital, Thomas Vane had vanished with six years of knowledge about every weakness in the Thorne family's life.