Chapter 17 - THE EXCHANGE
Ramos told them not to go.
Nathan went anyway.
So did Grace.
Federal agents surrounded the mineral plant from a distance while Nathan drove through the rusted gate alone with an empty child seat visible in the back.
Grace was hidden in an armored surveillance van half a mile away.
Malcolm Dane stepped from the dark carrying a pistol.
Evelyn stood beside him, wrists tied.
“Where is Lily?” Malcolm demanded.
“Safe.”
“That wasn’t the deal.”
“You don’t get to make deals about my daughter.”
Malcolm smiled thinly. “Your father said the same thing near the end.”
“Let Evelyn go.”
“Bring me the child.”
“She’s four years old.”
“She’s thirty-one percent of Cole Meridian.”
There it was.
Not a child.
A percentage.
Nathan took one step forward.
Malcolm raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
Evelyn suddenly drove her heel into Malcolm’s shin.
He stumbled.
Nathan rushed him.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
They crashed against a metal railing. Malcolm swung the weapon toward Nathan’s chest.
Nathan caught his wrist with both hands.
A second shot exploded.
Then agents poured in from both entrances.
Malcolm was dragged to the floor.
Grace ran to her mother.
Evelyn sobbed against her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Grace held her tightly.
Nathan stood breathing hard while Ramos cuffed Malcolm.
“You’re done,” Nathan said.
Malcolm looked up and laughed.
“No. I’m broke.”
Nathan frowned.
Malcolm continued, “There’s a difference.”
Rebecca arrived minutes later with news that made the meaning clear.
Dane Capital had transferred nearly all liquid assets overseas forty-eight hours earlier.
But not to Malcolm.
Not to Victoria.
The money had gone into a trust under another name.
May you like
A name Nathan had never seen.
Lillian Cole.
