Chapter 6 - MIDNIGHT AT THE COURTHOUSE
The abandoned Bennett courthouse had not heard a trial in thirty-two years.
At 11:58 p.m., Arthur walked through its front doors alone.
Dust covered the wooden benches.
Moonlight entered through broken windows.
His footsteps echoed.
“Richard.”
Nothing.
Arthur moved toward the judge’s bench.
Then the old courtroom lights flickered on.
Richard Ashford sat in the jury box.
Maya beside him.
Her hands were tied.
Her mouth was uncovered.
“Uncle Arthur!”
Arthur’s entire body reacted to the word.
He forced himself to remain calm.
Richard smiled.
“Touching.”
“Let her go.”
“The key.”
Arthur held up the copy.
Richard’s eyes followed it.
“First Maya.”
“No.”
Arthur stopped.
Richard continued.
“You never were good at negotiation.”
“You’ve never negotiated. You threaten.”
“And yet here you are.”
Maya looked frightened.
But unharmed.
Arthur focused on that.
Richard stood.
“Throw it here.”
Arthur did.
The metal strip landed on the floor.
Richard picked it up.
Examined it.
Arthur waited.
Richard smiled.
“You brought a copy.”
Arthur’s stomach dropped.
“How can you tell?”
Richard laughed.
“Claire scratched the original herself.”
Arthur said nothing.
Richard’s smile vanished.
“Where is it?”
“Somewhere you can’t reach.”
Richard grabbed Maya’s shoulder.
Arthur stepped forward.
“Don’t touch her.”
“Victoria has it.”
Arthur stopped.
Richard read his face.
“Of course she does.”
His tone almost sounded affectionate.
“My daughter has always believed betrayal becomes morality if she cries while doing it.”
Maya stared at him.
Richard pulled a phone from his pocket.
Called Victoria.
She answered.
“Dad.”
“Bring me the strip.”
“No.”
Arthur watched Richard’s expression harden.
“Maya dies.”
Victoria’s voice shook.
“No.”
“You think Arthur will forgive you?”
Silence.
“He won’t.”
Arthur could hear her breathing.
Richard continued.
“You assaulted his niece.”
“He knows you helped hide Claire.”
“You’ll lose your marriage.”
Victoria whispered:
“I already did.”
Richard’s face changed.
“You’ll lose your family.”
A pause.
Then Victoria said:
“You made sure I never had one.”
The line disconnected.
For the first time, Richard lost composure.
Only for a second.
But Arthur saw it.
Richard was accustomed to fear.
People obeyed because they feared losing money.
Reputation.
Family.
Freedom.
Victoria had finally reached the point where she believed she had nothing left for him to take.
Richard pushed Maya toward a side door.
Arthur moved.
A second man emerged.
Gun raised.
Caleb Rusk.
Former military contractor.
Ashford security.
Arthur stopped.
Richard smiled again.
“You really should have listened to your wife.”
Then Maya did something unexpected.
She stomped hard on Richard’s foot.
He shouted.
Maya twisted free.
Arthur lunged.
Caleb turned.
A crash exploded from the rear entrance.
Federal agents entered.
Richard grabbed Maya.
Caleb fired into the ceiling.
Chaos.
Arthur reached Maya first.
He pulled her behind a bench.
“Stay down!”
Agents shouted commands.
Caleb ran through the side corridor.
Richard disappeared with him.
Arthur looked at Maya.
“You okay?”
She nodded rapidly.
Then burst into tears.
Arthur held her.
This time he did not hesitate.
She wrapped both arms around him.
“I knew you’d come.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry it took so long.”
Police secured the courthouse.
Richard escaped through an underground records tunnel.
But Maya was safe.
And Victoria delivered the original St. Agnes strip to federal investigators.
It led to three offshore accounts.
Ninety-four million dollars.
Much of the missing Bennett trust money.
Enough for indictments.
Not enough to prove what happened to Claire.
Maya remembered something from captivity.
Richard had spoken to someone on the phone.
A woman.
He said:
“Move Patient Seven.”
Arthur stared.
“Patient Seven?”
Maya nodded.
“He said, ‘Arthur is too close now.’”
Jonathan turned pale.
Claire.
They searched every Ashford-owned medical facility.
Six hours later, investigators found a reference inside an encrypted St. Catherine’s billing database.
PATIENT 7.
No name.
Admission date:
Twelve years earlier.
Status:
Transferred that morning.
Arthur felt the world narrow.
Claire had been alive all these years.
Inside a medical system financed by the man who destroyed her.
They traced the transfer ambulance.
Its GPS stopped near Blackwater County.
Then disappeared.
Arthur looked at Victoria.
“Where would he take her?”
Victoria whispered:
“There’s one place.”
“Where?”
“My mother’s old estate.”
Arthur frowned.
“Richard sold it.”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“He only made it look sold.”
May you like
She looked toward Maya and Noah.
“It’s where my father keeps things he never wants anyone to find.”
