Chapter 12 - THE MARINA
Emily wanted to call the police immediately.
Nathan's next message stopped her.
If police arrive openly, the drive goes into the water and I leave.
Ryan swore under his breath.
"He is either terrified or setting a trap."
Naomi agreed.
"Probably both."
Emily stared at the photograph.
Nathan's bruised face looked real.
So did his fear.
Ryan paced across the study.
"He specifically said not to call security because Margaret has someone inside it."
Marcus Reed stood near the door.
"I want to know who."
Naomi looked at him.
"Which means we cannot assume your team is clean."
Marcus did not take offense.
"Agreed."
They called Agent Dana Ruiz through Naomi's phone.
Dana listened to the situation and gave one instruction.
"Do not respond until I arrive."
When Dana reached the house, she brought a small tactical team that had no connection to Whitmore security.
They traced the photograph to a marina in Marina del Rey using visible signage and slip numbers.
Nathan had chosen a public place with enough darkness to hide movement and enough cameras to discourage an obvious attack.
Dana studied the messages.
"He wants Emily."
Ryan shook his head.
"He is not getting Emily alone."
Emily looked at Dana.
"Can I go with officers nearby?"
Ryan turned toward her.
"No."
"Ryan."
"He helped bug our house."
"And now he may be the only person who can prove your mother framed you."
"That does not make him safe."
"I didn't say safe."
Emily stepped closer.
"I said useful."
Ryan hated how much she sounded like Eleanor when she said it.
Dana interrupted before the argument grew.
"If Emily goes, she does not go alone."
Ryan looked at her.
"Nathan said-"
"Nathan does not get to dictate law-enforcement safety."
Dana explained the plan.
Emily would approach the marina cafe entrance visibly alone.
Two plainclothes agents would be close enough to intervene.
Ryan would remain in an unmarked vehicle one block away.
Dana would monitor through a concealed audio transmitter placed in Emily's jacket.
Emily gave a nervous smile when Marcus handed her the device.
"At least this one I know about."
Nobody laughed.
At 4:22 a.m., Emily walked along the marina promenade.
The air smelled of salt and diesel fuel.
Masts clicked softly against rigging.
Most of the restaurants were dark.
Nathan's message directed her toward Dock C.
Emily could hear her own breathing through the tiny earpiece.
Dana's voice whispered.
"We have eyes on you."
Emily continued.
Nathan appeared near a locked gate.
He wore the same shirt from the photograph.
His face was worse in person.
One eye was swollen.
"You came."
Emily stopped six feet away.
"What happened to you?"
Nathan looked behind her.
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
The lie felt strange with federal agents less than fifty yards away.
Nathan laughed weakly.
"You got better at lying after joining this family."
Emily's expression hardened.
"Do not insult me after helping them destroy my husband."
Nathan looked ashamed.
"Fair."
"Give me the drive."
"Not yet."
"Then start talking."
Nathan rubbed the blood from his lip.
"Peter found me at my apartment before I could meet investigators."
"Peter did that to your face?"
"His driver did."
Emily remembered the black sedan at the restaurant.
"Margaret's driver?"
Nathan nodded.
"His name is Victor Sloane."
Dana's voice sounded softly in Emily's ear.
"We have the name. Keep him talking."
Emily asked, "Why did they let you leave?"
Nathan gave a bitter smile.
"They didn't."
"What does that mean?"
"I jumped from Peter's car at a traffic light."
Emily stared at him.
"And nobody followed you?"
"They did."
Nathan looked toward the dark parking structure.
Emily fought the urge to turn around.
"Are they here?"
"I don't know."
"Then give me the drive."
Nathan held it up.
"This contains Peter's working files."
"How did you get them?"
"I copied them months ago."
"Why?"
"Insurance."
Emily almost laughed.
"So while you were helping them, you were collecting evidence against them."
"I learned from Margaret."
"Do not sound proud of that."
Nathan's face fell.
"I'm not."
He looked at the water.
"There are scans of Eleanor's signature book."
"Olivia told us."
Nathan looked surprised.
"Olivia talked?"
"Yes."
"Then maybe we have a chance."
Emily stared at him.
"We?"
Nathan nodded toward the drive.
"There are draft versions of the second will."
"How many?"
"Fourteen."
"Fourteen?"
"Peter kept adjusting the signature placement because the scan looked wrong."
Emily felt a surge of anger.
"And the final version?"
"Built from three separate documents."
"Can you prove that?"
"The Photoshop history is in the archive."
Dana whispered in Emily's ear.
"Excellent. Get the drive."
Emily held out her hand.
"Give it to me."
Nathan hesitated.
"There is more."
"There is always more."
"The documents planted in Ryan's study were printed from Peter's office."
"Proof?"
"Printer tracking codes."
"And the transmitter?"
Nathan looked ashamed.
"I installed it."
Emily's anger became immediate.
"Why?"
"Margaret told me Ryan was planning to remove me from the company."
"So you bugged his house?"
"She had evidence about my loan."
"Stop using fear as a permission slip."
Nathan flinched.
Emily continued.
"You had choices."
"Bad ones."
"Still choices."
Nathan nodded slowly.
"You're right."
He handed her the flash drive.
The moment it touched Emily's palm, a car engine roared in the parking structure.
Nathan looked up in terror.
"Run."
Headlights swung toward the promenade.
A dark sedan accelerated out of the structure.
Dana shouted through Emily's earpiece.
"Move left now."
Emily jumped behind a concrete planter.
Nathan ran toward the dock gate.
The sedan mounted the curb.
Two federal vehicles blocked its path from opposite sides.
Brakes screamed.
The sedan struck a metal bollard and stopped.
Agents rushed forward with weapons drawn.
"Hands where we can see them."
The driver's door opened.
Victor Sloane stepped out slowly.
Ryan recognized him from a distance even before Dana confirmed the name.
Margaret's driver.
The same man who had been at the restaurant.
Nathan collapsed against the dock railing.
Emily ran toward him.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
Ryan ignored Dana's instruction to remain in the vehicle and reached Emily seconds later.
He pulled her into his arms.
"Do not ever do that to me again."
Emily held up the flash drive between them.
"We got it."
Ryan looked at Nathan.
"You got hurt because of this?"
Nathan nodded.
"Partly."
"What does partly mean?"
Nathan's face changed.
"Peter wanted to know whether I had copied the recording."
Naomi, who had arrived with Dana, stepped closer.
"What recording?"
Nathan looked at Ryan.
"The night your grandmother changed the trust."
Ryan felt cold.
"There was a recording?"
"Yes."
"Of Eleanor?"
"Of Margaret."
Nathan wiped blood from his mouth.
"She did not know the conference-room microphone was still recording after the lawyers left."
Emily stared at him.
"What did she say?"
Nathan looked at the flash drive in Emily's hand.
"She told Peter exactly what to do if Ryan chose you."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"What did she say?"
Nathan met his eyes.
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"She said, 'If my son chooses Emily, destroy him until he comes back to me.'"
