CHAPTER 10 : NATHANIEL’S SIGNATURE
Daniel Cross smiled.
“You’re making a serious mistake.”
Nathaniel did not move.
“You brought Sentinel Meridian into my home.”
“I brought federal officers into an active crime scene.”
“You also brought the company that helped transport prisoners for Malcolm.”
Cross turned to his agents.
“Take Mr. Blackwood into custody.”
Claire stepped forward.
“On what charge?”
Cross removed a document from his coat.
It was an arrest warrant signed that morning.
Nathaniel Blackwood was accused of destroying evidence, interfering with a federal investigation, and secretly funding Project Lighthouse.
The document included Nathaniel’s signature on financial transfers totaling thirty-seven million dollars.
Claire looked at him.
“Are the signatures real?”
Nathaniel examined the pages.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Cross ordered his officers to handcuff him.
Nathaniel did not resist.
Before they took him away, he looked at Claire.
“I signed financing documents for Lighthouse Point twenty years ago. I believed the money was being used for land settlements and political consulting.”
“You never asked where thirty-seven million dollars went?”
“I asked my father.”
“And you believed him?”
Nathaniel’s voice broke slightly.
“I chose to.”
That answer hurt more than a lie.
Claire followed him into the hallway.
“Did you know anyone was being held?”
“No.”
“Did you know doctors were being paid?”
“No.”
“Did you know Malcolm was involved?”
Nathaniel hesitated.
Cross watched him.
Claire saw the truth before Nathaniel spoke.
“Yes,” he admitted.
Her stomach tightened.
“Malcolm told me he was handling protesters who refused to leave the coastal properties. He said they were being offered treatment and relocation.”
“Treatment for what?”
“He claimed they were unstable.”
Claire stared at him.
“And you accepted that?”
“I wanted the project completed.”
For the first time since her rescue, Claire saw not only Nathaniel’s guilt but the man he had once been.
Powerful.
Careless.
Comfortable with other people disappearing as long as he did not have to witness it.
“I didn’t know what they were doing,” Nathaniel said.
“You knew enough to stop asking.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Claire did not defend him when the agents took him away.
She returned to the guesthouse with Noah and locked the door.
That night, Noah sat beside her in bed.
“Is Dad bad?”
Claire struggled to answer.
“Your father made choices that hurt people.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“Not the way Malcolm did.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Claire realized Noah had inherited her ability to hear what others avoided saying.
“Your father helped create a world where Malcolm believed he could hurt me without consequences.”
Noah looked down at his hands.
“Does Dad still love us?”
“Yes.”
“Does that fix it?”
“No.”
The honesty seemed to calm him.
Near midnight, Claire’s private phone rang.
The number was blocked.
A woman whispered on the other end.
“Nathaniel remembers more than he admitted.”
“Who is this?”
“You already know.”
Claire recognized the voice.
Vanessa.
Claire stood.
Vanessa was supposed to be in a protected federal facility.
“Where are you?”
“Not protected.”
Claire heard traffic and heavy breathing.
“Cross works for Senator Vale,” Vanessa said. “The task force has been compromised from the beginning.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because Malcolm wasn’t trying to erase only you.”
A car horn sounded in the background.
“He was building replacements.”
“Replacements for whom?”
“For every wealthy heir whose family could be controlled.”
Claire’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You were selected before you ever met Nathaniel.”
The line went silent.
Then Vanessa sent an address.
May you like
Beneath it was a photograph of Claire at seventeen years old.
Someone had circled her face in red ink.
