Chapter 3 - The Empty Vault
Mark shoved me violently toward the back of his house.
"Run through the garden and take my car, the keys are in the ignition," he ordered.
I hesitated, terrified of leaving my only ally behind to face whoever was breaking down his door.
"Go right now, Claire, or we both lose everything," he yelled, grabbing a heavy golf club from the corner.
I sprinted through the kitchen just as the front door finally gave way with a deafening crash.
I slipped out the back patio door, the freezing rain masking the sound of my frantic footsteps.
I found Mark's sleek sedan hidden in the detached garage and carefully backed it down the dark alleyway.
I knew exactly where I needed to go before Ethan could freeze all of my personal assets.
My father had left a master copy of the original family trust documents inside a highly secure safety deposit box downtown.
If I could retrieve those papers, I could definitively prove Ethan had forged the transfer of power.
I arrived at the private bank just as the heavy brass doors opened for regular business hours.
The bank manager looked at me nervously, clearly recognizing my completely disheveled state.
I demanded immediate access to the underground vault, slapping my platinum identification card onto the marble counter.
He escorted me down the winding stairs, his hands shaking slightly as he unlocked the heavy steel cage.
I inserted my physical key into box number 402 and aggressively yanked the metal drawer open.
My heart completely stopped beating in my chest.
The box was entirely empty.
There were no trust documents, no property deeds, and absolutely no emergency cash.
The only thing sitting at the bottom of the cold metal drawer was a cheap plastic burner phone and a handwritten note.
I picked up the small piece of paper with violently trembling fingers.
I immediately recognized the messy, distinctive handwriting as belonging to my older brother, David.
This was physically impossible, because David had died in a tragic boating accident three long years ago.
The note contained only one terrifying sentence.
May you like
"He didn't kill me in that crash, Claire, but he is going to kill you today if you don't answer this phone."
Just as I finished reading the unbelievable words, the plastic burner phone in the drawer began to ring.
