Chapter 4 - The Fire They Tried to Start
The first man reached the porch before he realized we were waiting.
I stepped into the doorway with my weapon lowered but visible.
“Put the fuel can down.”
He froze.
Behind him, Jack aimed the shotgun toward the ground beside the second man.
“Listen to the captain,” Jack said. “She’s more patient than I am.”
The second intruder ran.
He reached the trees before one of the private security guards intercepted him. They struggled briefly, crashing through wet leaves, before the guard forced him onto the ground.
The man on the porch dropped the fuel can.
Both were young, frightened, and clearly not professional criminals. One had a prior record for burglary. The other worked for a landscaping company owned by a Hale Meridian subsidiary.
State police arrived twenty minutes later.
The men refused to say who had hired them, but their phones contained text messages ordering them to “clear the old site” and destroy “paper contamination.”
The sender used a prepaid number.
Victor would deny everything.
Still, the attempt changed the situation. We were no longer dealing with aggressive business tactics. Someone was willing to destroy evidence and risk lives.
Robert arrived the next morning with two investigators and a representative from the state attorney general’s office.
The cabin became a command center.
Documents were cataloged. Original records were transferred to secure storage. Investigators photographed the hidden room and collected the fuel can, crowbar, and discarded gloves.
By noon, news of the attempted arson had somehow reached Megan.
She called thirteen times.
I ignored every call.
Then Mom arrived.
She stepped from her car wearing a wool coat and the expression of someone approaching a hospital room.
“I need to speak with you alone.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“You gave Megan information she passed to Victor. There are no private conversations anymore.”
Jack remained near the fireplace. Robert stood beside the table.
Mom looked embarrassed.
“This is family business.”
“Two men tried to burn the cabin with us inside. It stopped being family business.”
Her face lost color.
“Megan said it was just meant to frighten you.”
The room went completely still.
Robert spoke first.
“Megan knew about the plan?”
Mom realized her mistake.
“No. I didn’t mean—”
I stepped closer.
“Tell me exactly what she said.”
“She called last night. She was hysterical. She said Victor was going to send people to make you understand how serious he was.”
“And you didn’t call me?”
“I thought he would threaten you. I didn’t think anyone would set a fire.”
“You knew people were coming to intimidate me and stayed silent.”
“I was trying to calm Megan.”
“You were protecting her.”
“I was protecting both of you.”
“No. You were protecting the daughter whose mistakes you recognize because you helped create them.”
Mom’s lips trembled.
“You think I don’t love you?”
“I think you love me when loving me costs nothing.”
The words landed harder than I intended, but I did not take them back.
She sank into a chair.
For the first time, she told the whole story.
Megan’s company had failed nearly eighteen months earlier. She concealed the losses by borrowing against future investments and presenting false revenue statements. Victor Hale learned about the situation through one of his financial advisers.
He offered to rescue her.
In return, she promised to help him acquire the Adirondack property.
Dad discovered the agreement when Victor sent documents to the house. He confronted Megan. She blamed everyone—her employees, the economy, even Dad for not investing enough.
“He told her he would pay legitimate creditors,” Mom said, “but only if she gave him complete records.”
“She refused,” Robert guessed.
Mom nodded.
“She said he was humiliating her.”
“So Dad changed the will,” I said.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four days later.”
Robert confirmed it.
Dad had removed Megan from several trusts and separated the Miami apartment from other family assets. He also updated the cabin inheritance to include every associated right.
Megan believed Dad had eventually forgiven her.
He had not.
He had simply stopped arguing.
“Why didn’t you tell me he was sick?” I asked.
“He didn’t want you to leave your duties.”
“I could have taken emergency leave.”
“He said you would come home and try to fix everything.”
“Was he wrong?”
Mom looked at me with unbearable sadness.
“No.”
That was the tragedy of it.
Dad knew I would come.
He also knew the family would place every broken piece in my hands and expect me to rebuild it while Megan complained about the dust.
A vehicle approached outside.
Megan’s white Mercedes stopped hard beside the porch.
She entered without knocking.
Her carefully styled hair was disheveled. Dark circles showed beneath her eyes. She wore designer clothes, but one heel was broken and mud stained the hem of her coat.
“You told them?” she shouted at Mom.
Mom rose.
“Megan, please.”
“You promised!”
Two security guards moved closer, but I raised a hand.
“Let her speak.”
Megan pointed at me.
“This is your fault.”
“The arson?”
“Everything!”
“You borrowed the money.”
“Because Dad refused to support me.”
“He gave you nearly three million dollars over five years.”
“That was investment capital.”
“It was money you lost.”
Her face twisted.
“You always do this. You walk into a room and everyone thinks you’re the strong one. The honorable one. You make the rest of us look weak.”
“I didn’t create your fraud.”
“You think wearing that uniform makes you better than me?”
“No. Taking responsibility makes me different from you.”
She rushed toward me.
Jack stepped forward, but Megan stopped just inches away.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Sell the land.”
“No.”
“Victor will destroy me.”
“He may go to prison.”
“You don’t understand him.”
“Then help us.”
Fear replaced anger.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
She glanced toward the windows.
“He has copies of everything. Emails. Contracts. Financial reports I changed.”
“Testify against him.”
“And confess?”
“Yes.”
“I could go to prison.”
“You could.”
Mom gasped as though I had struck Megan.
“You would let your sister go to prison?”
“I would let her face the consequences of her decisions.”
Megan stared at me.
Then her expression became strangely calm.
“You really don’t care whether I survive.”
“That isn’t true.”
“It is.”
She turned and walked out.
Mom hurried after her.
I watched from the window as they argued beside the car. Megan pulled away when Mom tried to touch her, then drove down the dirt road too quickly.
At 4:30 that afternoon, Robert received an emergency filing.
Hale Meridian had filed suit claiming Dad had entered a verbal agreement to sell the property before his death. The company sought an injunction preventing me from transferring, developing, or publicly disclosing information about the land.
Attached to the filing was a signed letter.
The signature appeared to be Dad’s.
The letter stated that he intended to sell Victor the entire property for two million dollars.
Robert studied it.
“It’s a forgery.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Eventually.”
The hearing was scheduled for two days later.
Victor had chosen a judge known for favoring business interests.
He had also attached an affidavit from Megan claiming she witnessed Dad agree to the sale.
My sister had crossed the line from deception into perjury.
That evening, I found a new envelope inside the hidden room.
It had slipped behind one of the filing cabinets.
On the front, Dad had written:
For Emily, if Megan chooses Hale.
May you like
Inside was a flash drive and one sentence.
Play this only when she lies under oath.
