Chapter 11 - My Father’s Brother
By the time we reached Lake Briar, every road within three miles had been closed.
Federal teams positioned near property.
Bomb technicians waited.
Environmental crews prepared for contamination event.
And Nathan Grady sat somewhere inside my cabin.
Waiting for me.
Perez did not want me going in.
“He specifically asked for you. That’s exactly why you shouldn’t.”
“He has two agents.”
“We negotiate.”
“He called me niece.”
“He wants emotional leverage.”
“He already has it.”
I looked toward cabin through binoculars.
One upstairs window open.
Front porch visible.
Two agents restrained.
Alive.
Nathan had placed wired containers near hatch entrance.
Explosives.
Daniel stood beside Perez.
“Nathan wants recognition.”
“You knew him better?”
“Long ago.”
“What does he hate?”
“Being dismissed.”
Useful.
“What does he want from me?”
“Thomas’s forgiveness, probably.”
“Dad’s dead.”
“Then yours.”
That was almost funny.
A man possibly involved in my mother’s death wanted forgiveness from daughter he had never met.
“Can you prove Nathan ordered Mom’s crash?” I asked Linda Mercer through phone.
She was in federal custody at command post.
Her voice trembled.
“I never heard him order it.”
“Did he know beforehand?”
“Yes.”
That mattered.
“How?”
“Vance told him they needed to ‘stop Evelyn.’ Nathan didn’t ask what that meant.”
Cowardice could kill as efficiently as orders.
“What about Dad?”
Linda sobbed.
“Nathan told me Thomas was going to send us all to prison.”
“So you poisoned him.”
“He told me to make Thomas sick. Just enough to delay him.”
“Kell said same story.”
“I didn’t know dose was lethal.”
I felt nothing.
No sympathy.
Maybe later.
Not now.
Nathan called.
“Mara.”
“Uncle Nathan.”
He laughed softly.
“First time anyone has called me that.”
“Enjoy it.”
“You sound like Thomas.”
“So everyone keeps saying.”
“Come inside.”
“Release one agent.”
“No.”
“Then conversation ends.”
“You won’t walk away.”
“I’m Army. I’m very good at walking.”
Pause.
He liked resistance.
Needed it.
“Fine.”
One agent was released.
Good.
“Now I come.”
Perez objected.
I ignored him.
I wore wire.
No weapon visible.
I approached cabin alone.
Nathan opened door before I knocked.
Sixty-five.
Lean.
Burn scars along one hand.
He looked a little like Dad.
Enough to hurt.
“Hello, Mara.”
“Hello, Nathan.”
His smile faded at missing title.
“Come in.”
Cabin was wrecked.
Floor opened.
Wires everywhere.
Second agent tied near table.
“Sit.”
“I’ll stand.”
“Thomas did that too.”
“Why did you send him inspection report?”
Nathan watched me carefully.
“I wanted him to know truth.”
“Then you killed him.”
“I didn’t.”
“You told Linda to poison him.”
“I told her to slow him down.”
“You’re hiding behind dosage.”
His jaw tightened.
“Thomas was going to ruin everything.”
“What everything?”
“My chance to expose Vance on my terms.”
“There it is.”
Not justice.
Control.
Nathan continued.
“Robert destroyed my life.”
“You helped build his empire.”
“I was young.”
“So was Mom when you let him kill her.”
He looked away.
Good.
Guilt.
“I tried to stop it.”
“How?”
“I documented brake line.”
“After it was cut.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“I knew they planned something.”
“And you did nothing.”
His voice rose.
“I was terrified!”
I stayed calm.
“My mother died because a room full of terrified men kept protecting themselves.”
That landed.
He looked old suddenly.
Then hard again.
“Evelyn was reckless.”
“No. She was brave. You just hated the comparison.”
He stepped closer.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“Do you know why Thomas bought this cabin?”
“To protect evidence.”
“Partly.”
He smiled.
“He also bought it to protect me.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
“After Evelyn died, Thomas learned I had known about threat. He wanted to kill me.”
“Understandable.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“But he didn’t. Instead he hid records here and made a deal. I disappeared. He protected secret that I survived fire. In return, I stayed away from you girls.”
“Then why return?”
“Because he broke deal.”
“When he investigated again.”
“Yes.”
“After you sent report.”
Nathan’s expression flickered.
Contradiction.
“You caused him to break deal.”
“I wanted him to destroy Vance.”
“But not you.”
Silence.
“That’s why Dad had to die.”
“No.”
“You needed him angry enough to expose Vance but dead before he exposed you.”
His face changed.
Got him.
I continued.
“Linda didn’t accidentally overdose him.”
Nathan said nothing.
“She followed your instructions.”
Still nothing.
“The dose was calculated.”
His eyes went cold.
“Mara.”
“You murdered your brother.”
He struck me.
Hard.
I tasted blood.
The listening agents now had assault on wire, but not enough to rush without risking hostage and explosives.
I remained standing.
“Feel better?”
Nathan stared.
“You are exactly like her.”
“Good.”
He turned toward open hatch.
“Come.”
We descended.
Wires ran into tunnel.
Charges placed along support columns.
He intended controlled collapse.
Or thought he did.
“What do you want?”
“Federal immunity.”
I nearly laughed.
“You kidnapped agents and wired contaminated site with explosives.”
“I have original ledgers.”
That stopped me.
He opened steel case.
Inside old books.
Stamped Briar Chemical.
Originals.
Names.
Payments.
Everything.
“You stole them from Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Why bring them here?”
“Leverage.”
“What do I have to do with it?”
“You own subsurface rights.”
He produced papers.
Transfer agreement.
“If you sign Parcel Seven to a trust I control, I surrender evidence and explosives.”
“You mean you walk.”
“I disappear.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
I looked at document.
“No.”
He smiled sadly.
“Then I collapse mine.”
“You’ll poison lake.”
“Not if charges work.”
“If.”
“I know tunnels.”
“Twenty years ago.”
His face hardened.
I stepped closer.
“You don’t want to die.”
“No.”
“You don’t want to contaminate lake either.”
“No.”
“You just want us to believe you’re willing.”
Silence.
I pressed.
“That detonator isn’t armed.”
He looked at his hand.
Tiny mistake.
Enough.
I lunged.
We fought.
Detonator fell.
He kicked it away.
The second agent emerged from tunnel behind us.
He had freed himself upstairs and followed.
Nathan saw him.
Panicked.
Ran toward detonator.
Agent shouted.
“Don’t!”
Nathan grabbed it.
Pressed button.
Nothing.
I had been right.
He laughed.
Then reached inside jacket.
Pulled second trigger.
Real one.
My stomach dropped.
He pressed.
A red light flashed.
Somewhere deeper in mine, a timer began beeping.
Nathan smiled.
“You shouldn’t have embarrassed me.”
“How long?”
“Three minutes.”
He turned toward tunnel exit.
“But only one of us knows which wire stops it.”
May you like
Then he ran.
And the countdown reached 2:59.
