Chapter 6 - THE FIRST BODY
Nathan ran.
Aaron reached the kitchen first.
One of the security officers lay beside the back entrance.
Alive.
Bleeding from the shoulder.
The rear service door stood open.
Victoria was gone.
So was Richard.
Nathan turned.
His uncle had disappeared somewhere between the basement and the kitchen.
“Seal everything.”
Aaron shook his head.
“South gate just opened using executive override.”
Nathan already knew whose authorization could do that.
Richard.
Security footage showed Richard’s Bentley leaving the property.
Another camera showed Victoria inside.
Nathan stared at the screen.
His uncle had rescued her.
Or she had rescued him.
Neither possibility was good.
Margaret remained near the monitor.
Her face was pale.
“He lied.”
Nathan nodded.
“About what?”
“The second ring.”
She touched the original ring on Nathan’s desk.
“My father told me when I was young that there was only one.”
Nathan looked at the duplicate.
“Could the second be fake?”
Margaret examined it.
“No.”
The engraving beneath both stones was identical.
Except for one detail.
The original ring Nathan wore carried a tiny letter E.
The second carried an R.
Eleanor.
Richard.
Nathan suddenly understood.
“My mother and Richard each had one.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“Which means my father divided authority between them.”
Aaron entered.
“We found Victoria’s hidden bag.”
Inside were passports, cash, and a flash drive.
Nathan plugged the drive into an isolated laptop.
One folder appeared.
CROWN SUCCESSION.
Inside were scanned documents.
Most were legal instruments Nathan had never seen.
One document contained Margaret’s full name.
Margaret Anne Ellis.
Beneficiary and conditional trustee.
Another contained Nathan’s.
Nathan Whitmore.
Custodian.
Margaret looked confused.
“Custodian of what?”
Nathan opened the final file.
The page had been damaged.
Only one paragraph remained readable.
Upon confirmation of hostile acquisition, the Custodian shall transfer the Ellis Seal to the Trustee in the presence of two recognized witnesses.
Nathan looked at the ring.
Margaret looked at him.
Richard’s earlier warning returned to him.
You shouldn’t be wearing that.
Nathan suddenly understood why.
The ring had never been Nathan’s authority.
He had been holding it for Margaret.
Eleanor had given it to him because she knew one day he might have to return it.
Nathan removed the ring.
Margaret shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know what happens when you do.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“That has never stopped you from cleaning up everyone else’s disasters.”
“This one could destroy your company.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You think I care about the company more than I care about what’s right?”
Margaret said nothing.
That hurt more than he expected.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Seven years, Margaret.”
“You ran this house.”
“You protected my mother when she was sick.”
“You protected my employees when I failed to notice what Victoria was doing.”
“And apparently, my family has been holding something that belongs to you for decades.”
He took Margaret’s hand.
Then he slid the black signet ring onto her finger.
The room went silent.
Aaron stared.
Margaret stared at the ring.
Nathan’s voice was quiet.
“If this is yours, then I’m finished wearing it.”
At that exact moment, every screen in the security room went black.
Then one message appeared.
TRANSFER RECOGNIZED.
ELLIS TRUST ACTIVE.
Margaret pulled her hand back.
“Oh, God.”
Nathan stared at the screen.
A second message appeared.
CUSTODIAN AUTHORITY ACCEPTED.
Then a third.
HOSTILE SUCCESSION PROTOCOL INITIATED.
Aaron’s phone began ringing.
Then Nathan’s.
Then Margaret’s.
Across the country, Whitmore executives were suddenly locked out of financial systems.
Nathan answered his phone.
His chief financial officer was shouting.
“Nathan, thirty-four percent of Whitmore Global just changed voting control.”
“To whom?”
The CFO hesitated.
“Margaret Ellis.”
Everyone looked at her.
Margaret stared at the ring on her finger.
Then the final message appeared.
May you like
SAMUEL ELLIS STATUS.
ALIVE.
