Chapter 8 - Who Found Marcus?
Daniel hit the floor.
David dragged Marcus behind a stone fireplace.
A second shot tore through the wall.
Then silence.
David moved fast.
He opened a hidden panel beneath the stairs.
“Tunnel.”
Daniel stared.
“You built this?”
“Charles did.”
They crawled through darkness and emerged near the old boathouse.
A black vehicle fled up the road.
No plates.
David did not chase.
“That was a warning.”
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“You knew they were watching.”
“I knew Charles had found Marcus.”
“How?”
David pulled out a burner phone.
Photos.
Marcus at school.
Rachel at work.
Emily and Marcus leaving a movie.
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“Who sent these?”
“Someone inside the trust.”
“Name.”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus said, “Then what do you know?”
David looked at him.
“That your phone is compromised.”
Marcus froze.
David took it.
Removed the case.
Tiny secondary module.
Tracker.
Installed beneath the battery frame.
Rachel’s car had one too.
Daniel called his team.
They found another tracker.
Registered through North Briar.
Margaret’s security contractor.
Daniel stared at David.
“So Mom did it.”
“No.”
“Her company.”
“Charles controls old vendor authorizations.”
David handed Daniel a folder.
Inside:
Trust documents.
Power of attorney.
Ruth Carter’s signature.
Daniel’s dead grandmother.
Active account.
Authorized attorney:
Richard Sloan.
Daniel whispered, “Sloan.”
David nodded.
“He handled my fake death.”
“And yours?”
“Charles’s too.”
Marcus opened another document.
A petition challenging his legal identity.
Already drafted.
Claim:
No verified paternal lineage.
Fraudulent Carter claim.
“They’re trying to erase me before I’m recognized.”
“Yes.”
“Who signed it?”
Daniel looked.
RUTH CARTER.
Dead nineteen years.
Rachel whispered, “This is insane.”
David shook his head.
“No. It is organized.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What happens if Marcus is erased legally?”
“Charles controls the succession.”
“And if Marcus dies?”
David’s jaw tightened.
“Same result.”
Marcus stepped back.
Emily’s name appeared on another page.
Alternative beneficiary.
EMILY CARTER.
Daniel froze.
David saw it.
“That’s new.”
“What?”
“They’re positioning her.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
“For what?”
“If Marcus dies before eighteen, Emily inherits the secondary block.”
Marcus whispered, “Then they’ll make it look like her family benefited.”
David nodded.
“Exactly.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
News alert.
Anonymous source alleges Carter heiress involved in secret relationship with disputed heir.
Emily’s photo.
Marcus’s photo.
Headline:
LOVE, MONEY, AND A $400 MILLION TRUST.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“They’re building motive.”
David said, “No.”
Daniel looked at him.
May you like
“They’re building a frame.”
CUT.
