Chapter 35
[Chapter 35: The Long-Distance Bargain]
“Dad,” Ethan screamed into the phone as he dialed the number linked to the video feed.
The video screen shifted. Richard picked up the phone, keeping the pistol leveled at Lauren, who was now frozen in terror, holding a crying Noah against her chest.
“Ethan,” Richard’s voice was calm, devoid of the grandfatherly warmth he had faked for a year. “I see you made it to Zurich. Your mother always did love that old library.”
“Why, Dad? Why Lauren? Why Noah?!” Ethan roared, helping Melissa up the stairs of the cellar.
“Because the construction firm was bankrupt five years ago, Ethan,” Richard said coldly. “You were too busy managing projects to see the books. I owed millions to the wrong people. The insurance payout from your house fire was supposed to cover it, but the corporate freeze your lawyer put on the shares ruined everything. I need the Swiss keys. The ones your mother has in that ledger.”
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“I have the ledger, Dad! I have it in my hand!” Ethan lied, grabbing the book off Patricia’s desk as they burst back into the library. Patricia watched him, her expression a mask of amused detachment. “Leave Lauren and Noah alone. I will wire the funds to whatever account you want.”
“You don’t know how to route the funds, Ethan. Only your mother does,” Richard said. “Here’s the deal. You put Patricia on the phone. She gives me the secondary authorization codes, or I end this story right here in Iowa. I’ve spent sixty years being the nice guy, son. It didn't pay the bills.”
