Chapter 13
The next week was a blur of FBI agents, DNA tests, and digging into the past.
Everything we thought we knew was wrong.
Elias Hale had faked his death in the car crash that killed my grandfather, Richard Hale, twenty-eight years earlier.
He’d suffered severe burns in the crash, had dozens of plastic surgeries to change his face, then killed Nathaniel’s real uncle—also named Elias Cross—and stolen his identity.
He’d married Nathaniel’s mom, had Nathaniel and his brother (the real Elias Cross, who we’d thought was the bad guy all along), then slowly worked his way up the Cross family business, biding his time, waiting for the Hale fortune to become available when I turned twenty-five.
Nathaniel’s mom had died in a "car accident" when Nathaniel was twelve.
We now knew Elias had killed her.
She’d found out who he really was, what he’d done, and he’d silenced her.
The real Elias Cross—Nathaniel’s brother—had been killed by his own dad ten years earlier, when he’d tried to expose the embezzlement.
Elias Hale had framed him for the theft, had him sent to prison, then had him killed in his cell two years later.
Everyone thought he was still alive, still running from the law.
But he’d been dead for eight years.
Every bad thing that had ever happened to Nathaniel, to my mom, to me...
It all led back to Elias Hale.
The monster hiding in plain sight.
The FBI launched a nationwide manhunt.
His face was on every news channel, every billboard, every airport in the country.
But he was still gone.
A ghost.
Then, on a Tuesday morning, he called.
Nathaniel’s personal cell phone rang, a number he didn’t recognize.
He answered, putting it on speaker so the FBI agents in the room could hear.
"Hello, Nathaniel," Elias said.
His voice was calm, smooth, no trace of fear.
"Or should I call you son? Even though we both know you’re not really my son. You’re just a means to an end. A useful idiot I raised to take over the Cross company so I could drain it dry while you played CEO."
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
"What do you want, Elias?"
"I want what’s mine," Elias said.
"The Hale fortune. Two hundred and fifty million dollars. You’re gonna wire it to an account in the Cayman Islands by midnight tonight. And you’re gonna give me Grace. She’s the only one who can sign the trust over to me. Once I have her, I’ll make her sign. Then I’ll kill her, kill the baby, and disappear. And you get to live. You get to keep your company. Your life. All you have to do is give me what I want."
"Go to hell," Nathaniel said.
"I’m not giving you a dime. And I’m not giving you Grace or Clara. You’re gonna rot in prison for the rest of your life. Or I’m gonna kill you first. Whichever comes first."
Elias laughed, a cold, hollow sound.
"You think you have a choice? I’m at the Westchester house right now. With Maggie. If I don’t get the money and Grace by midnight, I’m gonna kill her. Slow. And then I’m gonna come for the baby. And I’m gonna make you watch while I break her little neck. Tick tock, Nathaniel. Midnight. Don’t be late."
He hung up.
The room erupted.
FBI agents were yelling, running for their cars, calling for backup, for SWAT, for helicopters.
Nathaniel stood up, grabbing his coat, his face like stone.
"We have to go," he said.
"Now."
I grabbed Clara, who was playing on the floor, holding her tight.
"I’m coming with you," I said.
"No," Nathaniel said, firm.
"It’s too dangerous. You stay here with the agents. I’ll get Maggie. I’ll get Elias. I’ll end this."
"He said he wants me," I said.
"If I’m not there, he’ll kill her. You know he will. Maggie raised me. She’s the only mom I ever really knew. I can’t let her die because of me. I’m going. And that’s final."
Nathaniel stared at me for a long time.
He knew I was right.
He knew Elias would kill Maggie without a second thought if I wasn’t there.
"Okay," he said.
"But you do exactly what I say. When I say run, you run. When I say hide, you hide. No heroics. Promise me."
"I promise," I said.
We left the penthouse, Clara with a trusted nanny and two FBI agents, and drove to the Westchester estate as fast as we could.
The FBI was already there, surrounding the house, snipers in the trees, SWAT teams waiting for the order to move in.
The lead agent, Miller, came over to us as we got out of the car.
"He’s in the library," he said.
"Thermal shows two people inside. Maggie’s alive. Tied to a chair. He’s got a gun to her head. He says if anyone comes within fifty feet of the house, he shoots her. He says he wants Grace to come in alone. Front door. Unlocked."
"I’ll go," I said.
"No," Miller said.
"It’s too dangerous. We can’t let you walk in there alone. He’ll kill you the second you step through the door."
"He’ll kill Maggie if I don’t," I said.
"I have to do this. I have a wire. Nathaniel and the team will hear everything. You’ll be right outside. If anything goes wrong, you storm in. It’s the only way."
Miller looked at Nathaniel.
Nathaniel nodded, his face tight with fear.
"She’s right," he said.
"It’s the only shot we have to get Maggie out alive. But I’m going in with her. We go in together. He wants Grace—he’ll have to take me too. And if he so much as touches a hair on either of their heads, I’ll kill him myself."
Miller hesitated, then nodded.
"Okay. But you wait for my signal. We’ll have snipers covering every window. If you see an opening, take it. We’ll be right behind you."
They put a wire on both of us, gave us bulletproof vests under our clothes, and walked us to the front door.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
My hands were shaking.
But I didn’t hesitate.
Maggie was in there.
She’d saved me so many times.
Now it was my turn to save her.
Nathaniel pushed open the front door.
We walked in together.
The house was dark, quiet.
The library door was open, a single light on inside.
We walked down the hall, our footsteps loud on the wood floors.
Elias was sitting in Nathaniel’s leather armchair, a gun in one hand, a glass of whiskey in the other.
He looked exactly like the photos of Nathaniel’s dad—same gray hair, same blue eyes, same cold smile.
But now I knew the truth.
He was a monster.
A killer.
A man who’d spent his whole life lying, stealing, and destroying everyone who got in his way.
Maggie was tied to a chair in front of him, a gag around her mouth, a cut on her cheek, her eyes wide with fear when she saw us.
"Close the door," Elias said, calm as anything.
"Lock it."
Nathaniel did.
"Good," Elias said, smiling.
"Family reunion. How nice. I’ve waited a long time for this, Grace. Your mom ruined everything when she ran off with the money. I spent twenty-eight years rebuilding my life, planning, waiting for you to grow up. And now you’re here. All I need is your signature on a few papers, and all of this goes away. Maggie lives. You live. The baby lives. Everyone wins."
"I’m not signing anything," I said, my voice steady.
"You killed my grandpa. You killed my mom. You killed Nathaniel’s mom. You killed his brother. You’ve spent your whole life killing people to get what you want. I’m not giving you a dime. You can kill me. You can kill Maggie. But you’ll never get that money. I made sure of it. Yesterday, I signed the entire Hale fortune over to a foundation for foster kids. It’s gone. Every last penny. You can’t have it. No one can. It’s not mine anymore. It’s not yours. It belongs to kids like me. Kids who have nothing."
Elias’s smile faded.
His face went red with rage.
He stood up, pointing the gun straight at me.
"You stupid little bitch," he screamed.
"You ruined everything! I spent twenty-eight years of my life for that money! I killed for it! I lied for it! I gave up everything for it! And you gave it away? To a bunch of worthless foster brats?"
He moved the gun to Maggie’s head.
Maggie whimpered behind her gag, tears rolling down her face.
"Fine," Elias said, his voice shaking with fury.
"If I can’t have the money, I’ll take what’s left. I’ll kill Maggie. Then I’ll kill you. Then I’ll go find that little brat of yours and snap her neck. And then I’ll kill Nathaniel slow. And I’ll die happy knowing I destroyed every single thing you ever loved."
He put his finger on the trigger.
*"NOW!"* Nathaniel yelled.
I dropped to the floor.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
Three shots rang out, so loud they made my ears ring.
The windows shattered.
Snipers firing from the trees.
Elias screamed, dropping the gun, clutching his chest, falling to his knees, blood pouring through his fingers.
The door burst open.
SWAT teams swarmed in, yelling, guns drawn.
Nathaniel ran to Maggie, cutting her free, pulling the gag out of her mouth, checking her over.
I ran to them, holding Maggie as she cried, holding Nathaniel, all three of us shaking.
Elias was lying on the floor, gasping for air, blood pooling around him.
He looked at me, his eyes full of hate.
"You... ruined... everything," he gasped.
I knelt down beside him, looking him in the eye.
"No," I said, quiet.
"You ruined everything. The day you killed my grandpa. The day you drove my mom into hiding. The day you decided money was more important than people. You did this to yourself. Not me."
He gasped one last time, his eyes going blank.
He was dead.
It was over.
Finally.
After twenty-eight years of lies, of pain, of fear...
It was over.
The paramedics ran in, checking Maggie, checking us, taking Elias’s body away.
The FBI agents were everywhere, collecting evidence, taking statements.
Nathaniel held me and Maggie tight, his tears falling onto our hair.
We walked out of the house together, into the cool night air, the stars bright above us.
For the first time in my whole life...
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I didn’t feel afraid.
I felt free.
