Chapter 9 - The Price of Silence.
Ethan unscrewed the cap from the fuel can.
The sharp smell of kerosene filled the bright kitchen that had once smelled of coffee and lemon soap.
Skyley kept one hand near the memory module in her pocket.
"Burning the house will not erase the deed."
"This was never only about the house."
He tipped a thin line of fuel across the floor.
"Your mother's archive can prove Graham moved money before she died."
"Did he kill her too?"
Ethan hesitated, and that hesitation answered more than words.
"Give me the ring."
"Show me Vanessa first."
He opened a video feed on the wall display.
Vanessa sat bound inside Ethan's car in the underground garage at Hale Hearth headquarters.
A digital timer glowed on the dashboard beside her.
Forty-six minutes remained.
"The car is connected to the building's old test battery," Ethan said.
"When the timer reaches zero, the doors seal and the battery overheats."
Skyley studied the reflection in the video.
The garage camera behind the car displayed Bay 17.
"You want the ring and the black card."
"The ring opens the founder's vault."
"The card authorizes the dormant account."
Ethan smiled.
"You finally understand why I married you."
The sentence released the last piece of grief Skyley had carried for him.
She removed the decoy ring from her pocket and placed it on the island.
"The card is already here."
Ethan picked up both objects.
He did not notice the tiny scratch the jeweler had placed inside the false band.
"Unlock the shutters."
"After I leave."
The kitchen system announced that police were approaching the property line.
Ethan cursed and ran through the service hall.
Skyley used the real metal strip hidden beneath her watchband to open the manual safety panel.
The shutters rose four inches before the system jammed.
She dropped to the floor and forced herself beneath the metal edge.
Glass scraped her cardigan as she crawled onto the patio.
Nora and Ortiz met her at the orchard gate.
"He is heading to Hale Hearth," Skyley gasped.
"Vanessa is in Bay 17."
They raced downtown while Martin accessed the garage system from a police laptop.
The timer fell below twenty minutes.
Martin mapped the garage circuits and warned that cutting power would engage the battery's mechanical lock.
Ethan had designed the trap so the most obvious rescue attempt would finish it.
Ethan reached the headquarters first and used Graham's credentials to enter.
Skyley arrived as smoke began rising from the hood of the locked car.
Vanessa struck the window weakly from inside while the automatic climate controls poured hotter air into the cabin.
The system rejected Ortiz's emergency code because Ethan had registered the vehicle under a shell company.
Skyley recognized the company name from the black card ledger and used its original acquisition date as the administrator password.
She pressed her mother's metal key into the emergency terminal while Martin bypassed the electronic deadbolt.
The doors opened with ninety seconds remaining.
Ortiz dragged Vanessa out as the battery casing ruptured in a burst of heat.
Skyley looked toward the executive elevators.
Ethan was already riding to the top floor with the decoy ring and black card.
The dormant account sent Skyley an alert before the elevator reached him.
Someone had initiated a transfer of thirty-eight million dollars using her name.
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ONE HOUR TO VACATE | DOMESTIC SUSPENSE
