Chapter 14 - The Weather Station
Derek wanted to go to Frostline.
The sheriff said no.
He argued.
Ortiz looked at him.
“Are you armed?”
“No.”
“Trained for tactical rescue?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly are you adding?”
“He’s threatening my son.”
“And professionals are responding.”
Derek’s jaw tightened.
Ortiz continued.
“You already attacked the wrong man once because you acted before knowing the facts.”
That stopped him.
Derek stayed.
It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.
Deputies reached the abandoned weather station shortly after sunset.
They found Serena alone.
Cold.
Terrified.
No Grant.
Her left wrist was bruised.
She claimed Grant had restrained her and fled minutes earlier after noticing law-enforcement vehicles.
Investigators remained cautious.
Was she victim, accomplice, or both?
Probably both.
Serena was taken into custody for violating release conditions.
At the hospital, she asked to speak with prosecutors.
This time she told the full story of the slope.
Grant had selected the lane.
Grant ordered grooming staff away.
He showed Serena where to position the tube.
His plan was not merely to scare Caleb.
“He told me the barrier would make it look catastrophic.”
The prosecutor asked, “Did you understand Caleb could die?”
Serena cried.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Because Grant said if Caleb died, Frostline passed to Derek.”
“And how did that help you?”
“We believed Derek would sell.”
“Believed?”
“I knew how to make him feel guilty.”
The words disgusted even Serena as she said them.
She continued.
“Grant said Derek would blame himself for bringing us to the resort. I would support him. Then I would convince him the development was Emily’s legacy project.”
Derek listened to the recorded proffer later.
Serena had planned to comfort him after killing his son.
He had to stop the audio twice.
She continued.
The $3 million Summit Crest payment was an advance.
If Frostline access was not secured by March 31, White Pine owed repayment plus penalties.
Serena had spent nearly all of it.
Grant was already desperate.
Hale Mountain’s reserve-account fraud was collapsing.
Victor Lang wanted out.
Emily’s old documents threatened everything.
Then Caleb overheard Grant and Serena.
The child became both an obstacle and a witness.
The prosecutor asked, “Why blame Mason?”
Serena looked down.
“Grant knew Mason had Emily’s letter.”
“How?”
“Caroline mentioned him years ago.”
“And the video?”
“We didn’t know Olivia was recording.”
“Would you have continued lying if she hadn’t?”
Serena cried.
“Yes.”
That night Derek met Caleb by secure video call.
He did not tell him every detail.
But he told him enough.
“Serena admitted she let the tube go on purpose.”
Caleb stared.
“I told you.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t believe me at first.”
“No.”
Caleb looked away.
Derek said, “You should never have needed a video for your father to listen.”
Caleb’s eyes filled.
“Will she go to jail?”
“There will be a court case.”
“That means maybe.”
“Yes.”
Caleb frowned.
“I hate maybe.”
“Me too.”
Then Caleb asked, “Did Grant do it because of my mountain?”
“Partly.”
“Then I don’t want Frostline.”
Derek’s chest tightened.
“Why?”
“People keep trying to hurt me for it.”
Derek leaned toward the screen.
“The problem is not Frostline.”
“It feels like it.”
“The problem is adults deciding money matters more than you.”
Caleb was quiet.
“What if I give it away?”
“When you’re older, you can decide what it means to you.”
“Mom said leave only tracks.”
Derek smiled painfully.
“She did.”
“I want that.”
“Then we protect that.”
For once Derek felt no urge to explain market value.
No forty-six million.
No jobs.
No leverage.
Just his son’s choice.
The following morning Grant surfaced.
Not physically.
Financially.
He transferred $6.2 million from a hidden company account.
Federal agents froze part of it.
The remainder moved through cryptocurrency exchanges and offshore intermediaries.
Grant was preparing to flee.
But before disappearing, he sent Hale Mountain’s board a package.
Inside were documents accusing Derek of secretly authorizing the reserve transfers.
Several bore Derek’s electronic signature.
Susan Park called immediately.
“Are these real?”
Derek examined them.
The signatures looked real.
Some approval codes were his.
“I don’t know.”
“If they are authentic, you may be implicated.”
Derek felt the old instinct to deny everything.
Then he saw a date.
A transaction approved during Emily’s final hospitalization.
He remembered signing dozens of digital documents from his phone without reading them carefully.
His stomach dropped.
“What if I did authorize some of it?”
Susan went silent.
May you like
Derek whispered:
“Grant may not need to frame me.”
