Chapter 2 - Eleanor’s Chest
The chest had not disappeared.
Victoria had told everyone it had.
That realization followed David from the stable into the old estate office while the storm raged over Mercer Ridge.
Noah sat on the leather sofa wrapped in a wool blanket. Maya remained beside him.
Victoria stood near the door.
David placed the silver key and folded document on his desk.
“Where is Mother’s chest?”
Victoria laughed once.
“You’re basing this on a child finding an old key?”
“I’m basing it on your face when you saw it.”
“You’re emotional.”
“My son was locked in a tack room.”
“He was never in danger.”
Noah’s head lifted.
“You hit the wall with the crop.”
Victoria glanced at him.
David immediately said, “Don’t look at him.”
Something in his voice made her turn back.
Maya handed David her phone.
“I saved the video to the stable server and emailed myself a copy.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“You work for Mercer Ridge.”
“I work for the company,” Maya said. “Not for you personally.”
“I’m CFO.”
“And he’s CEO.”
David pressed play.
Victoria’s own voice filled the room.
Give me the key.
Then the crack of the crop.
Noah flinched on-screen.
David stopped the video.
For the first time since entering the office, his hands shook.
Victoria noticed.
“He’s fine.”
David looked at her.
“That sentence may be the last mistake you make in this house.”
She crossed her arms.
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m telling you to leave.”
“This is my property too.”
“No. You own shares in the company. That does not give you permission to remain in my residence after terrorizing my son.”
Victoria’s nostrils flared.
“You want to play lawyer now?”
“No. I’m calling one.”
David contacted Samuel Price.
The seventy-three-year-old attorney had handled Eleanor Mercer’s estate and had retired three years earlier.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“David?”
“I found Mother’s silver key.”
Silence.
Then Samuel said, “Where?”
“In an old grooming box.”
A longer silence.
“Do you have the paper?”
David looked at the folded document.
“There was a recorded notice inside Noah’s helmet.”
Samuel inhaled sharply.
“Then Eleanor’s contingency worked.”
Victoria spun toward the phone.
“What contingency?”
David stared at her.
Samuel continued.
“You need to find the chest before Victoria does.”
Victoria moved toward the desk.
David covered the key with his hand.
“What’s in it?”
“Original trust documents. Board minutes. Letters. Possibly recordings.”
Victoria said loudly, “Samuel, don’t do this.”
Samuel heard her.
His voice changed.
“You’re there.”
“Yes.”
“Then David, remove her from the room.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Still theatrical after all these years.”
Samuel ignored her.
“Your mother suspected financial misconduct before she died.”
David’s mouth went dry.
“What misconduct?”
“I told her to confront you both together. She refused.”
“Why?”
“Because she trusted you.”
David felt no comfort in it.
“And Victoria?”
Samuel said nothing.
Victoria turned away.
David looked at the photograph again.
His mother outside the clerk’s office.
Samuel beside her.
Victoria in the background.
“You knew about North Meadow?”
“Yes.”
“Victoria says the restriction was superseded.”
“It was never superseded.”
David stared across the room.
Victoria’s shoulders became rigid.
Samuel continued.
“David, do not sign anything. Do not approve any transfer. And contact independent counsel. I represented the family. You need someone representing you and Noah now.”
“Where is the chest?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said find it.”
“Because Eleanor moved it.”
“Where?”
Samuel paused.
“She told me that if something happened to her, the key would eventually lead you to the truth.”
David looked down at the engraved horse.
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No. It’s what she gave me.”
Victoria suddenly stepped toward the door.
David said, “You’re not going anywhere with company records.”
She stopped.
“You cannot imprison me.”
“I’m not. Maya will watch you leave.”
Victoria looked at Noah.
This time there was something colder than anger in her expression.
“You have no idea what you started.”
David stood.
“He started nothing.”
Victoria smiled without humor.
“Ask him where the paper came from.”
Noah looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
She turned toward David.
“Someone hid evidence in your child’s helmet. Someone knew he would find that key. And you’re so desperate to blame me that you haven’t asked who put him in the middle.”
David hesitated.
It was enough.
Victoria saw the doubt.
She left.
Maya waited until the front door shut.
“She’s manipulating you.”
“I know.”
“But she’s also right about one thing.”
David looked at Noah’s helmet on the desk.
Maya lowered her voice.
“That paper didn’t get under the lining by accident.”
David examined the old photograph.
On the back, written in his mother’s handwriting, were seven words he had not noticed.
When David is ready, show him Stall Twelve.
David stood.
Maya whispered, “Stall Twelve has been sealed for years.”
David picked up the silver key.
“No.”
May you like
He looked toward the stable.
“It’s been waiting.”
