Chapter 19 - THE FINAL MOVE
|
Security was increased around the hospital.
Marcus contacted the district attorney, and officers began searching for Camden.
But Camden was already gone.
His apartment was empty.
His office had been cleared.
His private vehicle was found abandoned near the airport.
Holly stood beside Nora's hospital bed, speaking quietly with Marcus.
“He may be trying to leave the country,” Marcus said.
“Can he?” Nora asked.
“Not if the authorities issue a formal alert.”
Holly looked at her.
“Your priority is the baby.”
Nora nodded.
But she could not stop thinking about the photograph.
Camden knew when she was due.
He knew where she was staying.
And he had already tried to use the pregnancy against her.
The next afternoon, the district attorney obtained an arrest warrant.
The charges included fraud, conspiracy, falsification of corporate records, and participation in the unlawful confinement of Eleanor Whitmore.
Gideon was arrested at his home.
Arthur Pike was taken into custody after attempting to cross into another state.
Camden remained missing.
Then Bianca called.
“I know where he is.”
Marcus put the call on speaker.
“Where?”
“An old Breakwater property outside Worcester. It's where he kept the original merger documents.”
“Why would he go there?”
“Because there's a safe. He thinks he can destroy the records before the investigators reach it.”
Nora looked at Holly.
“Tell them.”
Bianca gave the address.
Marcus contacted the authorities.
Within an hour, officers surrounded the property.
Camden was found inside the office, burning documents in a metal waste container.
He was arrested without resistance.
The safe contained cash, passports, and a collection of files connected to the Whitmore trust.
It also contained a letter addressed to Nora.
The district attorney delivered it to Holly.
Nora read it alone.
I know you will never forgive me. I know you believe I married you for the company. That isn't how it started.
She continued reading.
At first, I thought you were a way into the Whitmore family. Then I fell in love with you. I didn't know what to do with the truth, so I kept choosing the lie.
Nora stopped.
There were more paragraphs.
Camden described their early years, their first apartment, the night Breakwater won its first contract, and the moment he learned Nora was pregnant.
He claimed he had wanted to tell her everything.
He claimed Gideon threatened him.
He claimed he had been trapped.
But the final paragraph destroyed any remaining sympathy.
I thought if I could secure the trust and the company, I could give you the life you deserved. I thought you'd understand once everything was safe.
Nora folded the letter.
He had always believed that the ends justified what he did to her.
He had mistaken possession for protection.
Holly sat beside her.
“Do you want to respond?”
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She placed the letter in the evidence folder.
“Let the court answer him.”
That night, Nora's contractions began.
The doctor checked her and told her the baby was coming.
Holly took her hand.
“Ready?”
Nora looked at the ceiling.
“No.”
May you like
Then she smiled faintly.
“But I'm going anyway.”
