Chapter 6 - The Cabin in the Snow
Snow began falling as they drove north.
Caroline watched trees blur past the windows.
“My father loved winter up there.”
Ethan glanced at her.
“You spent much time at the cabin?”
“Every Christmas until I was nineteen.”
“Then?”
“My mother died.”
“I’m sorry.”
Caroline nodded.
“Dad stopped going afterward.”
“Maybe he didn’t.”
She turned toward him.
That thought hurt.
Perhaps Robert had returned secretly to collect evidence.
Perhaps every lonely weekend Caroline believed he spent working had actually been spent trying to protect his family.
They reached the private road just before three in the morning.
A black SUV sat near the entrance.
Ethan stopped.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Caroline.”
“If that cabin contains evidence about my father, I’m going.”
“This isn’t a board meeting.”
“I know.”
“There may be armed people inside.”
She looked at him.
“Then call the police.”
“I already did. Nearest unit is twenty minutes out.”
“I’m not waiting twenty minutes while someone burns the place down.”
Caroline got out.
Ethan muttered something under his breath and followed.
The cabin stood beyond a line of pine trees.
One downstairs light was on.
The front door hung open.
Caroline’s pulse thundered.
They entered quietly.
The living room had been ransacked.
A fire crackled in the stone fireplace.
Papers covered the floor.
Then someone moved upstairs.
Ethan raised one hand.
“Stay behind me.”
They climbed.
At the end of the hallway, a woman stood beside Robert’s old bedroom.
Sloane.
Her white gala dress was gone.
She wore black pants and Grant’s winter coat.
Caroline recognized it immediately.
Sloane held a metal lockbox.
She froze.
“Caroline.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Put it down.”
Sloane looked at him.
“Who are you?”
“Someone asking politely.”
Caroline stared at the lockbox.
“What’s inside?”
“Nothing.”
“Then you won’t mind leaving it.”
Sloane laughed nervously.
“You think you understand what’s happening.”
“I understand that you shoved me into a swimming pool three hours ago and are now burglarizing property belonging to my family.”
“This place belongs to a corporation.”
“A corporation controlled by Nathan.”
Sloane’s confidence flickered.
“You’re smarter than Grant said.”
Caroline smiled coldly.
“Grant has been wrong about several things.”
Sloane suddenly looked toward the window.
Headlights approached.
Another car.
“Damn it.”
Ethan grabbed the lockbox from her.
“Who’s coming?”
Sloane said nothing.
A car door slammed outside.
Then Grant’s voice called from downstairs.
“Caroline!”
She closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
Grant appeared at the top of the stairs.
His gaze landed on Sloane.
“What are you doing here?”
She laughed.
“You really are stupid.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“You told Cole about the cabin.”
“I told him plenty.”
“Why?”
“Because unlike you, he keeps his promises.”
Grant moved toward her.
Ethan stepped between them.
“Not now.”
Sloane folded her arms.
“You people have absolutely no idea.”
Caroline pointed at the lockbox.
“Open it.”
Ethan placed it on a table.
It required four digits.
Caroline thought.
Her father’s birthday?
Her mother’s?
Nathan’s?
Then she remembered the note.
Carrie.
Her father’s private name for her.
Caroline’s birthday.
Click.
The box opened.
Inside were three digital recorders.
Two ledgers.
A sealed vial.
And a handwritten notebook.
Caroline reached for the first recorder.
Sloane shouted.
“Don’t!”
Everyone looked at her.
“Why?”
Sloane’s face had gone pale.
“Because Cole will kill all of us if you play that.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“He’ll kill us whether she plays it or not.”
Caroline pressed play.
Static.
Then her father’s voice.
“I want out.”
Darius Cole answered.
“No one gets out, Robert.”
“I have records.”
“So do I.”
“You touch my children and I’ll bury you.”
Cole laughed softly.
“You should be more worried about your son-in-law.”
Grant closed his eyes.
On the recording Robert said, “Grant is weak.”
Cole answered, “Grant is useful.”
Caroline looked at her husband.
Grant stared at the floor.
The recording continued.
Robert: “He’ll turn on you.”
Cole: “Maybe. But not before I get what I need.”
Robert: “You’re never getting the foundation.”
Cole: “I don’t need the foundation. I need the land.”
Caroline frowned.
“What land?”
Nathan had never mentioned land.
Grant looked equally confused.
The recording ended.
Caroline opened the notebook.
Her father had listed foundation properties.
Schools.
Scholarship centers.
Community housing projects.
Then one parcel was circled repeatedly.
RAVENWOOD — 418 ACRES.
Ethan leaned closer.
“Where is Ravenwood?”
“Virginia,” Caroline said. “The foundation inherited it from my grandfather.”
“What’s there?”
“Nothing. Forest.”
Sloane laughed quietly.
“No.”
Caroline looked at her.
Sloane’s expression changed.
“You really don’t know.”
“What?”
“Ravenwood isn’t valuable because of what’s on it.”
“Then why?”
“Because of what’s underneath it.”
Before Caroline could ask, a gunshot shattered the downstairs window.
Everyone dropped.
Ethan dragged Caroline behind the bed.
Grant pulled Sloane down.
Another shot struck the wall.
“Cole?” Caroline whispered.
Ethan nodded.
“Probably.”
Grant crawled toward the hallway.
Ethan grabbed his jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“There’s a back staircase.”
“Stay down.”
“I can distract them.”
Caroline stared.
“Grant, don’t.”
He looked at her.
For one second, she saw the man she had once loved.
Not the liar.
Not the coward.
Just Grant.
“I owe you more than an apology,” he said.
Then he ran.
“Grant!”
He disappeared downstairs.
Seconds later the back door slammed.
A car engine roared.
Gunfire followed.
Caroline tried to stand.
Ethan held her back.
“Wait.”
The shooting stopped.
Silence.
Then sirens.
Police vehicles appeared through the trees.
Caroline ran downstairs.
Outside, Grant lay in the snow.
Blood spread across his shoulder.
She dropped beside him.
“Grant.”
His eyes opened.
“You okay?”
The absurdity almost made her cry.
“You’ve been shot and you’re asking me?”
“Seemed polite.”
Police rushed past toward the woods.
Sloane came outside slowly.
She looked terrified.
“They’ll find Cole.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
Caroline looked toward him.
“What?”
“He wasn’t here.”
“How do you know?”
Ethan held up a shell casing.
“Professional ammunition.”
Sloane’s face drained.
“Cole doesn’t use professionals.”
“Who does?”
She looked at Grant.
Grant whispered one name.
“Nathan.”
Caroline stared at him.
“My brother is in a hospital.”
Grant shook his head.
“Not Nathan Whitmore.”
“Then who?”
Grant struggled to sit up.
“Nathan Cole.”
Caroline’s blood went cold.
Ethan frowned.
“Who is Nathan Cole?”
Grant looked at Caroline.
“Darius’s son.”
Caroline stared.
“And what does that have to do with us?”
Grant’s answer changed everything again.
“Because you know him.”
She shook her head.
“No, I don’t.”
Grant winced.
“Yes, you do.”
“Who is he?”
Grant looked toward Ethan.
Caroline followed his gaze.
Ethan Cross had gone completely still.
And suddenly Caroline understood.
The man who had appeared beside the elevator.
The man who claimed to be helping investigate Darius Cole.
The man she had trusted enough to bring to her father’s cabin.
May you like
Ethan spoke first.
“My real name is Ethan Cole.”
