Chapter 6 - The Wedding Trap
Maria made a sound Daniel would remember for the rest of his life.
Not a scream.
Something deeper.
A mother’s body reacting before her mind could stop it.
She stepped toward Noah.
Vanessa tightened her grip around him.
“Don’t.”
Maria froze.
Noah stared at her.
“Mom.”
“I’m here, baby.”
Daniel forced himself to remain calm.
“Vanessa, this ends now.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s eyes were red.
Her perfect control was cracking.
“It ends Saturday.”
“Our wedding?”
“Exactly.”
Andrew laughed once.
“You’re insane.”
Vanessa pointed the gun at him.
“You should be grateful. Half the world mourned you.”
“You murdered my mother.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“No.”
“Your father did.”
Silence.
Daniel watched her carefully.
She didn’t deny it.
Vanessa moved toward a secondary door.
“Noah comes with me.”
Maria started forward again.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Let him go.”
“Saturday,” Vanessa said. “You will appear at the wedding. You will sign the final Hart Meridian merger certification in front of the board members attending the reception.”
Daniel stared at her.
“And if I don’t?”
Vanessa lowered her mouth toward Noah’s hair.
“Then the Whitmore family loses another son.”
She disappeared through the door.
Daniel ran after her.
The passage led to the gardens.
A helicopter was already lifting beyond the trees.
Daniel stood beneath the violent wind as Noah disappeared into the darkness.
Maria collapsed against him.
Saturday was thirty hours away.
Daniel made his decision before sunrise.
He would give Vanessa exactly what she wanted.
A wedding.
The ceremony remained scheduled at the Bel-Air estate of Senator Charles Renwick, a longtime Whitmore family friend.
Three hundred guests were expected.
Executives.
Investors.
Judges.
Reporters.
People Vanessa believed would give legitimacy to the merger.
Daniel contacted the FBI instead.
Samuel had already copied portions of the ledger.
Andrew agreed to provide testimony.
Maria identified Victor Hart’s surveillance room.
Federal investigators entered quietly.
No public arrests.
Not yet.
They needed Noah alive.
By Saturday afternoon, Daniel wore a black tuxedo while a federal agent wired a microphone beneath his shirt.
“You need her to confirm where the child is,” the agent said.
Daniel nodded.
“And Malcolm?”
“We arrest when we have Noah.”
The music began at six.
Guests stood.
Vanessa appeared at the end of the aisle in a white gown.
Daniel felt nothing.
No love.
No nostalgia.
Only rage hidden beneath a pleasant expression.
She reached him.
“You look nervous,” she whispered.
“My fiancée kidnapped my nephew.”
Vanessa smiled toward the guests.
“And yet here you are.”
The ceremony began.
Daniel endured every word.
When the officiant asked whether anyone objected, he almost looked toward the doors expecting Andrew to appear.
He didn’t.
Vanessa had demanded he remain hidden.
The ceremony proceeded until the vows.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Before I promise you anything, I want proof Noah is alive.”
Vanessa’s smile tightened.
“Not here.”
“Now.”
She studied him.
Then squeezed his hand.
“After the ceremony.”
Daniel stepped back.
Murmurs spread through the guests.
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“Daniel.”
“No Noah, no wedding.”
The microphone hidden beneath his shirt captured every word.
Vanessa leaned closer.
“He is alive.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“In a house your family forgot it owned.”
Daniel thought rapidly.
Whitmore owned dozens.
Vanessa smiled.
“Your mother’s beach house.”
Malibu.
The property had stood vacant since Eleanor died.
The FBI agent listening remotely now had a destination.
Daniel extended his hand.
Vanessa relaxed.
The ceremony continued.
Twenty-two minutes later, the officiant pronounced them husband and wife.
Daniel did not kiss her.
Vanessa whispered:
“Smile.”
He did.
Guests applauded.
During the reception, Malcolm approached holding champagne.
“You look miserable, nephew.”
Daniel smiled.
“I learned from the best.”
Malcolm’s eyes narrowed.
At seven twelve, Daniel received a vibration from the emergency transmitter against his wrist.
One pulse.
Federal teams had reached the Malibu house.
Two pulses would mean Noah secured.
Five minutes passed.
Nothing.
Ten.
Nothing.
Vanessa appeared beside him.
“Time to sign.”
A temporary stage had been arranged near the ballroom.
Board members gathered.
Reporters raised cameras.
The merger documents waited.
Daniel walked to the table.
Malcolm stood on one side.
Vanessa on the other.
Daniel picked up the pen.
His wrist vibrated.
One pulse.
Then three rapid pulses.
Emergency.
His blood went cold.
Vanessa watched his face.
“What’s wrong?”
Daniel set down the pen.
“What did you do?”
Her smile vanished.
The ballroom doors exploded open.
Andrew entered.
Guests gasped.
Someone screamed.
Malcolm’s champagne glass shattered on the floor.
A man officially dead for six years walked through three hundred stunned witnesses.
Vanessa stepped backward.
Andrew raised his voice.
“My name is Andrew Whitmore.”
Every camera turned toward him.
“I am alive.”
Malcolm ran.
Federal agents emerged from the crowd.
Chaos erupted.
Daniel grabbed Vanessa.
“Where is Noah?”
She laughed.
“You think I would leave him where I told you?”
Daniel’s wrist vibrated again.
A federal agent rushed toward him.
“The Malibu house was empty.”
Daniel tightened his grip on Vanessa.
“Where is he?”
Vanessa looked toward Andrew.
Then she smiled.
“You should ask your brother.”
Andrew froze.
Vanessa pulled Daniel close enough to whisper:
“Because Noah was never the only secret Maria kept from you.”
Across the room, Maria had just entered.
May you like
And when Andrew looked at her, Daniel saw something unmistakable on his brother’s face.
Fear.
