CHAPTER 6 — The Chase Across the Sky
CHAPTER 6 — The Chase Across the Sky
For one long second, no one in the hospital room spoke.
Maxwell's eyes remained fixed on the surveillance photograph.
Jennifer.
She had changed her hair, borrowed a fake identity, and somehow slipped away before the police could formally arrest her.
Detective Maria Alvarez broke the silence.
"Lock down every airport connected to Blackwood Aviation."
An officer immediately picked up his radio.
"Already in progress."
"Notify Customs and Border Protection."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And issue an emergency warrant for Jennifer Collins and Adrian Blackwood."
The officer hurried away.
Maxwell barely heard any of it.
His younger brother.
The man who had taught Ethan how to fish.
Who had attended every birthday.
Who had stood beside him at his wedding.
He couldn't make sense of it.
"There has to be a mistake," he whispered.
But deep inside, another voice reminded him of something he had ignored for months.
Adrian had repeatedly suggested that Maxwell transfer portions of the company into a family trust.
He had insisted Maxwell rewrite his will after becoming engaged to Jennifer.
At the time, Maxwell had dismissed it as financial advice.
Now it sounded like preparation.
Across the room, Ethan quietly watched his father.
"Dad..."
Maxwell immediately knelt beside the bed.
"I'm here."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I didn't tell you sooner."
Maxwell gently brushed the hair from Ethan's forehead.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
"I was scared."
"I know."
"Jennifer said..."
His voice cracked.
"...that if I told you, you'd disappear like Mom."
Maxwell pulled his son into a careful embrace.
"I'm not going anywhere."
This time, he made the promise as much to himself as to Ethan.
Detective Alvarez approached Lily.
"You've been incredibly brave."
Lily looked uncomfortable.
"I just did what anyone should do."
Alvarez smiled sadly.
"No."
She glanced toward the hallway.
"Unfortunately... not everyone does."
Lily looked down.
"I almost didn't."
"What changed your mind?"
"I remembered my mom."
"What did she say?"
Lily's voice softened.
"She always said that when someone is scared, they're hoping one person chooses kindness."
The detective had interviewed hundreds of witnesses.
Few had ever moved her the way this little girl did.
At three o'clock that morning, another investigator rushed into the room carrying a laptop.
"We found something."
He connected it to the television.
Financial records appeared on the screen.
"Over the last eighteen months, Adrian Blackwood transferred nearly twelve million dollars through shell companies."
"Destination?" Alvarez asked.
"Accounts controlled by Jennifer."
Maxwell stared at the figures.
"Why?"
The investigator clicked another file.
A scanned insurance policy filled the screen.
Life Insurance Beneficiary:
Ethan Blackwood
Trustee Until Age Eighteen:
Jennifer Collins
Maxwell frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
The investigator continued.
"There was an amendment."
Another document appeared.
Signed just six weeks earlier.
If Ethan died before adulthood...
The trust would be managed by Maxwell's closest living male relative.
Adrian Blackwood.
The room fell silent.
It had never been about Jennifer inheriting everything.
She had been the doorway.
Adrian had been the destination.
Before anyone could speak, Maxwell's phone rang.
The caller ID displayed only one word.
Grace.
His heart skipped.
He answered immediately.
"Grace?"
Static crackled across the line.
Then his sister's frightened voice came through.
"Maxwell..."
"Where are you?"
"I don't have much time."
"We've been trying to reach you for weeks."
"I know."
"What's happening?"
"I've been hiding."
"Hiding from whom?"
A long pause.
Then—
"Adrian."
Every person in the room froze.
Grace continued speaking quickly.
"I found documents six months ago."
"What documents?"
"He was paying Jennifer before you even met her."
Maxwell closed his eyes.
"So it was planned from the beginning."
"Yes."
"And there's more."
"What?"
"They never intended to stop with Ethan."
The words sent a chill through everyone listening.
"What do you mean?"
Grace's breathing became shaky.
"I heard Adrian tell Jennifer..."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"...that after Ethan, they'd make your death look like an accident."
Maxwell felt the room spin.
Everything suddenly fit together.
His wife's suspicious death.
Jennifer appearing only months later.
The pressure to change his will.
The abuse.
The attempted murder in the park.
It wasn't a series of tragedies.
It was one carefully designed plan.
Suddenly, Grace gasped.
"No..."
Her voice trembled.
"They found me."
"Grace!"
"I have to—"
A loud crash echoed through the phone.
Someone shouted in the background.
Then came a man's voice.
Cold.
Calm.
Terrifyingly familiar.
"You should never have called him."
The line went dead.
Maxwell stared at the silent phone.
"No..."
Detective Alvarez immediately turned to her team.
"Trace that call!"
"We're trying!"
"Move!"
Officers sprinted into the hallway.
Inside the hospital room, Ethan reached for his father's hand.
"Dad..."
Maxwell squeezed it tightly.
"I won't let them hurt anyone else."
Just then, Alvarez's radio crackled.
"Detective, we've got a location."
"Where?"
"The call originated from an abandoned Blackwood family estate... thirty miles north of the city."
Alvarez grabbed her coat.
"SWAT is already en route."
She looked at Maxwell.
"If Grace is still alive..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't have to.
Because everyone in the room understood the terrible truth.
May you like
The race to save Ethan was over.
Now the race to save Grace had begun.
