Chapter 13 - The Deal at the Airport Hotel
Margaret and Richard checked into an airport hotel under false names.
Police could arrest Richard for financial fraud, but Hayes wanted the trust documents and archive server first.
Arthur received a call from Margaret.
“You found Rebecca.”
“Yes.”
“She is not your mother.”
“Biology seems to matter a great deal when you’re trying to steal patents.”
Margaret’s breathing sharpened.
“Everything Charles built came from me.”
“No. You chose a child because you thought he would make you rich.”
“I raised you.”
“You controlled me.”
“I protected you from people who would have used you.”
“You mean people like you?”
Margaret went silent.
Then she made her demand.
Arthur had to sign over voting control of Bennett Medical Supply and withdraw all criminal accusations. In exchange, she would return the metal box and authorize continued storage of the embryos.
“The embryos are already protected,” Arthur said.
Margaret laughed.
“Four are protected.”
Arthur’s hand tightened around the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“The clinic transferred five.”
Elena had been told there were four.
Margaret claimed she possessed documentation showing a fifth embryo had been removed before the court order.
Whether she was lying or not, Arthur could not take the risk.
She ordered him to come alone to the hotel ballroom at midnight.
Police wired Arthur and surrounded the property.
Daniel prepared fake transfer documents.
At eleven fifty-eight, Arthur entered the dark ballroom.
Margaret sat alone beneath a chandelier.
The black case rested on the table.
“Where is Richard?”
“Handling insurance.”
“Where is the fifth embryo?”
“Sign first.”
Arthur opened the documents.
“You drugged Elena. You locked my son away from her. You let her lie on the floor while you ate dinner.”
Margaret’s expression remained cold.
“She was weak.”
“She had just given birth.”
“So did I. No one treated me like glass.”
“You didn’t hate Elena because she was weak. You hated her because Leo ended your control.”
For the first time, Margaret’s face changed.
“You were mine before she came.”
“I was never yours to own.”
Arthur signed the false documents.
Margaret unlocked the case.
Inside were the amended trust, a portable server drive, and a cryogenic transport container.
Arthur’s breath stopped.
Margaret lifted the container.
“One signature is missing.”
He looked at the paperwork.
“You signed the wrong page.”
Margaret realized the trap.
She threw the cryogenic container to the floor.
Arthur lunged and caught it before it struck.
Police flooded the ballroom.
Margaret reached into her handbag.
Hayes drew her weapon.
“Hands where I can see them!”
Margaret pulled out a small remote.
Richard’s voice came through Arthur’s hidden earpiece.
“We have Elena.”
May you like
Then the hotel lights went out.
👉 Arthur recovered Charles’s evidence, but Richard had used the sting operation to reach the one person Arthur had left behind under protection.
