Chapter 11 - Arthur's Remote
"Arthur!"
I slammed my palm against the glass.
He looked down at the control panel.
Then back at me.
The engine inside the garage kept running.
Mara grabbed a metal planter and swung it at the side window.
The first strike cracked the glass.
The second broke it.
Cold night air rushed through.
"Again," I shouted.
She hit it.
The glass collapsed inward.
We climbed through the opening into the breezeway.
Arthur pushed through the mansion door.
"Get away from the garage!"
I rounded on him.
"You locked it."
"No."
"You were holding the control."
He lifted the device.
"This is the gate remote."
Mara stared at it.
Then swore.
"He's right."
I looked at her.
"The garage control is wall-mounted."
The engine revved again.
Someone was inside.
Arthur pointed toward the far side of the building.
"Service exit."
Mara ran.
I followed.
We reached the side door as it opened.
A figure stepped out.
Dark coat.
Baseball cap.
I couldn't see the face.
Mara shouted, "Hey!"
The person ran toward the trees.
Arthur yelled, "Don't follow."
We stopped.
A vehicle started beyond the property wall.
Seconds later, headlights disappeared down the service road.
I bent over, trying to breathe.
Someone else had been in the house.
Someone who knew the garage.
Someone who could start a vehicle and seal the doors.
Julian and Evelyn weren't the only people involved.
Arthur looked toward the mansion.
"We need to move."
"Where?"
"My study."
"No."
He stopped.
I held up one hand.
"Elena told me not to trust you."
Pain moved across his face.
"She has reason."
"That's not comforting."
"It isn't supposed to be."
Mara said, "Sophia, he did try to help you tonight."
"He also signed an agreement with my father."
Arthur nodded.
"I did."
"What was in it?"
"Shared control."
"Of Sterling Point?"
"Of the easement beneath it."
I stared at him.
"The land is worth money."
"The land is worth far less than what's under it."
My pulse kicked.
"What's under it?"
"A transportation corridor."
I frowned.
"Rail?"
"Fiber."
Mara looked confused.
Arthur continued.
"Long-haul communications lines installed decades ago. The original easement gives the landowner veto rights over expansion, access, and transfer."
I understood only part of it.
But enough.
This wasn't about sixteen acres.
It was about control over infrastructure crossing those acres.
"How much is that worth?"
Arthur looked toward the mansion.
"Enough to ruin people."
My stomach dropped.
"Was my father one of them?"
"No."
"Then why did Evelyn say he agreed to something?"
Arthur's face tightened.
"Because he did."
I waited.
"He agreed to transfer the easement if certain debts were cleared."
"Whose debts?"
"I never knew."
"That's impossible."
"No. It's what killed the deal."
He looked at me.
"Your father backed out."
"When?"
"Two weeks before his car accident."
The night suddenly felt colder.
My father died when a truck crossed the center line during a storm.
The driver survived.
The police report called it accidental.
I had never questioned it.
Until now.
"You think his accident was connected?"
Arthur didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
Mara whispered, "Arthur."
"I don't know," he said. "I have never known."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Peter convinced me your father wanted you kept away from it."
"Peter again."
Arthur nodded.
"He had the trust records. He controlled communications after your father's death."
I thought of all the times Peter had told me Sterling Point was a burden.
Sell it someday.
Don't develop.
Don't dig into old agreements.
Just pay the taxes.
"Where is the original agreement?"
Arthur looked at me.
"I thought Peter had it."
"Thought?"
"Until this morning."
He pulled a folded receipt from his pocket.
"A clerk at the county archive sent me this."
I opened it.
A document retrieval log.
Someone had accessed the original Sterling-Vance easement file six months ago.
The requester name was printed clearly.
SOPHIA STERLING.
I shook my head.
"I didn't do this."
"I know."
Below my name was an identification verification number.
My driver's license.
Correct number.
Wrong expiration date.
A forgery.
Mara pointed to another line.
"There's a witness signature."
I looked.
My chest tightened.
The witness was Peter Caldwell.
Then another name appeared beneath his.
Authorized representative receiving certified copy:
MARA BELL.
I stared at her.
Mara went white.
"I never signed that."
Arthur looked from the paper to her.
"Mara."
"I swear to God."
My instincts screamed at me to move away.
I did.
Her face fell.
"Sophia, no."
"Your name is on this."
"So is yours."
That stopped me.
She was right.
Someone had forged both of us.
Arthur took the paper.
"There's more."
He flipped it over.
A security still had been printed on the back.
County archive lobby.
Grainy.
Black-and-white.
A woman stood at the counter wearing sunglasses.
The clerk had labeled her as Sophia Sterling.
It wasn't me.
But Mara leaned closer.
Her breath caught.
"I know that woman."
"Who?"
Mara looked toward the dark service road where the stranger had escaped.
May you like
"Elena Ward."
📖 Read why Elena used my identity to obtain the original easement—and what she claimed Peter forced her to do in CHAPTER 12. 👇
