Chapter 12 - The Last Hayes Dinner
Police surrounded Hayes Manor before nine in the morning.
Thomas Vale had entered through the service gate using an old access code.
Julian was also inside.
Agatha had returned during the night despite her attorneys advising her not to.
Conrad stood behind the command vehicles.
He should have remained away.
Sloan told him that repeatedly.
Then Agatha called him directly.
“Come inside.”
Conrad looked at Sloan.
The call was on speaker.
“Why?”
“Because this ends with family.”
“No. It ends with police.”
Agatha laughed softly.
“You sound like your father.”
“That must terrify you.”
Silence.
Then:
“I have Nathan.”
Conrad’s blood turned cold.
Nathan was supposed to be with Elliot.
Sloan immediately signaled officers.
Conrad said, “Where’s my son?”
“Safe.”
“If you touched him…”
“I didn’t.”
“Let me hear Nathan.”
A struggle.
Then Nathan’s voice.
“Conrad, don’t come in.”
Agatha returned.
“Dining room. Ten minutes.”
The call ended.
Conrad called the house where Elliot was staying with Margaret.
Margaret answered.
Elliot was safe.
Nathan had left twenty minutes earlier after receiving a message supposedly from Sloan.
A trap.
Police prepared entry teams.
Conrad argued to go inside.
Sloan refused.
Then Thomas appeared at an upstairs window holding Nathan at gunpoint.
Everything changed.
Agatha called again.
“If police enter, Nathan dies.”
Sloan whispered instructions.
Conrad listened.
Then walked toward the mansion.
Alone.
The dining room doors opened before he reached them.
Julian stood inside.
His face looked terrible.
He had not shaved.
His eyes were bloodshot.
“You actually came.”
“Nathan.”
Julian nodded toward the far end.
Nathan sat tied to a chair.
Thomas stood behind him with a handgun.
Agatha sat at the head of the table.
Exactly where she had sat during the party.
Conrad almost laughed at the symmetry.
The same flowers.
The same silver.
The same family sickness.
Agatha gestured toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Conrad remained standing.
“What do you want?”
“The recording.”
“Police have copies.”
“We know.”
“Then this is pointless.”
Thomas spoke.
“Not if the original disappears.”
Conrad looked at him.
He could see Richard in the man’s eyes.
It was unsettling.
“You killed Caroline.”
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
“She drove off the road.”
“You chased her.”
“I wanted the recorder.”
“You wanted her dead.”
“No.”
“Does that help you sleep?”
Thomas raised the gun.
Julian snapped, “Enough.”
Everyone looked at him.
Julian stared at Agatha.
“This wasn’t the plan.”
Agatha’s voice sharpened.
“There is no plan anymore.”
“You said Nathan would sign the emergency transfer.”
Conrad frowned.
“What transfer?”
Nathan answered.
“She wants the trust moved into Julian’s sole control before she’s arrested.”
Conrad laughed.
Agatha looked offended.
“You still think this is about money?”
“It has always been about money.”
“No.”
She stood.
“It is about what survives.”
She looked at Julian.
“I built his place in this family.”
“You murdered Dad to protect his place.”
Richard’s death seemed to hit Julian differently when spoken aloud.
He looked at Agatha.
“You told me he died before you got there.”
Agatha froze.
Julian’s face changed.
“You told me Thomas acted alone.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“Finally.”
Julian stared between them.
“You knew?”
Thomas said, “She ordered it.”
Julian stepped backward.
Agatha’s composure cracked.
“Richard was going to destroy you.”
“No.”
Conrad’s voice was calm.
“He was going to remove Julian from the company because Julian stole from him.”
Agatha looked at Conrad.
“Same thing.”
“No, Mother. That’s the lie you told yourself.”
Julian sat heavily.
For the first time Conrad did not see his arrogant older brother.
He saw a frightened boy who had spent his entire life accepting Agatha’s version of love.
Agatha turned toward Thomas.
“Make Nathan sign.”
Thomas pressed the gun against Nathan’s shoulder.
Nathan shook his head.
“Never.”
Thomas hit him.
Julian suddenly stood.
“Stop.”
Thomas looked surprised.
Julian moved between them.
“I said stop.”
Agatha whispered, “Julian.”
He turned toward her.
“What else did you lie about?”
“Everything I did was for you.”
“No.”
Julian’s eyes filled with tears.
“You did it so I would belong to you.”
May you like
Outside, police waited.
Inside, the Hayes family finally broke.
