Chapter 10 - ROBERT BENNETT
Claire couldn't breathe.
The man on the screen smiled.
Twenty-two years ago, her grandfather had supposedly died.
Yet there he was.
Alive.
Older.
Standing beside Harrison Hale.
Her father backed away.
“No.”
Claire stared at him.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Dad!”
“I thought he was dead.”
The video continued.
Robert Bennett looked directly into the camera.
“Claire.”
Her knees weakened.
He knew she was watching.
“My little girl.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Grandpa?”
Owen stepped closer.
“It's a recording.”
Claire shook her head.
“He knows my name.”
“It could have been recorded recently.”
Thomas looked at the metadata.
“Yesterday.”
Everyone went silent.
Robert was alive.
Yesterday.
The video continued.
“If you're seeing this, then the vault has been opened.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“I knew you would eventually find it.”
Robert looked older than she remembered.
But his eyes were the same.
Kind.
Patient.
The eyes of the man who had taught her how to repair watches.
“I need you to understand something.”
He paused.
“Everything I told you was a lie.”
Claire stared.
“I wasn't a watchmaker.”
“I wasn't a criminal.”
“I wasn't a victim.”
“I was the trustee.”
Her father closed his eyes.
Robert continued.
“I created the trust to protect our family from people who wanted to use our money.”
Claire frowned.
“But you created the network.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because ordinary banks could not protect it.”
The video changed.
Images of old documents appeared.
“Governments changed.”
“Businesses collapsed.”
“Men died.”
“But money remained.”
Claire watched in silence.
Robert continued.
“The trust became larger than I ever intended.”
Then his expression changed.
“That's when I realized the people inside it had begun using it against me.”
Harrison appeared beside him.
Claire stared.
Robert said:
“Harrison Hale was not the mastermind.”
Harrison's smile disappeared.
Claire looked at the screen.
“Then who?”
Robert looked directly into the camera.
“Thomas.”
Everyone turned toward Thomas.
Thomas stared at the screen.
“No.”
Robert continued.
“Not Thomas by choice.”
Claire looked at him.
“Then who?”
Robert said:
“His father.”
Thomas's face went pale.
Robert continued.
“William Hale discovered that Thomas had inherited access to the trust.”
“But Thomas refused to cooperate.”
“So William created a false identity.”
“Someone who could manipulate Thomas's credentials.”
Claire looked at Thomas.
“What identity?”
The screen displayed a name.
MICHAEL HART.
Thomas whispered:
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“You know that name.”
Thomas nodded.
“That was my father's private accountant.”
Robert continued.
“Michael Hart died twelve years ago.”
Thomas stared.
“But someone has been using his credentials ever since.”
The screen went black.
Then a message appeared.
FIND THE WATCHMAKER.
Claire looked at Owen.
“What does that mean?”
Owen stared at the screen.
Then he whispered:
“Your grandfather is still hiding.”
Claire shook her head.
“Where?”
Thomas looked at the brass mechanism.
“The watch.”
Claire froze.
Her grandfather's watch.
The one Harrison stole.
Owen's phone rang.
He answered.
His security chief spoke.
“Sir.”
Owen listened.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
Pause.
“Bring him.”
He hung up.
Claire stared.
“Who?”
Owen looked at her.
“The man who stole the watch.”
Twenty minutes later, a terrified young security guard was brought into the room.
He held a small evidence bag.
Inside was the silver pocket watch.
Claire grabbed it.
The guard said:
“I found it in the north garden.”
Owen examined it.
“Who left it?”
The guard shook his head.
“There was a note.”
He handed Owen a folded piece of paper.
Owen opened it.
His expression changed.
Claire took it.
Three words.
“I TRUST CLAIRE.”
Her heart pounded.
Then the watch began ticking.
Claire looked down.
It had stopped for twenty-two years.
Now the hands moved.
11:18.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a photograph.
Claire looked at it.
Her grandfather stood beside a woman.
Claire didn't recognize her.
Owen did.
His face went pale.
“That's my mother.”
Thomas stared.
“Your mother?”
Owen nodded.
“She was alive when I thought she died.”
Claire looked at the photograph.
On the back were five words.
“THE TRUST HAS TWO HEIRS.”
Claire turned toward Owen.
“What does that mean?”
Owen stared at her.
Then he whispered:
“It means…”
He stopped.
Claire waited.
“It means you and I are related.”
The room fell silent.
Thomas looked horrified.
Claire stared at Owen.
“Related how?”
Owen didn't answer.
Because before he could, the mansion windows shattered.
A sniper's bullet struck the wall inches from Claire's head.
Owen pulled her down.
May you like
And outside, someone shouted:
“TAKE THE GIRL ALIVE!”
