Chapter 7: The Hangar
Nobody moved.
Mark stared at the phone.
The ringtone seemed impossibly loud in the darkness.
Richard whispered, “Answer it.””
Mark shook his head.
“Why?””
“Because if that is really someone calling from Elias’s old number, I want to hear what they have to say.””
Mark’s hand trembled.
Claudia grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.””
Richard saw the fear in her face.
This time, it wasn't theatrical.
It was real.
Mark answered.
“Hello?””
Static.
Then a man's voice.
Distorted.
“You took long enough.””
Mark stopped breathing.
Richard stepped closer.
“Who is this?””
The voice laughed softly.
“Richard Bellacorte.””
Richard's blood ran cold.
“Identify yourself.””
“You already know.””
Richard looked at Daniel.
Daniel had gone rigid.
The voice continued.
“You found the girl.””
Richard's eyes moved toward Emily.
“You know about Emily?””
“I know about everything.””
Richard's voice became steel.
“Where is my brother?””
Silence.
Then:
“Still dead.””
The call ended.
Mark lowered the phone.
Richard stared at him.
“Hangar.””
Mark nodded.
Richard grabbed his coat.
Daniel stopped him.
“You can't go there alone.””
“I don't plan to.””
He looked toward Mrs. Alvarez.
“Get Noah somewhere safe.””
The housekeeper nodded.
Emily stood.
“I’m coming.””
Richard looked at her.
“You were trapped for almost a year.””
“And Elias died because no one believed me.””
She pulled on an old coat.
“I’m not staying behind.””
Richard nodded.
They left the lodge through the side entrance.
Snow hammered the windshield.
Daniel drove.
Richard sat in the passenger seat.
Emily and Noah were in the back.
Mark and Claudia were forced to ride in another vehicle behind them.
For twenty minutes, nobody spoke.
The mountain road wound through dark pines.
Then Daniel said, “The hangar should be thirty minutes away.””
Richard looked out the window.
“Should be?””
“It was decommissioned.””
“Not good enough.””
Daniel tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Elias spent years building private aviation routes.””
Richard frowned.
“You're saying the hangar could still be operational.””
“I’m saying someone has been paying for electricity there.””
Richard turned.
“Since when?””
Daniel glanced at the ledger.
“Since four months after Elias died.””
Richard stared at the windshield.
Someone had been using the hangar for eighteen years.
And his own company had been paying the bills.
At midnight, the gate appeared.
A rusted Bellacorte Aviation sign hung crookedly above it.
Richard got out.
Snow whipped across his face.
The gate was locked.
Daniel walked to the keypad.
“Do you know the code?””
Richard looked at the numbers.
“Elias used birthdays.””
He entered his brother's birth date.
The gate opened.
Emily whispered, “He knew you'd come.””
Richard looked at her.
“Maybe.””
Inside, the hangar lights flickered on.
One by one.
Like someone had been waiting.
The old aircraft stood in the center of the building.
White fuselage.
Black stripe.
The Bellacorte crest.
Richard stopped walking.
“That jet was sold.””
Daniel shook his head.
“It never left.””
Richard walked around it.
The tires were new.
The windows were clean.
The aircraft had been maintained.
Someone had been keeping it ready.
He looked toward the hangar office.
The door stood open.
A voice came from inside.
“Richard.””
Mark entered.
Richard spun around.
“I told you to stay outside.””
Mark looked exhausted.
“I can't.””
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“You lost that privilege.””
Mark nodded.
“I know.””
Claudia stood behind him.
She was crying.
“Please.””
Richard looked at her.
“Tell me why.””
She shook her head.
“I was scared.””
“Of whom?””
“Elias.””
“Why?””
She whispered:
“Because he knew what we did.””
Richard felt the anger rise.
“You're going to tell me everything.””
Claudia looked at Mark.
Mark closed his eyes.
Then he spoke.
“We didn't kill Elias.””
Richard waited.
“But we helped them.””
“Who?””
Mark pointed toward the jet.
“People who wanted control of the Bellacorte trust.””
Richard stared at him.
“They offered me money.””
“How much?””
“Five million.””
Richard's expression hardened.
“And what did you do?””
“I gave them access.””
“To what?””
“The family systems.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“What systems?””
Mark's face crumpled.
“Banking.””
Richard went still.
Mark continued.
“Elias found out. He confronted me.””
Richard's voice was quiet.
“Then?””
“I followed him.””
“To the hospital?””
Mark nodded.
“That night, he told me he knew everything.””
Richard stepped closer.
“Why did he die?””
Mark began crying.
“I didn't kill him.””
“Why did he die?””
“He was poisoned.””
Emily gasped.
Daniel looked at Mark.
“Who poisoned him?””
“I never found out.””
Richard stared at the jet.
Something was wrong.
“Then why did you say ‘we helped them’?””
Mark looked toward Claudia.
She whispered:
“Because we took Noah.””
Richard's eyes widened.
Mark's voice broke.
“They told us Elias left another inheritance.””
“To Noah?””
“Yes.””
“What inheritance?””
Mark shook his head.
“They never told us.””
Richard looked at the airplane in his hand.
The little wooden cockpit.
The uneven wing.
The panel.
Then he noticed something on the jet.
A small emblem.
Exactly like the one carved beneath Noah’s airplane.
Richard walked toward it.
At the base of the aircraft door was a tiny metal plate.
He touched it.
The plate opened.
Inside was a fingerprint scanner.
Daniel whispered, “What is that?””
Richard didn't answer.
He pressed his thumb against it.
The machine flashed green.
The aircraft door unlocked.
Everyone stared.
Richard stepped inside.
The cabin was immaculate.
A single seatbelt was fastened.
A leather suitcase sat on the table.
Richard opened it.
Inside were dozens of files.
Birth certificates.
Trust documents.
Photographs.
Medical records.
And a security video.
Daniel inserted a drive.
The screen flickered.
Elias appeared.
Alive.
Richard stopped breathing.
His brother looked directly into the camera.
“Richard, if you're watching this, Noah made it to you.””
Richard's eyes filled.
Elias continued.
“Then I'm dead.””
A pause.
“But there's something you need to know.””
The video skipped.
Elias leaned closer.
“The person who ordered my death is not Mark.””
Richard looked at Mark.
The video continued.
“It isn't Claudia either.””
A long silence.
Then Elias said:
“It is someone you trust more than either of them.””
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Then Daniel's phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
His expression collapsed.
“What?””
Richard turned.
Daniel handed him the screen.
A bank notification.
A transfer had just been made from the hidden Bellacorte Aviation account.
One hundred thousand dollars.
To an account ending in 4421.
Richard recognized the number.
It was his own personal account.
The transfer had been authorized using his signature.
But Richard had never made it.
May you like
Someone was inside his accounts.
And they were transferring money while they watched.