Chapter 5 - The Ransom Demand
The sound of his voice made my blood run entirely cold.
"What do you want, Chase?" I demanded, gripping the phone tightly.
"I want you to fix the mess your father made," he replied smoothly, sounding completely unbothered.
"The deed I took from the safe is useless because it requires a secondary signature to transfer the corporate assets."
"And whose signature is that?" I asked, though I already knew the terrible answer.
"Yours, Sarah," Chase laughed.
"You are the registered vice president of the company, and I need you to sign these transfer papers so my bosses can liquidate the equipment."
I looked at my father, who was weeping silently on the basement sofa.
"If I don't sign them?" I asked.
"Then your spoiled little sister is going to take a very long swim in the river with cinder blocks tied to her ankles," Chase stated without a trace of hesitation.
I heard a muffled, terrified sob in the background of the call.
It was Madison, crying desperately for help.
"Where do you want to meet?" I asked, my voice turning to steel.
"Come to Madison's boutique downtown in exactly one hour," Chase instructed.
"Come alone, bring your ID, and if I see a single police cruiser, I'll burn the building down with her inside it."
The line went dead before I could say another word.
I lowered the phone and looked directly at Eric.
"You are not going there alone," Eric said instantly, shaking his head.
"He told me to come alone, Eric," I argued, though I was terrified.
"He's a violent criminal, Sarah," Eric insisted, grabbing my shoulders.
"He's not going to let either of you walk away once he gets that signature."
Eric was absolutely right; Chase was cleaning up loose ends, and we were the final threads.
"So, what do we do?" I asked, feeling the panic finally starting to rise in my chest.
Eric's eyes narrowed as a dangerous, calculating look crossed his face.
"He wants the vice president of the construction company to sign a legal document," Eric said slowly.
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"But he doesn't know that I know the head of commercial fraud at the local police department."
We were going to set a trap.
