Chapter 7 - The Shadow of the Mountain
The pen felt like a lead bar in Ryan’s fingers. He stared down at the signature line on the document, his mind flashing between the luxury resort in Aspen and the dark, dried stain on the nursery rug. He knew he had no choice. In his world, reputation was everything. If the video went public, he was a dead man walking in the financial community.
With a jagged, unpolished stroke, he signed his name.
Marcus Vance didn't wait for the ink to dry. He snatched the papers off the desk, slid them back into his briefcase, and snapped the locks shut with an efficiency that made Ryan’s stomach turn.
"Where are they burying her?" Ryan asked, his voice hollow as he looked out at the gray skyline. "My mother... she’s going to ask questions. People are going to wonder why my wife and son just disappeared from the corporate directory."
"Your mother has already been taken care of, Ryan," Marcus said as he walked toward the office door. "We bought out her country club debt this morning. She’ll tell the world that Emma took the baby and moved to Europe after a private marital dispute. You’ll play the grieving, abandoned husband for six months, and then you’ll move on to someone more suited to your... high-maintenance lifestyle."
The door closed behind him, leaving Ryan alone in the dark office, the silence of his hollow victory settling over him like a shroud of dust.
Three hours later, Marcus Vance was sitting in the front passenger seat of a heavy, matte-black Ford F-250 as it climbed the winding switchbacks of Highway 285 toward Evergreen. Gabriel was at the wheel, his large hands moving the heavy steering wheel with an easy, rhythmic precision.
"Did he sign?" Gabriel asked without taking his eyes off the snowy road.
"Like the coward he is," Marcus said, pulling the signed documents from his briefcase and checking the signatures under the dashboard light. "He didn't even ask to see a death certificate, Gabe. He was so terrified of losing his country club membership and his equity shares that he signed away his own son without a second thought."
"Good," Gabriel said, his jaw setting into a tight line as he shifted the truck into a lower gear to clear a patch of black ice. "Because Emma’s fever just broke. Dr. Bianchi says she’ll be able to stand by tomorrow morning."
"How is she taking the news about Arthur?" Marcus asked.
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"She’s mourning," Gabriel said softly, his gray-green eyes turning toward the dark forest that lined the highway. "But she’s looking at the baby more than the obituary. She knows that old man gave her the only shield she has left in this world."
He turned the heavy truck onto the private, unpaved road that led to the Vance compound hidden deep within the silver firs. "Let’s go tell her she’s officially a free woman."
