Chapter 10 - The Wrong Heir
Samuel stared at the screen.
“What does that mean?”
The video continued.
Evelyn explained that the original North Meridian trust had been created with an unusual succession structure.
Not based simply on blood.
Based on stewardship.
The person inheriting control had to be designated by all three founders.
Evelyn.
Samuel.
Margaret.
They had never agreed.
So Evelyn created a contingency.
A sealed appointment.
Hidden separately.
Irving believed Wyatt held it.
He didn't.
“Then who does?” Samuel asked.
The recording answered.
“Abraham.”
I almost cursed.
I had spent days discovering everyone knew more about my life than I did.
Evelyn smiled weakly onscreen.
“You've probably become very annoyed by now.”
Wyatt would have laughed.
I didn't.
Much.
She explained the designation had been hidden inside something I carried every day.
Not my wallet.
Not my watch.
My truck.
The rusty pickup everyone mocked.
Evelyn had restored it for our twentieth anniversary.
Inside the original dashboard frame was a sealed document.
Irving thought Wyatt knew where.
That was why they kept demanding information beyond the power of attorney.
He wasn't just after companies.
He wanted the succession designation.
I drove toward South Yard.
Police remained behind at a distance.
Irving demanded I arrive alone.
I complied technically.
I entered alone.
But Heartland trucks were already moving into position across surrounding roads.
A freight company can control a surprising amount of geography without anyone noticing.
Wyatt sat inside an abandoned dispatch office.
Irving stood behind him.
Sabrina was there too.
I stopped.
She wasn't restrained.
My stomach sank.
“Sabrina.”
She looked ashamed.
“I'm sorry.”
Wyatt closed his eyes.
She had helped Irving escape.
Helped him take Wyatt.
Again.
Why?
“My father said Margaret would kill my mother.”
Irving snapped:
“Don't explain yourself.”
Sabrina turned toward him.
Something changed in her expression.
She finally saw it.
Her father didn't care about her either.
Everyone had been using everyone.
I placed the blue truck on the table.
Irving smiled.
“Where's the document?”
“Not here.”
His smile disappeared.
“Evelyn lied.”
“No.”
I looked at Wyatt.
“She protected our son from all of us.”
Then headlights appeared through broken windows.
Margaret.
She entered with Caroline.
Caroline looked furious.
“Mom, stop.”
Margaret ignored her.
Samuel entered from another door.
Irving laughed.
“Family reunion.”
It almost was.
Then Peter Larkin emerged from the darkness.
Not restrained.
Not frightened.
Calm.
Everyone stared.
Margaret whispered:
“You.”
Peter smiled.
Finally, the weak lawyer stopped pretending.
“You people have spent thirty years blaming one another.”
Samuel's face changed.
Peter removed a Heartland championship ring from his pocket.
Jonathan's ring.
Not his own.
Jonathan Shaw's.
“You killed him,” Margaret whispered.
Peter nodded.
“And framed Irving.”
Irving lunged.
Peter stepped back.
“You nearly killed Samuel too,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Heartland was worth more than all of you understood.”
He looked at me.
“And I was tired of watching truck drivers become kings.”
Then Wyatt whispered:
“Dad.”
I looked at him.
His eyes weren't on Peter.
They were on Sabrina.
She was quietly cutting through the restraint around his wrist with a broken piece of metal.
For the first time since this began, she was helping him.
Then Peter raised a gun.
Not toward me.
Toward Sabrina.
May you like
And said:
“She was always supposed to die with him.”
