Daniel Price looked better than the day before.
That wasn't saying much.
His face was still bruised.
His left arm remained immobilized.
But his eyes were sharper.
When Mercer explained that Elaine had been taken, Price stopped pretending indifference.
"Brooke has her?"
"Yes."
"Then she's closer than I thought."
"To what?" I asked.
Price looked at me.
"The family authorization."
"We know about that."
His eyebrows lifted.
"Do you?"
"Recovery phrase. Dad's identity history. my live verification."
He studied my face.
"Daniel talked."
"Hale."
Price laughed weakly.
"See? Two Daniels. Terrible planning."
I wasn't in the mood.
"Where is Brooke taking Mom?"
His expression closed.
"I want a deal."
Mercer spoke.
"You don't get to negotiate someone's safety."
"I get to negotiate information."
I stepped closer.
"My mother is missing."
"I know."
"You helped build this."
"I know."
"Then if something happens to her, whatever deal you imagine yourself getting becomes much harder."
Price looked at Mercer.
"Is she always like this?"
Mercer said, "You're wasting time."
Price sighed.
"Brooke has three exit sites."
"Where?"
"Not yet."
I almost lost patience.
Then he said:
"First I need you to understand something."
"No."
"Yes."
He looked at me.
"If you go after her thinking this is about money, you're going to make the wrong move."
"Then what is it about?"
"Winning."
I stared.
"Against whom?"
"You."
Of course.
Price continued.
"At first the money mattered. Debt. freedom. anger. Then Uncle Dan changed the will."
"And she turned me into a target."
"You were already a target."
"What changed?"
"Scale."
He shifted painfully in the bed.
"Brooke didn't just want Daniel's assets."
"She wanted to prove she could take everything I built."
"No."
That surprised me.
"Then what?"
"She wanted you to choose to give it up."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Because in her head, that would mean you finally admitted she deserved it more."
That was so warped I almost rejected it.
Then I remembered every conversation.
You had everything.
You got Dad.
You got the company.
She didn't merely want possession.
She wanted moral victory.
"That's why she needs me live."
"Partly."
"She could force verification."
Price shook his head.
"Not if the bank detects coercion."
"How would it?"
"Behavioral challenge questions."
Rachel leaned forward.
"What kind?"
"Questions about transaction history, original company events, things only Miranda should know."
"So Brooke needs cooperation, not just my voice."
"Exactly."
"Could she fake it?"
"Maybe eventually."
"Not fast enough."
"No."
"Why the urgency?"
Price smiled faintly.
"Because Daniel's structure expires."
I stared.
"What?"
"The primary account changes control automatically at year-end."
"What date?"
"December thirty-first."
Four days.
"What happens then?"
"Assets move into a compliance trust."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning everything gets reviewed."
"Criminal proceeds identified."
"Potentially."
"And Brooke loses access."
"Yes."
"So she has four days."
"Less."
"Why?"
"Processing."
Price shifted again.
"If she wants the money liquid before year-end, she needs authorization within about forty-eight hours."
That explained the frantic escalation.
Christmas wasn't merely convenient.
It was the final window.
"What are the exit sites?"
Price looked at Mercer.
"I cooperate, prosecutor hears about it."
Mercer answered carefully.
"Your cooperation will be documented."
Price laughed.
"That's not a deal."
"It's what you have."
He looked at me.
"You really trust him?"
"No."
Mercer didn't react.
"I trust documentation."
Price smiled.
"Daniel taught you well without meeting you."
"Don't compare us."
His smile faded.
"Fair."
He gave us the first location.
An aircraft hangar outside Knoxville.
Brooke had once arranged access through Westridge.
Second:
A private house near the Georgia border.
Owned by one of Daniel Hale's dormant entities.
Third:
An old credit-union operations center leased under a shell company.
"Which one is real?"
"Depends what she needs."
"Mom?"
"Probably operations center."
"Why?"
"Secure network access."
Rachel immediately understood.
"Banking infrastructure."
"Old but useful."
"Can she reach the account from there?"
"She can initiate."
"Without Miranda?"
"No."
"Then why go there now?"
"Prepare everything."
Mercer sent teams.
I asked the question that had been bothering me.
"What didn't you tell Brooke?"
Price's expression changed.
"What?"
"You said there's one thing you never told her."
"I didn't say that."
"Your face did."
He laughed weakly.
Then looked away.
"Daniel Hale wasn't the only person who changed the account."
"Who else?"
"Me."
My pulse quickened.
"What did you do?"
"I added a dead-man review."
Rachel frowned.
"Explain."
"If anyone attempted family-path recovery after unusual account activity, a secondary fraud hold triggered automatically."
"Meaning if Brooke tries to access it?"
"Funds freeze."
"For how long?"
"Seventy-two hours."
"She doesn't know?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I was planning to steal them first."
The honesty was almost refreshing.
Almost.
"You were going to take the money."
"Some."
"How much?"
"As much as I could."
"Then why not?"
"Couldn't bypass Miranda."
Again.
Everything came back to my live authorization.
"So Brooke's whole plan fails even if I cooperate."
"Temporarily."
"Would she know immediately?"
"Yes."
"Then Mom becomes useless to her."
Price looked at me.
"Or more useful."
The implication hit.
If Brooke discovered the freeze after using Mom's phrase and my authorization, she might blame one of us.
"Can we trigger the hold now?"
Rachel asked.
Price shook his head.
"Only through an attempted release."
"Can law enforcement freeze the account directly?"
"Once they locate it."
"Do you know where?"
"Yes."
Every person in the room went still.
Mercer said, "Then tell us."
Price hesitated.
"You already know enough to bury me."
"Correct."
"Fine."
He gave a bank identifier.
Not a conventional bank.
An international financial institution with a U.S. correspondent relationship.
Funds held through a trust vehicle under a name none of us had heard before.
Mercer immediately began contacting federal authorities.
This had just crossed another jurisdictional threshold.
I didn't care.
"Where is the physical token?"
Price looked at the hospital cabinet.
"Police took my belongings."
Mercer called evidence control.
The answer came back wrong.
No access token listed.
Price went pale.
"What?"
"Nothing like that was inventoried."
"That's impossible."
"Where was it?"
"In my wallet lining."
Mercer's face hardened.
"Who had access to you after the crash?"
"Nurses. paramedics. police."
"And before?"
Price stared at me.
"The person who found me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You were conscious?"
"Briefly."
"What did you see?"
"Dark coat."
"Man or woman?"
"I couldn't tell."
"Voice?"
Price closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
"Brooke."
My stomach dropped.
"She was at the crash?"
"Yes."
"She caused it?"
"I don't know."
"Did she take the token?"
"Probably."
That meant Brooke had more than we thought.
She had the case.
Possibly the token.
Mom.
And an approaching deadline.
All she lacked was me.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Mercer gestured for me to open it.
A photograph.
Mom again.
This time standing.
No visible restraints.
Behind her, a row of old network cabinets.
Price saw the image.
"That's the operations center."
Mercer was already moving.
Then a message appeared.
Brooke:
We need one more person.
I looked at Dad.
He was in the hallway with an officer.
Another message.
Bring Thomas.
Dad saw my face.
"What?"
I showed him.
He closed his eyes.
"She needs historical confirmation."
Price nodded.
"Thomas completes the family chain."
Brooke sent another message.
No police. No tricks.
Then:
Or Mom leaves without you.
The phrasing was odd.
Not dies.
Leaves without you.
"She still thinks she can take them with her," I said.
Price looked at me.
"What?"
"Mom. Dad. Maybe me."
"Why?"
"Because she's not only escaping."
I thought about Brooke's obsession.
Legitimacy.
Family.
Being chosen.
She wanted us to participate.
To come.
To validate.
To give.
This wasn't merely a financial extraction.
It was a forced family ceremony.
Mercer said, "You are not going."
I looked at him.
"I know."
He seemed surprised.
"I don't have to."
Price understood first.
"Remote session."
"Can the authorization happen remotely?"
"Yes."
"Then she doesn't need me physically."
"No."
"She only needs to believe I'm cooperating."
Rachel caught up.
"And we can use that."
Price nodded slowly.
"If you initiate from a controlled device."
"Will Brooke see location?"
"Not exact."
"Can investigators mirror the session?"
"Probably."
Mercer asked federal cyber investigators.
The answer was yes.
A plan formed.
Not quickly.
Carefully.
Dad would not physically go.
I would not physically go.
Brooke would receive a controlled authorization attempt.
The fraud hold would trigger.
Meanwhile teams would approach the operations center.
The most dangerous part was Mom.
If Brooke saw the freeze before officers reached her, everything depended on how she reacted.
At four thirty, my phone rang.
Brooke.
I answered.
"You want Dad."
"Yes."
"And me."
"Obviously."
"Mom first."
"No."
"Let me talk to her."
A pause.
Then Mom.
"Miranda."
"I'm here."
Her voice was steady.
"Don't come."
"I'm not."
Silence.
I heard Brooke whisper something.
Mom said louder:
"She thinks I should tell you this is your chance to fix everything."
My throat tightened.
"Mom."
"I told her you already spent your life fixing things that weren't yours."
Brooke ripped the phone away.
"Enough."
For the first time, she sounded rattled.
I said, "Send the connection."
Silence.
"What?"
"I'll do the authorization."
Dad stared at me.
Mercer gave one slow nod.
Brooke's breathing changed.
"You'll do it?"
"Yes."
"What changed?"
"Mom."
That wasn't entirely a lie.
"Explain."
"She shouldn't be there."
"So you're finally choosing her."
"No."
Brooke went silent.
"I'm choosing to end this."
She laughed.
"Same thing."
A secure link arrived thirty seconds later.
Federal cyber investigators began capturing it.
Price gave them the architecture.
The operations center became a target map.
Brooke believed she was leading us into the account.
We were using the connection to lead officers toward her.
Before the session began, Price caught my sleeve with his good hand.
"One thing."
"What?"
"When the hold triggers, she'll know someone changed the rules."
"She'll blame you."
"Maybe."
"Or Daniel Hale."
"Maybe."
"Or me."
Price looked directly at me.
"That's why you need to keep talking."
"To Brooke?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because when money disappears, she gets reckless."
The secure screen loaded.
A verification prompt appeared.
My company name.
My legal name.
Voice authorization required.
I put on the headset.
Brooke joined from the other side.
"Ready?"
"No."
She laughed.
"At least you're honest now."
I looked at Mercer.
He nodded.
I began.
And somewhere inside an abandoned operations center, my sister prepared to find out that the millions she'd built her final escape around had already become unreachable.
Click here to continue reading: PART 20: Brooke Finally Got the Family Authorization She Wanted, and the Frozen Account Forced Her to Choose Between Escape and Revenge
My Parents Canceled Christmas With One Short Message, and I Finally Stopped Asking Them to Choose Me
Part 19 of 40
