Chapter 2 - The Enemy Inside His House
Adrian locked the mansion down in eleven seconds.
Every gate closed.
Every elevator froze.
Every exterior door sealed electronically.
No vehicle moved.
No man left.
By the time the photograph reached his study, forty-two armed guards had been divided into teams and every camera feed from the property was running across six monitors.
Mara remained upstairs with Dr. Harris and Mrs. Bellamy.
Adrian stood before the screens.
“Find the angle.”
His security technician enlarged the photograph.
“This was taken from outside the west balcony.”
“Camera?”
“Long lens.”
“Distance?”
“Could be fifty yards. Maybe more.”
Adrian looked toward Luca.
“Who had access to the west grounds?”
“Tonight?”
“All week.”
Luca pulled out his phone.
“I’ll get the logs.”
“No.”
Luca stopped.
Adrian held out his hand.
“Give me the phone.”
For the first time, irritation flickered in Luca’s eyes.
“Boss?”
“The phone.”
Luca surrendered it.
Adrian handed it to another guard.
“Clone everything.”
Luca stared.
“You think it’s me?”
“I think Mara was hunted by men who used my codes.”
“I’ve been with you eleven years.”
“That is not an answer.”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
Victor Dane sat in a chair at the center of the room with his wrists bound behind him.
His gray coat lay on the floor.
Mara’s description had been exact.
Scar behind the left ear.
Forty-two years old.
Former military.
Seven years in Adrian’s organization.
Adrian walked toward him.
Victor smiled faintly.
“You look tired.”
Adrian pulled another chair forward and sat.
“Who sent you to Mara?”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Adrian placed the motel keycard on the table.
Victor looked at it.
One second.
That was enough.
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“You looked at the corner.”
Victor remained silent.
“The split crown is small,” Adrian said. “Most people would look at the room number first.”
Victor stared at him.
“Who gave the order?”
No response.
Adrian leaned forward.
“I am going to give you an opportunity nobody else in this room will ever receive.”
Victor swallowed.
“Tell me the truth, and you walk out alive.”
Luca looked at Adrian.
Victor laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Adrian’s voice stayed calm.
“But you should.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward Luca.
Small.
Quick.
Again, enough.
Adrian noticed.
So did Luca.
Luca stepped forward.
“Don’t look at me.”
Adrian raised one hand.
Luca stopped.
Victor smiled.
Adrian saw fear beneath it.
Not fear of Adrian.
Fear of someone else.
That interested him.
“Who scares you more than I do?”
Victor’s smile vanished.
Adrian sat back.
“That narrows the list.”
Victor said nothing.
“Julian?”
A muscle moved in Victor’s cheek.
Adrian felt something inside him go cold.
Luca noticed.
“Boss, don’t jump to conclusions.”
Adrian looked at him.
“I didn’t ask you.”
Luca shut his mouth.
Adrian turned back to Victor.
“My brother ordered Mara killed?”
Victor stared at the floor.
“Say it.”
Nothing.
Adrian stood.
Victor finally spoke.
“He didn’t order her killed.”
Adrian stopped.
“Who did?”
Victor breathed slowly.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
Adrian turned.
“What question should I ask?”
Victor raised his eyes.
“Who ordered her kept alive?”
The room became silent.
Adrian returned to the chair.
“Explain.”
Victor’s face had changed.
The bravado was gone.
“There were two orders.”
“One was mine.”
“The divorce protection order.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
Victor continued.
“Move Mara out of Chicago. New identity. Five million dollars. Twenty-four-hour protection.”
“Yes.”
“That order was canceled six hours after you signed it.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I saw the cancellation code. Level Black.”
Only Adrian, Luca, and Julian had Level Black access.
“Then what?”
“A second instruction came through. Keep her inside the city.”
“Why?”
Victor shook his head.
“I only handled transport.”
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her outside a clinic.”
Victor looked uncomfortable.
“I was told to scare her.”
“You told my pregnant wife I wanted her eliminated.”
“I didn’t know she was pregnant until that day.”
Adrian’s hands tightened.
“Then why mention the baby?”
Victor hesitated.
“Because after I reported it, the order changed.”
“What changed?”
Victor looked toward the door.
“Kill order.”
Adrian rose so quickly the chair fell backward.
Luca moved.
“Boss.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Who signed it?”
Victor shook his head.
“I never saw the signature.”
“Why didn’t you carry it out?”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“Because I’m not stupid.”
Adrian stared.
“Explain.”
“The payment was too high.”
“How high?”
“Ten million.”
A murmur moved through the room.
Adrian’s expression darkened.
Ten million dollars to kill a pregnant civilian was not an ordinary contract.
It was desperation.
“Who gets paid?”
“First team that confirms termination.”
“Teams?”
“Three.”
Adrian felt his stomach twist.
Three independent teams had been hunting Mara.
“For how long?”
“Six weeks.”
He thought of her sleeping in cheap motels.
Changing shelters.
Skipping meals because every card transaction could reveal her location.
Running while pregnant.
Alone.
Because of his name.
Because of his lie.
“Why is she alive?”
Victor looked at him.
“Someone kept interfering.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Three teams. Six weeks. And one woman kept escaping?”
“Not escaping.”
Victor lowered his voice.
“Being moved.”
Adrian paused.
“Someone was helping her?”
“Someone inside.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Adrian paced toward the window.
Victor continued.
“Every time a team got close, something happened. Bad address. Changed reservation. Police patrol showed up. Fire alarm. Anonymous tip.”
Mara had believed she was alone.
But someone had been quietly keeping her alive.
Adrian turned.
“Tonight?”
Victor’s face tightened.
“Tonight was different.”
“How?”
“The final order went out at eleven.”
“What final order?”
“Deadline.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“Midnight.”
Victor nodded.
“If Mara wasn’t confirmed dead by midnight, everyone involved was supposed to disappear.”
Adrian looked toward the clock.
12:58 a.m.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did the order originate?”
Victor hesitated.
“Vale Tower.”
Adrian’s headquarters.
His building.
His network.
His people.
His empire.
The door opened.
Mrs. Bellamy entered.
“Adrian.”
He turned instantly.
“Mara?”
“Awake.”
“Baby?”
“Still stable.”
Adrian started toward the door.
“Wait.”
Mrs. Bellamy’s face was hard.
“She found something in her robe.”
Adrian stopped.
Mrs. Bellamy handed him a folded piece of paper sealed inside plastic.
“It was stitched into the lining.”
Mara had not known it was there.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a handwritten message.
IF YOU REACH ADRIAN, TRUST NO ONE WEARING HIS CROWN.
Below it was an address.
And initials.
D.K.
Adrian stared.
Daniel Kessler.
His supposedly dead attorney.
“That’s impossible,” Luca said.
Adrian looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Luca’s face shifted.
Just slightly.
Adrian saw it.
“You said that quickly.”
“Because Kessler is dead.”
“Did you see his body?”
Luca said nothing.
Adrian turned to Victor.
“Did you?”
Victor slowly shook his head.
Adrian walked upstairs.
Mara was awake against the pillows, wrapped in one of his shirts because her clothes had been taken away to dry.
Her face looked small against the white bedding.
He showed her the note.
She stared.
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It was inside your robe.”
“I bought that robe yesterday.”
“Where?”
“Church thrift shop on Ashland.”
Adrian frowned.
“Who sold it to you?”
“An older woman.”
“Name?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she look like?”
Mara thought.
“Gray hair. Green coat. She kept staring at my stomach.”
Adrian pulled out his phone and called his surveillance team.
“Get footage from every camera within four blocks of the church on Ashland. Yesterday. Noon to six.”
He hung up.
Mara watched him.
“You believe Daniel is alive.”
“I believe somebody wants me to think he is.”
“What’s the address?”
He looked at the note.
“Storage facility near the river.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re exhausted.”
“And people are trying to kill me.”
“Which is why you stay here.”
Her expression hardened.
“This is what you did before.”
Adrian paused.
“You decided for me.”
“Mara—”
“You decided I was safer without knowing.”
He said nothing.
“You lied to my face and destroyed our marriage because you thought you knew what was best.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
She threw back the blanket.
Adrian stared as she attempted to stand.
Her knees buckled immediately.
He caught her.
Mara gripped his shirt.
For one breath, they were inches apart.
Something passed between them.
Pain.
Memory.
Love.
Anger.
Everything they had not buried successfully.
“I hate that I still feel safe when you catch me,” she whispered.
Adrian’s throat tightened.
“I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t fix it.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“Then stop deciding.”
He helped her sit.
“You come.”
Her eyes softened a fraction.
“But under one condition.”
“What?”
“You stay beside me.”
Mara almost smiled.
“That sounds like deciding.”
“It sounds like begging.”
That silenced her.
An hour later, they left through the underground garage.
Adrian took only three people.
Mrs. Bellamy insisted on coming.
Luca insisted as well.
Adrian refused.
“You stay here.”
Luca stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because if the threat is inside my house, I need someone watching it.”
It sounded like trust.
It was not.
Adrian put Mara into the armored SUV himself.
She wore dry black pants, a sweater, and one of his coats.
The coat swallowed her.
Her hand remained over her belly.
He sat beside her.
As the vehicle left the mansion, Mara looked back through the rear window.
“What?”
Adrian followed her gaze.
“Nothing.”
“No. What did you see?”
She hesitated.
“Someone upstairs.”
Adrian looked.
A curtain moved in the third-floor west window.
The room was empty.
Or should have been.
He called the house immediately.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Adrian’s driver looked in the mirror.
“Boss?”
“Turn around.”
Mara grabbed his arm.
“The storage facility.”
“My house just went dark.”
He checked the security application.
Every camera offline.
Every lock unresponsive.
Every phone dead.
Then his private line rang.
Unknown number.
Adrian answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a familiar man whispered:
“You should never have brought her home.”
Adrian sat upright.
“Daniel?”
The line clicked dead.
Mara stared at him.
“That was him?”
Adrian did not answer.
His phone buzzed again.
A photograph appeared.
Mrs. Bellamy tied to a chair.
Inside Adrian’s mansion.
Taken less than ten seconds earlier.
Beneath it were six words:
May you like
BRING MARA TO THE STORAGE FACILITY.
ALONE.
