Chapter 3 - The Betrayal Inside Vale Tower
Emergency lights flashed red along the floor.
Adrian grabbed Claire before she could rise.
“Down.”
Emily dropped beside the table.
A security guard drew his weapon.
“Backup power should have activated.”
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
“That means someone disabled it.”
Claire's heartbeat hammered.
“Inside the building?”
“Yes.”
A metallic sound came from the elevator corridor.
Adrian moved Claire and Emily behind a reinforced wall.
“Stay here.”
Claire caught his wrist.
“Don't go.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
Adrian looked at her hand.
Then at her.
“I'll come back.”
It sounded too much like a promise.
He disappeared into the darkness with two security men.
Claire remained beside Emily.
“What exactly have you gotten into?” Emily whispered.
“I don't know.”
“Did he really kiss you?”
Claire turned.
“Now?”
“I cope strangely under pressure.”
Despite herself, Claire smiled.
Then they heard a crash.
Claire's smile vanished.
Footsteps.
A figure appeared.
Claire grabbed a heavy decorative object from the shelf.
“Claire Bennett?”
She raised it.
“Don't come closer.”
The man lifted both hands.
“Adrian sent me.”
“How do I know?”
He gave her a phrase.
“Seven ledgers. One lie.”
Claire blinked.
Adrian had whispered those words before leaving.
She lowered the object.
The man escorted them through a hidden stairwell.
Adrian waited three floors below.
Blood marked his knuckles.
Claire stared.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Whose blood is that?”
“Not mine.”
She decided not to ask.
Security had captured one intruder.
The others escaped.
More disturbing was how they entered.
They had legitimate building credentials.
Issued by Thomas Mercer.
Adrian stood in a private conference room, staring through the glass wall.
Mercer had been his chief operating officer for fifteen years.
He had been at Adrian's father's funeral.
He had attended Adrian's sister's wedding.
He knew the security codes to every Vale property.
Claire approached.
“You trusted him.”
Adrian didn't answer.
“You don't have to pretend with me.”
That made him turn.
“I don't pretend.”
“Everyone does.”
“Do you?”
“Constantly.”
“About what?”
Claire hesitated.
“That I'm not afraid.”
His expression softened.
“You should be.”
“That was an awful attempt at reassurance.”
“I warned you.”
She almost smiled.
Then Adrian said, “I'm afraid too.”
Claire stared.
“Of Mercer?”
“No.”
His eyes settled on her.
“Of being too late.”
The meaning hung between them.
Claire looked away first.
They returned to the ledger.
If Mercer had created the payment network, the thirty-seven people at the reception were connected.
But how?
Claire found the answer shortly before dawn.
The payments weren't bribes.
They were insurance.
Each recipient had received money tied to a confidential agreement.
“Mercer bought them,” Claire said.
Adrian studied the screen.
“For what?”
Claire opened another file.
A date appeared.
September 14.
The password.
“What's September fourteenth?”
Adrian's face changed.
“My father died September fourteenth.”
Claire stared at him.
“How?”
“Heart attack.”
“Are you sure?”
He didn't answer.
The silence was enough.
Claire opened the final archived document.
A medical report appeared.
It had been altered.
Beneath it was another file.
Toxicology.
Adrian read the first paragraph.
Then sat down.
Claire had never seen him look vulnerable.
Not at the reception.
Not during the blackout.
Not when security reported armed intruders.
But now he looked like a son.
His father hadn't died naturally.
Someone had poisoned him.
Claire sat beside Adrian.
“I'm sorry.”
He stared at the report.
“Mercer was there.”
“What?”
“The night my father died.”
Claire's skin prickled.
“He found him.”
Adrian's voice became quieter.
“He told me he tried to save him.”
Claire looked at the thirty-seven names.
“What if these people didn't receive money for future favors?”
Adrian turned.
“What if they were paid for something that already happened?”
Neither spoke.
The implication was enormous.
A conspiracy that had lasted more than a decade.
And Claire had accidentally opened it because one fraudulent invoice bothered her.
“You should have ignored the invoice,” Adrian said.
She looked at him.
“Would you have?”
“No.”
“Then don't ask me to.”
He almost smiled.
They worked until sunrise.
Emily slept safely in a guarded bedroom.
By seven, Claire's eyes burned.
Adrian placed coffee beside her.
“You remembered.”
“You drink it every morning at eight fifteen.”
Claire stopped.
“How do you know that?”
He realized what he'd admitted.
“You pass the café beneath my office.”
“You watch me?”
“Occasionally.”
“For how long?”
Adrian leaned against the table.
“Two years.”
Claire stared.
“Why?”
His answer came slowly.
“Because you're the only person in that building who never looks at me differently when I enter a room.”
“I barely saw you.”
“Exactly.”
Something warm and dangerous moved through her.
The kiss returned to her memory.
His hand against her neck.
His mouth against hers.
The strange gentleness of it.
“Was last night really only protection?”
Adrian looked at her.
Before he could answer, the conference-room door opened.
Security chief Daniel Ross entered.
“We found Mercer.”
Adrian stood.
“Where?”
Ross hesitated.
“You need to see this.”
He placed a tablet on the table.
Live security footage appeared.
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Thomas Mercer was standing outside Claire's parents' house in Wisconsin.
And Claire's mother had just opened the front door.
