Chapter 3 - The Reason Arthur Disappeared
Chloe knew something was wrong the moment the elevator doors opened.
Arthur wasn't there.
The underground parking garage was nearly empty.
"Arthur?"
No answer.
She looked at the message again.
COME DOWNSTAIRS. I FOUND THE TRUTH.
Then she noticed the number.
It looked like Arthur's.
But one digit was different.
Chloe backed toward the elevator.
A shoe scraped concrete behind her.
She turned.
Samuel Pike stood between two parked cars.
"Ms. Henderson."
Chloe pressed the elevator button.
Nothing happened.
"You should be upstairs."
"You should stay away from me."
Pike lifted both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"That's reassuring coming from the man who discussed Arthur dying over wine."
His face changed.
"You heard more than we thought."
"We?"
Footsteps echoed.
Chloe's pulse hammered.
Pike glanced toward the sound.
Fear crossed his face.
Not aggression.
Fear.
"Listen to me," he said. "If I wanted you hurt, I wouldn't have warned you."
"You didn't warn me."
"The conversation at the diner was for you."
Chloe froze.
"What?"
"We knew you were listening."
"Why?"
"Because we couldn't contact Romano directly."
"You expected a pregnant woman to walk through freezing rain?"
"We expected you to call him."
"I didn't have his number."
Pike swore under his breath.
The footsteps grew louder.
"Get back upstairs."
"Who are you afraid of?"
Pike looked behind her.
"Too late."
A black SUV turned into the garage.
Pike grabbed Chloe's arm.
She recoiled.
"Don't touch me."
"I'm getting you out."
The SUV accelerated.
Pike pulled open a stairwell door.
"Move!"
Chloe ran as fast as her body allowed.
Pain tightened across her abdomen.
She gripped the railing.
"Wait."
Pike looked at her stomach.
"Are you in labor?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"No!"
The stairwell door below opened.
Pike's expression changed.
He led Chloe upward.
At the next level, they emerged near the emergency entrance.
Arthur came running toward them.
"CHLOE!"
She nearly collapsed from relief.
Arthur reached her.
He saw Pike.
His expression turned murderous.
"Get away from her."
Pike stepped back.
"Ask questions before you make another mistake."
Arthur moved between him and Chloe.
Daniel appeared with two security officers.
Pike raised his hands.
"I'm not armed."
Arthur looked at Chloe.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No."
"What happened?"
"He says he staged the diner conversation."
Arthur turned.
Pike nodded.
"I needed someone outside the Croft network to warn you."
"Why Chloe?"
"Because she's the only person you'd believe."
Arthur's face tightened.
Pike laughed bitterly.
"You think nobody noticed? Romano, you walked into that diner three times a week when you owned restaurants with private chefs. Everyone knew."
Chloe almost smiled despite herself.
Arthur didn't.
"Talk."
Pike looked toward the garage.
"Not here."
They returned to Chloe's room.
The doctor was furious.
Chloe endured the lecture because Arthur looked ready to handcuff her to the bed himself.
Once she was stable, Pike began.
"I worked security for Richard Croft."
Arthur leaned against the wall.
"Why were you removed from payroll?"
"I wasn't. My payments were moved to a private account."
"For what?"
"Cleaning problems."
Chloe's expression hardened.
Pike clarified quickly.
"Information. Surveillance. Covering scandals. Not killing people."
"Victor?" Arthur asked.
Pike shook his head.
"Before my time."
"Who wrote the threat against Chloe?"
Pike hesitated.
Arthur placed the photograph on the table.
"I recognize the handwriting."
Chloe looked at him.
"You never told me whose it was."
Arthur stared at the photograph.
"My father's."
Silence.
Chloe's breath caught.
"Your father?"
"Dominic Romano."
She had met Dominic twice.
A controlled, impeccably dressed man who had treated Chloe politely while somehow making her feel as though she'd failed an examination.
Arthur continued.
"My father told me you were dangerous to the family."
Chloe almost laughed.
"I serve pancakes."
"He meant emotionally."
"That's somehow worse."
Pike nodded.
"Dominic and Richard have worked together privately for years."
Arthur stared at him.
"The Romano-Croft feud was real."
"Publicly."
Arthur understood.
"A performance."
"Mostly."
"Why?"
"Competition keeps regulators, rivals, and even your own families from noticing shared interests."
Vivian entered quietly.
"My father called."
Everyone turned.
"What did he say?" Arthur asked.
"He told me to leave Chicago."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
Pike studied her.
"Did he use the phrase 'family first'?"
Vivian went pale.
"Yes."
Pike stood.
"Then he's scared."
"Of whom?" Chloe asked.
Pike looked at Arthur.
"Dominic."
Arthur shook his head.
"My father arranged this marriage."
"Exactly."
Vivian stepped closer.
"My father wanted it canceled three weeks ago."
Arthur turned.
"What?"
"He wouldn't tell me why."
Pike answered for her.
"Because Richard discovered Dominic was planning to consolidate everything after the marriage."
"Meaning?"
"Croft assets. Romano assets. Control."
Arthur's eyes hardened.
"And me?"
Pike glanced at Chloe.
"Dead."
Chloe's hand moved protectively over her stomach.
Arthur saw.
"Why would my father kill me?"
"Because you were going to inherit voting control next month."
Arthur stared.
His thirty-eighth birthday.
The trust.
He'd almost forgotten.
Vivian whispered, "Once Arthur married me, our family holdings would be contractually linked."
"And if Arthur died afterward?" Daniel asked.
Vivian closed her eyes.
"My father would control my shares."
Pike shook his head.
"Not if Richard was implicated."
Arthur understood.
"Dominic planned to blame Richard."
"Yes."
Chloe felt sick.
"So the cup was meant to make everyone suspect Vivian's family."
Pike nodded.
"And the V.C.R. marking?"
"I made it."
Arthur stepped toward him.
"You took the chalice."
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
"Safe."
"You could have simply brought it to police."
Pike gave him a tired look.
"You don't understand how many people Dominic owns."
Arthur stared at him.
"Then why help me?"
Pike looked toward Chloe.
"Because I have a daughter."
Nobody spoke.
"She's twenty-six. Pregnant too."
His voice changed.
"I spent years doing things I told myself weren't my responsibility. Surveillance. Threats. Cover-ups. Then Dominic ordered surveillance on Ms. Henderson's prenatal appointments."
Arthur's face went cold.
Pike continued.
"I realized there wasn't a line anymore."
Chloe whispered, "The photograph of me sleeping?"
"Not mine."
"Then whose?"
"I don't know."
Arthur pushed away from the wall.
"I'm ending this."
Pike shook his head.
"Dominic expects anger. That's how he controls you."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Evidence."
Daniel nodded.
"The chalice."
"Partly."
Pike looked at Vivian.
"Your father has the rest."
Vivian stared.
"What rest?"
"Records. Payments. Victor's original medical file."
"Why would my father keep evidence?"
"Insurance."
Arthur looked at Pike.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Vivian did.
Everyone saw it.
"Vivian?"
She swallowed.
"When I was a child, my father had a cabin near Lake Geneva. Nobody else was allowed inside his study."
Arthur picked up his coat.
Chloe said, "You're not going alone."
Arthur looked at her.
"I'm not asking you to."
That surprised her.
He came to the bed.
"I spent two months thinking keeping you ignorant kept you safe."
He glanced at her stomach.
"I was wrong."
Chloe's anger softened slightly.
"But?"
"But right now your job is to protect yourself and our daughter."
"Our daughter."
Arthur's voice cracked almost imperceptibly.
"If you'll let me call her that."
Chloe looked down.
"She kicked when you caught me."
Arthur blinked.
"What?"
"At the cathedral."
A small smile appeared despite everything.
"Apparently she likes dramatic entrances."
Arthur almost laughed.
Then Chloe took his hand and placed it carefully against her stomach.
He froze.
A moment later, the baby moved.
Arthur's entire face changed.
The feared Arthur Romano disappeared.
For one second, he was simply a man meeting his daughter.
Then his phone vibrated.
He looked.
A photograph.
Dominic Romano stood beside Richard Croft.
Richard was tied to a chair.
Dominic smiled at the camera.
Beneath the photograph:
SON, COME HOME.
Arthur stared at the message.
May you like
Then a second line appeared.
BRING VIVIAN.
