Chapter 3 - The Man New Orleans Called the Architect
Adrian drew Mara and Lucy behind him.
The door opened.
His bodyguard, Marcus Reed, appeared.
"Nobody outside."
Adrian lowered his weapon.
"Then explain the bracelet."
Marcus stared at it.
His expression became grim.
"Inside access."
Mara hugged Lucy tighter.
"You mean someone in this house?"
Adrian looked at Marcus.
"No one leaves."
By sunrise, every employee had been questioned.
Nothing.
No missing cameras.
No disabled alarm.
No unexplained entry.
Someone had penetrated Adrian Vale's home without leaving a trace.
At eight fifteen, Mara made her decision.
"I'm going to St. Arden."
"No."
"Lucy has an appointment there at nine according to whoever did this."
"Which is precisely why you're not going."
"I work there."
"And whoever is doing this knows that."
Mara stepped closer.
"You want answers?"
"Yes."
"So do I."
Adrian stared at her.
She stared back.
Marcus watched them like a man witnessing two trains approaching on one track.
Finally Adrian said, "Lucy stays here."
"With Rosa."
"Here."
"With Rosa here."
"Agreed."
Mara blinked.
"That was easier than expected."
"I choose my battles."
"You don't seem like it."
"You kissed me without permission twelve hours ago. I've demonstrated extraordinary flexibility."
Mara felt heat touch her cheeks.
Marcus suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
At 8:56, Mara and Adrian entered St. Arden through the staff garage.
Mara wore scrubs.
Adrian wore black.
He somehow looked more conspicuous by attempting not to be.
They took the service elevator.
Third floor.
Room 317.
The door required an executive access card.
Mara tried hers.
Red light.
Adrian produced another.
Green.
She stared.
"Whose is that?"
"Warren Hale's."
"How did you get it?"
"Do you want the useful answer or the legal one?"
"Neither."
They entered.
Room 317 wasn't a patient room.
It was an archive.
Metal shelves filled the walls.
Boxes.
Medical files.
Old computers.
Adrian closed the door.
Mara examined a box.
PEDIATRIC RESPIRATORY INITIATIVE.
She opened it.
Patient charts.
Children with severe asthma.
Experimental medications.
Her hands slowed.
Lucy had asthma.
"Mara."
She turned.
Adrian held a file.
LUCY ELLIS.
"No."
She snatched it.
Inside were medical records dating back to Lucy's birth.
Records Mara had never seen.
Genetic panels.
Blood samples.
Respiratory studies.
A consent form.
Signed by Daniel Ellis.
Mara's hands shook.
"I never agreed to this."
Adrian took the page.
"Your signature is here too."
"It's forged."
"You're certain?"
"I know my own handwriting."
Footsteps approached outside.
Adrian shut the box.
The handle moved.
Dr. Warren Hale entered.
He stopped.
For a long second, nobody spoke.
Then Hale sighed.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
Mara stared.
"You knew?"
Hale closed the door.
"I knew Daniel's mistakes would eventually reach you."
"My daughter's file is here."
"Lucy was never harmed."
"You collected her blood without my permission."
"Daniel consented."
"Why?"
Hale looked at Adrian.
"Because your husband was trying to save her."
Mara's anger faltered.
"From asthma?"
"From what caused it."
Adrian stepped forward.
"Explain."
Hale's calm facade cracked.
"Not here."
"You have thirty seconds."
"Your brother said the same thing."
Adrian went motionless.
Hale regretted the sentence instantly.
Mara saw it.
"You knew Gabriel?"
Hale looked toward the hallway.
"They both discovered the trial."
"What trial?"
"An experimental pediatric gene therapy. It began legitimately. Then funding disappeared. Investors wanted results."
"Children were hurt?"
Hale said nothing.
Mara understood.
"How many?"
"Seven."
Her stomach turned.
"Did Daniel expose it?"
"He tried."
"Then why is he alive in a photograph after his funeral?"
Hale looked at her.
"Because Daniel didn't die in that car."
The room seemed to tilt.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
Adrian spoke quietly.
"Who does?"
Hale's eyes moved toward the ceiling camera.
Then he whispered, "The person watching us."
The camera's red indicator illuminated.
Adrian grabbed Mara.
A metallic click sounded behind the wall.
Gas hissed through the ventilation grille.
They ran.
Adrian kicked the door open.
Alarms began screaming.
Mara stumbled into the corridor.
Hale followed.
Then collapsed.
Mara turned instinctively.
Nurse.
She couldn't leave him.
She dropped beside Hale.
His pulse was weak.
Adrian hauled him toward the stairwell while Mara performed rescue breathing.
They reached clean air.
Hale coughed violently.
Before security arrived, he grabbed Mara's wrist.
"Daniel left something for you."
"Where?"
"Your wedding."
"What?"
"The thing he gave you on your wedding day."
Mara's mind raced.
Ring.
Necklace.
Photograph.
Then she remembered.
A cheap brass key Daniel had jokingly called "insurance against our first married fight."
She had kept it in a jewelry box for eight years.
Hale's fingers tightened.
"Don't let Vale open it."
Adrian heard him.
His expression went cold.
"Why?"
Hale looked directly at Mara.
"Because Gabriel didn't die because of Daniel."
His breathing hitched.
"Gabriel died because of Adrian."
Then Hale's eyes closed.
Mara looked up.
Adrian stood perfectly still.
And for the first time since she'd met him, the Architect looked afraid.
That night Mara retrieved Daniel's brass key.
There was a number engraved along its edge.
Adrian recognized it immediately.
"Union Maritime Bank."
"Safe-deposit box?"
"Yes."
Mara grabbed her coat.
Adrian blocked the doorway.
"It's midnight."
"I've waited two years to learn whether my husband is dead."
"The bank is closed."
"Then why are you putting on your coat?"
He looked at her.
"Because I own the building."
Twenty minutes later they stood before box 1107.
Mara inserted Daniel's key.
Adrian used the bank's master key.
The lock clicked.
Mara reached for the metal drawer.
Then a voice behind them said:
"If you open that, Mara, you'll finally understand why your husband ran from you."
She knew that voice.
May you like
She turned.
Curtis Wynn was standing inside the vault...
