Chapter 5 - What Celeste Saw
Lena refused to go alone.
Celeste refused to speak otherwise.
For twenty minutes, Adrian argued.
Then Lena ended the discussion.
“She knows something about my father.”
“She could be setting a trap.”
“So put security outside.”
“I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to.”
Adrian stared at her.
Then nodded.
Celeste chose a church.
Small.
Nearly empty.
Lena entered through the side door.
Adrian’s security waited outside.
Celeste sat in the third pew.
Without makeup and without Maison Laurent’s severe black suit, she looked different.
Smaller.
Older.
Scared.
Lena sat two seats away.
“You knew Daniel Reed.”
Celeste nodded.
“How?”
“He was my brother-in-law.”
Lena stared.
“My father married your sister?”
“No.”
Celeste rubbed her hands together.
“My sister married Daniel’s brother.”
“That’s the connection?”
“At first.”
“What happened?”
Celeste looked toward the altar.
“I was twenty-four. I worked at the Sentinel as an administrative assistant.”
“The photograph.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother too.”
“Barely.”
“Then why have you spent fourteen months treating me like you hated me?”
Celeste closed her eyes.
“Because every time I looked at you, I remembered what happened.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“I was angry.”
“At me?”
“At Evelyn.”
Lena stood.
“My mother is dead.”
“I know.”
“She cannot defend herself.”
“I know.”
“Then choose your next words carefully.”
Celeste began crying.
“Daniel died because of her.”
Lena froze.
“You said died.”
Celeste realized her mistake.
“He didn’t disappear?”
Celeste looked toward the entrance.
“Sit down.”
“Where is my father?”
“Dead.”
The word hit harder than Lena expected.
She sat.
“How?”
Celeste struggled to breathe.
“Daniel discovered Harrison Vale’s pension scheme. Evelyn helped him copy records.”
Lena nodded.
“I know that.”
“They planned to expose Harrison.”
“What went wrong?”
“Someone inside the Sentinel sold Daniel out.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Celeste.”
“I swear.”
She wiped her eyes.
“Harrison learned Daniel had evidence. He sent men to frighten him.”
“Frighten?”
“They beat him.”
Lena’s hands curled.
“He survived.”
“For three days.”
Lena stopped breathing.
“He was in hiding. Evelyn wanted to take him to a hospital. Daniel refused.”
“Why?”
“He believed Harrison controlled the police.”
Celeste looked down.
“He died in a motel outside Milwaukee.”
Lena whispered, “My mother was there?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I was there too.”
Lena stared.
Celeste continued.
“Daniel called me because he needed someone who wasn’t connected to Evelyn.”
“What happened to his body?”
“Evelyn and I left to find help.”
Celeste’s voice broke.
“When we returned, he was gone.”
“Gone?”
“So were the documents.”
“Who took him?”
“I don’t know.”
Lena felt sick.
“You told me he died.”
“He stopped breathing before we left.”
“You checked?”
“Yes.”
“And no body was found?”
“No.”
“Then how can you be certain?”
Celeste stared at her.
“I saw him die.”
Lena stood again.
“What did my mother do?”
“She panicked.”
“That’s understandable.”
“She made me promise never to tell anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because she was pregnant with you.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“What about the safe-deposit key?”
Celeste’s face changed.
“You found the tape.”
“Yes.”
“Then Harrison’s people will know.”
“How?”
Celeste whispered, “Because the storage unit was watched.”
Lena’s heart jumped.
“You were there last night.”
“Yes.”
“With who?”
“A private investigator.”
“Working for whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not.”
Celeste leaned forward.
“Someone contacted me two weeks ago.”
“Who?”
“They knew Daniel’s name. They knew about Evelyn. They knew you worked at Maison Laurent.”
Lena stared.
“What did they want?”
“The key.”
“Did you give it to them?”
“I never had it.”
“Then why meet them?”
“They threatened my daughter.”
Lena went still.
Celeste had never mentioned having a daughter.
“She’s nineteen,” Celeste whispered. “Northwestern. They sent me photographs of her dorm.”
Lena’s anger shifted.
“Where is she now?”
“With federal agents.”
“Federal?”
Celeste nodded.
“I contacted the FBI yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you tell Adrian?”
“Because I don’t trust anyone named Vale.”
Lena could not entirely blame her.
Celeste continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The man at the motel.”
“What man?”
“After Daniel died, before Evelyn and I left…”
Celeste’s voice dropped.
“A man knocked on the door.”
Lena sat slowly.
“Who?”
“Daniel knew him.”
“Name.”
“He called him Michael.”
Lena waited.
Celeste looked directly at her.
“Michael Vale.”
Lena frowned.
“Who is that?”
Adrian had never mentioned him.
Celeste answered.
“Harrison Vale’s younger brother.”
Lena’s blood ran cold.
“Adrian has an uncle?”
“Had.”
“What happened to him?”
“He vanished the same week Daniel did.”
Lena immediately called Adrian.
He answered on the first ring.
“Are you okay?”
“Did your father have a brother named Michael?”
Silence.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
“My family said he died overseas.”
“When?”
Adrian paused.
“Twenty years ago.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Celeste saw him with my father three days before Daniel disappeared.”
Adrian said nothing.
Then, “I’m coming inside.”
Two minutes later he entered with security.
Celeste stood.
“I said alone.”
Lena replied, “Things changed.”
Adrian sat opposite her.
“Tell me about Michael.”
Celeste repeated everything.
Adrian looked stunned.
“My uncle worked for my father.”
“In what capacity?” Lena asked.
“Troubleshooter.”
Celeste laughed bitterly.
“That’s one word for it.”
Adrian ignored the insult.
“Michael disappeared after a private plane crashed near Canada.”
“No body?”
“No.”
Lena looked at him.
“Convenient.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Victor arrived soon after.
When he heard Michael’s name, his face tightened.
“You knew him,” Lena said.
“Yes.”
“Did he know my mother?”
Victor hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Too well.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked at Lena.
“Michael became obsessed with Evelyn.”
Lena’s stomach twisted.
“Obsessed?”
“She rejected him.”
“Did Harrison know?”
“Eventually.”
Adrian connected the pieces.
“My father used Michael to watch her.”
Victor nodded.
“Michael followed Evelyn for months.”
“The photographs in storage,” Lena said.
“Probably his.”
Celeste whispered, “Then Michael was the one who found Daniel.”
Adrian’s security chief entered the church.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We checked Michael Vale’s death records.”
Adrian stood.
“And?”
“No death certificate exists.”
Victor’s face changed.
The security chief continued.
“His Social Security number was used once after the plane crash.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
Lena’s pulse quickened.
Celeste looked terrified.
Adrian asked, “What transaction?”
“A property tax payment.”
“Which property?”
The security chief handed him the address.
Victor looked at it first.
His face drained.
Lena grabbed the paper.
The address belonged to a small house on the edge of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
She knew it.
Her mother had taken her there every summer until Lena turned eight.
Evelyn always called it a friend’s cabin.
Lena whispered, “That was my childhood vacation house.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Who owned it?”
“I never knew.”
The security chief answered.
“Michael Vale.”
Then Lena’s phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One photograph arrived.
It showed the red bicycle from the storage unit.
Taken only minutes earlier.
A second message appeared.
COME TO THE LAKE HOUSE.
May you like
ALONE.
YOUR FATHER IS WAITING.
