Chapter 3 - The Watch
Genevieve called Natalie back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
“I'm going there.”
Adrian stepped between her and the door.
“No.”
“My best friend is in my apartment.”
“And whoever entered knows she's there.”
“That is exactly why I'm going.”
“You running into a dangerous situation won't help Natalie.”
Genevieve glared at him.
“Don't tell me what helps my friend.”
Adrian did not move.
“Then let professionals get her out.”
He called someone.
No dramatic orders.
No threats.
Just an address and a request to contact building security and Chicago police immediately.
Genevieve paced.
Eleanor sat in silence.
Three minutes felt like thirty.
Then Adrian’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes.”
He listened.
“Is she safe?”
Genevieve stopped.
Adrian looked at her.
“She's safe.”
Genevieve's knees nearly gave way.
“What happened?”
“Building security found her in the hallway. A man entered your apartment, but he left through the service stairwell.”
“Natalie?”
“Shaken. Not injured.”
Genevieve took the phone.
“Put her on.”
A moment later Natalie's voice came through.
“Gen?”
“I'm here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“The watch is gone.”
Genevieve closed her eyes.
“Forget the watch. Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see him?”
“Not clearly.”
“Was it Preston?”
“No.”
Genevieve looked at Adrian.
“Did he say anything?”
“He asked where you were.”
“And?”
“I told him to go to hell.”
Despite everything, Genevieve smiled.
“That sounds like you.”
“There was something else.”
“What?”
“When I opened the watch, a piece of paper fell out before he came.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
Natalie unfolded something.
“Locker 314. Union Station.”
Adrian heard.
His expression changed.
Genevieve said, “Don't go anywhere. Stay with security.”
She ended the call.
“Locker 314.”
Adrian nodded.
“The same number inside the ring.”
Genevieve looked toward the laptop.
“What if Dad left something there?”
“Then somebody else may know.”
“I still need it.”
Adrian considered her for a moment.
“You're not going in that dress.”
Twenty minutes later Genevieve emerged from a private guest suite wearing dark trousers, a loose sweater, and a long coat borrowed from the club manager's wife.
Her wet hair had been pulled into a simple knot.
The ring remained on her finger.
Eleanor insisted on coming.
Genevieve refused.
“If something happens, I need you somewhere safe.”
“I'm your mother.”
“And I'm your daughter. Please.”
Eleanor finally nodded.
Before Genevieve left, she caught her hand.
“Your father loved you more than that company.”
“I know.”
“No. Listen to me. Whatever he hid, don't let Hayes Logistics become more important than staying alive.”
Genevieve hugged her.
Then she and Adrian left through an underground garage.
Union Station was still busy despite the late hour.
Adrian kept several yards between them so they did not look like a group.
Locker 314 was in an older section near baggage storage.
Genevieve entered the code printed on the paper.
Nothing.
“Maybe there's another number.”
She examined the ring.
Then remembered Bluebird.
She typed the numerical equivalent of the truck's license number she remembered from childhood.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a leather document pouch.
Genevieve removed it.
Adrian scanned the corridor.
“Open it somewhere else.”
She nodded.
Then a voice behind them said, “Genevieve.”
She turned.
Preston stood twenty feet away.
Alone.
His wedding suit was gone.
He wore dark slacks and a gray overcoat.
He looked exhausted.
“Don't come closer,” Genevieve said.
Preston raised his hands.
“I’m not here to hurt you.”
Adrian stepped into view.
Preston's eyes narrowed.
“Adrian Vale.”
“You've heard of me.”
“My father has.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
Preston ignored him.
“Gen, please.”
“Don't call me that.”
His face tightened.
“You heard us.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Then you don't understand.”
Genevieve laughed once.
“You were planning to liquidate my father's company after marrying me.”
“I was trying to stop my father.”
“By marrying me?”
“No. I wanted to marry you.”
“Don't.”
“I love you.”
“You called me a signature.”
Preston looked ashamed.
“I said things because my father needed to believe I was following the plan.”
Genevieve stared at him.
“That's convenient.”
“I've spent six months trying to figure out what happened to Thomas.”
Adrian glanced at him.
Preston continued.
“My father wanted access to Hayes Logistics. That's true. But I don't think he killed Thomas.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“You shouldn't.”
The answer surprised her.
Preston slowly reached inside his coat.
Adrian moved.
“Easy.”
Preston removed a flash drive.
“I copied this from my father's private office.”
Genevieve did not take it.
“What is it?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“I don't know. The account is encrypted.”
“Then why give it to me?”
“Because somebody killed Thomas, and tonight I realized they may kill you too.”
Genevieve felt anger rising.
“You realized that tonight?”
“When my father told security to find you before you reached the police.”
Adrian's gaze sharpened.
“Where is Harrison now?”
“I don't know.”
Genevieve looked at the leather pouch.
Then at Preston.
“Did you know about my father's car?”
“No.”
“Did you know someone tampered with it before the crash?”
Preston went pale.
“What?”
She watched him closely.
For the first time all evening, she believed his reaction.
But believing his surprise was not the same as forgiving him.
“You still planned to steal my company.”
“I planned to get control long enough to block my father.”
“You could have told me.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a coward.”
Silence.
No excuses.
No defense.
Just the truth.
Genevieve held out her hand.
“The drive.”
Preston gave it to her.
Adrian placed it inside an evidence pouch.
Genevieve turned away.
“Gen.”
She stopped.
“I know I've lost you,” Preston said. “But please don't assume everyone standing beside your father was his friend.”
She looked back.
“What does that mean?”
Preston looked toward the leather pouch.
“Thomas kept records of every board member who had access to his schedule.”
Genevieve's heart accelerated.
“And?”
“One name appeared every time something went wrong.”
“Whose?”
A train announcement drowned his first words.
Genevieve stepped closer.
“Say it again.”
Preston opened his mouth.
A man slammed into him from behind.
The leather pouch fell.
Adrian grabbed Genevieve and pulled her backward as commuters shouted.
The stranger snatched the pouch and ran.
“Stop!”
Adrian's security man chased him.
Preston pushed himself up.
Genevieve looked down.
The pouch was gone.
But one photograph had fallen from it.
She picked it up.
It showed Thomas Hayes standing beside his car.
Someone stood behind him.
Genevieve turned the photograph over.
Her father had written one sentence.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, ASK ELEANOR WHY SHE LIED.
Genevieve stared at her mother's name.
May you like
Then her phone rang.
Eleanor was calling.
