Chapter 5 - The Housekeeper They Tried to Blame
"Martha?"
Elise's voice echoed through the darkness.
No answer.
Jonah found the emergency light.
The room illuminated red.
Martha stood in the doorway.
Her hands were empty.
Her face was terrified.
"Don't come this way."
Caleb stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because Voss is here."
Samuel Voss stepped into view behind her.
He wore no threatening expression.
That made him more frightening.
"Caleb."
Caleb's voice turned cold.
"Samuel."
Voss looked at Elise.
"So this is the housekeeper."
Elise hated the way he said it.
As if she were a complication.
Voss claimed he had come because Adrian contacted him.
Nobody believed him.
Then he produced documents.
Adrian had survived the fire.
Caleb's father had hidden him after discovering that someone inside Rowan Holdings was using Adrian's identity to move money.
Adrian agreed to disappear while gathering evidence.
But something went wrong.
Communication ended.
Caleb's father died before telling Caleb the truth.
"Why sabotage the chair?" Caleb asked.
"I didn't."
"The floor?"
"No."
"The camera?"
"No."
"Convenient."
Voss looked at Elise.
"She was brought here because Adrian believed someone would make another attempt once Caleb reopened the old financial investigation."
Elise stared.
"I was bait?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Insurance."
She almost laughed.
"That's worse."
Voss explained Adrian had remembered Elise from the hotel.
Her ability to notice environmental changes had impressed him.
When Caleb's household advertised for temporary staff, Adrian quietly ensured her application reached the top.
The bonus had been deliberately increased.
Four thousand dollars.
Exactly enough to make sure she accepted.
Elise felt sick.
"My eviction."
"Real."
"You investigated me."
"Adrian did."
Caleb's expression darkened.
"He manipulated her."
Voss nodded.
"Yes."
Elise turned toward Caleb.
"And you manipulate everyone."
That stopped him.
"I'm not defending him," she said. "I'm reminding you that powerful men keep deciding what other people should know."
Caleb looked away first.
Then Jonah found the decisive evidence.
Voss's story wasn't complete.
The forged service credentials had been created from a terminal in the security office.
Jonah's office.
But Jonah had been with Caleb when they were generated.
Someone else possessed administrator access.
Only one other person.
Deputy security director Grant Hale.
Grant had worked for Caleb's father.
He knew the mansion.
He knew the cameras.
He knew Caleb's routines.
And he had disappeared forty minutes earlier.
Martha suddenly remembered seeing Grant near Elise's locker.
They rushed back toward the main house.
Too late.
Grant was gone.
So was the backup wheelchair.
Caleb stopped.
"Why take the chair?"
Elise understood first.
"Because he doesn't need it."
Everyone looked at her.
"He needs something inside it."
The technician dismantled the backup chair.
Hidden beneath its battery housing was a storage device.
Adrian had concealed evidence there years earlier.
Financial records.
Transfers.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Not Grant.
Caleb stared at the screen.
His father.
For a moment nobody spoke.
Then they examined the dates.
The truth emerged.
Caleb's father hadn't stolen money.
He had moved it to protect company assets while investigating someone else.
The apparent theft had been camouflage.
The true beneficiary was a holding company.
Its authorized representative:
Samuel Voss.
Elise slowly turned.
Voss was gone.
The room erupted.
Jonah ran for the corridor.
Caleb swore.
Martha called security.
Elise remained staring at the empty doorway.
Voss had brought them here.
Voss had told them just enough truth to gain access to the evidence.
Then another thought struck her.
"Where's the drive?"
Jonah stopped.
The storage device was gone.
Voss had taken it.
Caleb looked toward Elise.
"You saw him leave?"
"No."
"Then how—"
"He didn't come here to explain anything."
She pointed toward the empty wheelchair housing.
"He came to find that."
An alarm sounded.
Front gate.
Vehicle leaving.
Jonah raced toward security.
Caleb followed.
Elise started after them.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Samuel Voss standing beside a car.
Behind him was another man.
Older.
Scarred along one side of his face.
But unmistakable.
Adrian Rowan.
Underneath:
HE ISN'T VOSS'S PRISONER.
Elise enlarged the image.
Adrian was looking directly at the camera.
And smiling.
May you like
Then another message arrived.
ASK CALEB WHO REALLY STARTED THE FIRE.
