Chapter 2 - The Name on the Photograph
Claire backed away from the door.
Maisie stared at her from the bed.
"Mommy?"
Claire pressed one finger to her lips.
The handle stopped moving.
Silence.
Then Victor said, "Open the door."
Claire forced her voice steady.
"Maisie's changing."
"Roman wants everyone downstairs."
"I'll come when she's ready."
Another silence.
"Five minutes."
His footsteps retreated.
Claire waited until she could no longer hear them.
Then she looked at the photograph again.
Daniel.
Her husband.
Roman.
Together.
Daniel had supposedly died after losing control of his car on a rain-soaked highway.
Police had called it an accident.
Claire had believed them.
Now she remembered the week before Daniel died.
He had been distracted.
He had checked the locks twice every night.
Once Claire had awakened at three in the morning and found him sitting in the kitchen with an envelope.
When she entered, he had burned it over the sink.
"What was that?"
"Work."
"What kind of work gets burned?"
"The kind I'm quitting."
She had thought he meant the private security company that employed him.
Three days later, he was dead.
Claire shoved the photograph into her pocket.
She needed Roman.
But first she needed Maisie safe.
She opened a wardrobe and pulled out an old canvas bag.
"Baby, we're playing a game."
Maisie's eyes brightened despite her fear.
"What game?"
"Quiet mouse."
"I'm good at quiet mouse."
"I know."
Claire packed clothes, water, crackers and Maisie's stuffed rabbit.
She led her through a narrow service corridor.
At the laundry room, she found Rosa Alvarez, the mansion's sixty-year-old cook.
Rosa looked at Claire's face.
"What happened?"
"I need you to take Maisie."
"Where?"
"Your sister's."
Rosa didn't ask why.
That was one reason Claire trusted her.
"How long?"
"I don't know."
Rosa crouched before Maisie.
"Want to help me bake cookies?"
Maisie nodded.
Claire hugged her.
Hard.
"Mommy will come soon."
"You promise?"
Claire swallowed.
"I promise."
Twenty minutes later, Rosa drove away through the service gate with Maisie hidden beneath a blanket in the back seat.
Claire returned to the mansion.
Everyone had gathered in the library.
Roman stood near the fireplace wearing clean clothes.
His right hand was bandaged.
Victor stood near the door.
Matteo sat on the sofa.
Aunt Elena clutched a glass of water.
Two guards remained outside.
Roman looked at Claire.
Something passed between them.
Recognition.
Warning.
"Where's your daughter?" Victor asked.
"Sleeping."
Roman's eyes narrowed slightly.
Claire hoped he understood the lie.
Roman addressed everyone.
"Someone attacked me."
Matteo stood.
"We know. Victor's already checking the cameras."
Roman looked at Victor.
"Are you?"
"Of course."
"The garden cameras failed."
Victor nodded.
"Power surge."
"There was no power surge."
Victor didn't blink.
"Then sabotage."
"Who has access?"
"Half the staff."
Roman smiled without warmth.
"Convenient."
Aunt Elena put down her glass.
"Roman, you need a hospital."
"I need answers."
Claire watched Victor's right hand.
A silver ring covered his smallest finger.
Maisie had been right.
But that wasn't proof.
Roman suddenly looked at Claire.
"Mrs. Ellis found me."
Every head turned.
Victor's face changed for less than a second.
Roman saw it.
So did Claire.
"My daughter noticed the smoke," Claire said.
Victor folded his hands.
"Children wander."
"Not Maisie."
"Apparently she did."
Roman stepped between them.
"Careful."
Victor's jaw tightened.
Roman dismissed everyone except Claire.
When the door closed, she pulled out the photograph.
Roman stared at it.
His expression changed instantly.
"Where did you get this?"
"My bedroom."
"Who put it there?"
"I don't know."
Roman flipped it over.
His face went pale at the word MERCER.
"You know it."
Roman walked to the window.
"Daniel worked for me."
Claire felt as though the floor moved.
"You told me you didn't know my husband."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel asked me to."
Her anger arrived so fast that she crossed the room and slapped him.
Roman didn't move.
"You let me mourn him for two years while knowing something about his death?"
"I knew he was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Mercer."
"Who is Mercer?"
Roman hesitated.
Claire pointed toward the garden.
"Someone tied you inside a burning shed today. My daughter found you. Someone put a photograph of my dead husband on my bed. You don't get to protect me from the truth anymore."
Roman opened a hidden drawer in his desk.
He removed a small key.
"Mercer isn't a person."
He crossed to a painting and opened a concealed wall safe.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
Flash drives.
A ledger.
Roman placed one folder before Claire.
"Mercer was an internal security operation my father created twenty years ago."
"For what?"
"To identify betrayal inside the family."
Claire opened the folder.
Daniel's name appeared on the first page.
DANIEL ELLIS — INVESTIGATOR.
She looked up.
Roman continued.
"Your husband discovered someone was moving money, weapons and information through my organization."
"Who?"
"He never told me."
"Why?"
"Because he believed the traitor had access to my office."
Claire stared at him.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning Daniel believed someone close enough to read my private files was involved."
A noise came from behind them.
Roman reached inside his jacket.
The library door opened.
Matteo entered.
"You two look serious."
Roman closed the folder.
"Knock."
"I did."
"No, you didn't."
Matteo smiled.
Then his gaze fell to Claire's pocket.
The edge of the photograph was visible.
His smile disappeared.
"Where did you get that?"
Claire's heart jumped.
"You recognize it?"
Matteo looked at Roman.
"You showed her?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
Nobody spoke.
Matteo shut the door.
"Roman, we have a problem."
"We have several."
"No. We have one."
He placed a phone on the desk.
Security footage played.
It showed Rosa's car leaving the estate.
Roman looked at Claire.
Victor's voice could be heard off-camera.
"Stop the vehicle."
Claire grabbed the phone.
"When was this?"
"Two minutes ago."
Her blood froze.
Roman pulled out his own phone.
No signal.
The mansion's communications had been blocked.
Claire ran.
Roman followed.
They reached the courtyard as the gates closed.
Rosa's car was gone.
Victor stood beside the security station.
"Where's my daughter?" Claire demanded.
Victor turned.
"What daughter?"
Roman grabbed his collar.
"If you've touched that child—"
Victor smiled.
"I haven't."
Claire saw something in his expression.
He knew.
"Where is she?"
Victor calmly removed Roman's hand.
"Maybe ask Rosa."
Claire's phone suddenly vibrated.
One message.
Unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
Maisie's stuffed rabbit lay on a concrete floor.
Below it were five words.
BRING ROMAN TO THE BASEMENT.
Claire stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
COME ALONE OR THE GIRL DISAPPEARS.
Then a final photograph appeared.
This time Maisie was in it.
Behind her stood someone Claire recognized immediately.
May you like
She whispered the name.
"Daniel..."
