Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn't Afraid
Adrian crossed the room before the door had opened more than two inches.
He caught the handle and pulled.
His security chief, Marcus Hale, stood outside.
Adrian stared at him.
Marcus stared back.
"You locked this?" Adrian asked.
Marcus glanced at Clara.
"No."
"She did."
Marcus's expression changed.
"Then someone opened it."
"Who has the master key?"
"Me. Mrs. Vale had one. House manager has one."
"Anyone else?"
"No."
Adrian looked at the hallway.
Empty.
"Check every camera."
Marcus nodded.
"What happened?"
Adrian handed him the hospital bracelet.
Marcus examined it.
Then Adrian showed him the visitor record.
For the first time in years, Marcus Hale looked genuinely confused.
"Eva Marlowe?"
"You know the name."
"Everyone close to Elena knew the name."
"She died."
"Supposedly."
Adrian's gaze sharpened.
"Supposedly?"
Marcus immediately regretted the word.
"Elena never spoke about details."
"Neither did you."
"Because it wasn't my business."
"Everything involving my wife was your business."
Marcus said nothing.
Adrian turned.
Clara still held Leo.
The baby had fallen asleep against her shoulder.
She looked painfully natural with him.
Adrian did not.
That bothered him more than it should have.
"Who are you?" Marcus asked Clara.
"Clara Bennett."
"Housekeeping."
"Yes."
"Why are you here?"
"Because the baby was crying."
Marcus looked toward Adrian.
Adrian said, "She stays."
Marcus nodded once.
No questions.
That was why Adrian trusted him.
Or had trusted him.
Now Elena's letter had changed the room.
Trust the woman who hears him cry.
Adrian reread the sentence.
"Could Elena have known you?" he asked Clara.
"No."
"Think."
"I've seen her."
"When?"
"Every day."
"Spoken to her?"
"Sometimes."
"About what?"
Clara frowned.
"Flowers. Laundry. Tea."
"Anything about Leo?"
"Not really."
"Anything about me?"
A tiny pause.
Adrian caught it.
"What?"
Clara looked uncomfortable.
"She asked whether you were always so serious."
Marcus almost smiled.
Adrian ignored him.
"What did you say?"
"I said I didn't know because you never noticed me."
This time Marcus definitely smiled.
Adrian looked at him.
The smile vanished.
Clara shifted Leo carefully.
"She also asked about my family once."
"When?"
"Two months ago."
"What did you tell her?"
"That my mother died when I was sixteen. That I raised my younger brother for a while."
"Anything else?"
"She asked if I liked children."
Adrian went still.
"What did you say?"
"I said yes."
"Then?"
"She smiled."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
It wasn't.
Adrian could feel it.
Elena had noticed Clara.
Elena had asked whether she could care for children.
And then Elena had written a letter telling Adrian to trust the woman who heard Leo cry.
Perhaps Elena had expected Clara to be here.
Perhaps she had arranged it.
Adrian opened the envelope fully.
There was a second sheet.
Only three lines.
Do not trust anyone who tells you my death was unavoidable.
Find the blue ledger.
Keep Leo away from Daniel.
Adrian's eyes stopped at the final name.
Marcus read over his shoulder.
"Oh, hell."
Clara looked between them.
"Who is Daniel?"
Adrian folded the letter.
"My brother."
Daniel Vale arrived at Blackthorne House the next afternoon.
He came wearing a charcoal suit and carrying grief like an expensive accessory.
He was younger than Adrian by four years, charming where Adrian was intimidating, polished where Adrian was blunt.
He entered the library and opened his arms.
"Brother."
Adrian did not embrace him.
Daniel lowered his arms.
"Still angry?"
"I'm grieving."
"So am I."
"No, you're performing."
Daniel sighed.
"Elena liked me."
"Elena tolerated you."
"Same thing in this family."
Adrian watched him.
Daniel smiled.
"Where's my nephew?"
"Sleeping."
"I'd like to see him."
"No."
Daniel's smile weakened.
"You invited me here."
"I summoned you."
"That's dramatic, even for you."
Adrian placed the hospital visitor log on the desk.
Daniel looked at it.
His face changed so quickly most people would have missed it.
Adrian did not.
"You recognize the name," Adrian said.
"Eva Marlowe."
"She's dead."
"Yes."
"Then why do you look worried?"
Daniel sat.
"I don't."
"You do."
Daniel leaned back.
"Elena told me Eva died in an accident."
"She told me the same."
"Then we're done."
"We're not."
Adrian placed the bracelet beside the record.
EVA.
Daniel stared.
"Where did you get that?"
"Leo."
"Why was it on him?"
"That's what I'm asking you."
Daniel stood.
"I don't know anything about this."
"You haven't heard the interesting part."
"Which is?"
"The hospital camera failed while Eva Marlowe was in Elena's room."
Daniel looked away.
Adrian's voice dropped.
"Look at me."
Daniel did.
"Did you see Elena that day?"
"No."
"Did you speak to her?"
"No."
"Did you know she was investigating something?"
"No."
"Did you know about a blue ledger?"
Daniel's face emptied.
Too late.
Adrian saw it.
Marcus, standing near the door, saw it too.
"What ledger?" Daniel asked.
Adrian leaned back slowly.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"I didn't say there was one."
"You just asked if I knew about one."
"And you reacted."
Daniel laughed once.
"This is insane."
"Probably."
"You buried your wife six days ago, Adrian. You haven't slept. You're wandering around interrogating family because some letters were scratched into a baby bracelet."
"My wife specifically warned me about you."
That landed.
Daniel became still.
"What?"
Adrian said nothing.
Daniel's voice lowered.
"She said my name?"
"Yes."
"What exactly did she say?"
"Leave."
"Adrian—"
"Leave."
Daniel stared at him for several seconds.
Then turned.
At the door, he stopped.
"You think everyone is afraid of you because you're powerful."
Adrian looked at him.
Daniel continued.
"But grief makes powerful men stupid."
He left.
Marcus waited until the footsteps faded.
"That sounded like a threat."
"It sounded like fear."
"Same thing sometimes."
Adrian went upstairs.
Clara sat in the nursery beside Leo.
She had changed out of her maid uniform into a cream cardigan and dark slacks.
Adrian paused at the door.
"You changed."
"My shift ended."
"You stayed."
"Leo needed feeding."
"We have staff."
"Apparently you fire them."
Adrian almost smiled again.
It was becoming dangerous.
"How is he?"
"Asleep."
"He does that?"
"Frequently."
"I haven't seen it."
"Because babies enjoy humiliating their parents."
Adrian walked to the crib.
Leo slept with one hand beside his cheek.
Adrian's voice softened.
"Daniel came."
Clara saw his expression.
"And?"
"Elena warned me about him."
"Your own brother?"
"Yes."
"Do you believe her?"
"I believed Elena about everything."
"Except opening the letter."
Adrian looked at Clara.
She immediately wished she had not said it.
But he did not become angry.
"No," he said. "Not everything."
He sat.
Clara watched him.
"Why didn't you open it sooner?"
He took a long breath.
"Because Elena spent the final month of her pregnancy frightened."
"Of giving birth?"
"That's what I assumed."
"You think it was something else."
"She changed passwords. Moved documents. Asked Marcus to double security around the house without telling me."
"Why wouldn't she tell you?"
"Maybe she didn't trust me."
Clara shook her head.
"Or maybe she knew you'd react."
"How?"
She looked at him.
"Like this."
Adrian glanced down.
"What does that mean?"
"You're ready to turn the entire city upside down."
"I will."
"Exactly."
He studied her.
"You aren't afraid of me."
"I am."
"You don't act like it."
"Fear doesn't stop people from telling the truth."
"Usually it does."
"Maybe that's the kind of people you've surrounded yourself with."
Adrian had no answer.
That evening, Marcus searched Elena's office.
No blue ledger.
They searched her dressing room.
Nothing.
Her car.
Nothing.
The private safe.
Nothing.
At midnight, Adrian returned to the nursery.
Clara had fallen asleep in the chair with Leo against her chest.
Adrian stopped at the doorway.
The scene disturbed him.
Not because anything was wrong.
Because it looked right.
Too right.
For one painful second, he imagined Elena there.
Then Clara opened her eyes.
"Sorry."
She sat up.
"You don't need to apologize."
"I shouldn't sleep while holding him."
"I'll take him."
Clara looked uncertain.
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"You don't trust me?"
"Hold his head."
"I know."
She handed Leo over.
Adrian cradled him more confidently now.
Clara noticed.
"Better."
"High praise."
"Don't get arrogant."
"Too late."
Leo stirred.
Adrian automatically began rocking.
Clara smiled.
Then her gaze shifted toward the baby's crib.
"What is that?"
Adrian followed her eyes.
A blue corner protruded beneath the mattress.
Clara stood.
"I changed those sheets two hours ago."
"Was it there?"
"No."
Adrian moved toward the crib.
He lifted the mattress.
A thin blue notebook lay underneath.
Neither touched it.
"The ledger," Clara whispered.
Adrian looked toward the closed nursery door.
Someone had entered while they were inside the house.
Someone had placed Elena's ledger beneath Leo's mattress.
He opened it.
Pages of names.
Dates.
Payments.
Accounts.
Then one page near the back had been circled in red.
DANIEL VALE.
Underneath it:
$3,000,000 — TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.
Recipient:
E. MARLOWE.
Adrian stared.
Clara whispered, "Your brother paid a dead woman three million dollars."
Then the nursery monitor crackled.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Adrian."
He looked at the monitor.
The camera feed showed an empty guest room.
The voice came again.
"Stop reading."
Adrian reached for the door.
The feed suddenly changed.
Now it showed the front gate.
Daniel Vale was standing outside.
But Daniel was not alone.
Beside him stood a woman Adrian recognized from Elena's old photographs.
A woman who had supposedly been dead for twelve years.
May you like
Eva Marlowe looked directly into the camera.
And she was holding a second baby.
