Chapter 4 - Eleven Minutes Missing
The front doors unlocked.
Cassian moved immediately.
“Matteo, reset manually.”
“Trying.”
“Mrs. Bell, take Adeline and Margaret downstairs.”
Adeline shook her head.
“No.”
Cassian turned.
“This is not a debate.”
“They’re accusing her of murder.”
“And you standing in the corridor won’t solve it.”
“I’m going with her.”
Margaret grabbed Adeline’s arm.
“Do what he says.”
Adeline looked at her.
Margaret’s face held genuine fear.
That settled it.
Mrs. Bell led them through a service passage.
Cassian remained near the main entrance.
Outside, the police approached.
He knew two of the officers.
That did not mean they were his.
Chicago loyalty changed by block, election, promotion, and paycheck.
The lead detective entered holding a warrant.
“Cassian.”
“Detective.”
“We need Miles Ashford.”
“He’s upstairs.”
“Alive?”
“Unfortunately for his creditors.”
The detective did not smile.
“And Margaret Vale.”
“Not available.”
“That’s going to be a problem.”
Cassian took the warrant.
Samuel Drake.
Suspicious death.
New evidence.
Witness identification.
The timing was too perfect.
“Who reopened this?”
“State’s attorney.”
“At midnight?”
“Apparently rich people work late.”
Cassian handed it back.
“You can search.”
The detective studied him.
“You’re cooperating?”
“With the warrant.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“It’s what I answered.”
Upstairs, security brought Miles down.
The moment he saw Harrison, Miles stopped.
His father’s face remained calm.
Camilla stood beside him.
No shame.
No fear.
Just fury.
“You embarrassed me,” she told Cassian.
“You earned it.”
Her eyes shifted toward his shirt.
His coat was gone.
She knew who had it.
“That little maid will cost you everything.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“She has a name.”
Camilla smiled.
“I know.”
That answer mattered.
“How long have you known it?”
Camilla said nothing.
Cassian watched Harrison.
No reaction.
Too controlled.
The detective interrupted.
“We need to search the house.”
“Go.”
Officers moved.
Cassian walked toward Harrison.
“You planted the jewelry.”
Harrison looked amused.
“Can you prove that?”
“I don’t need to.”
“You will.”
“For what?”
“The restraining order Camilla is filing.”
Cassian almost laughed.
“Against Adeline?”
“Against you.”
Camilla lifted her chin.
“She’s claiming you became violent.”
Cassian stared at her.
“You raised a riding crop over an employee in front of two hundred witnesses.”
“I disciplined a thief.”
“You struck her.”
“She attacked me first.”
That was new.
Cassian’s expression went cold.
Camilla continued.
“She pushed me. I defended myself.”
There were witnesses.
But witnesses could be bought.
And some had already begun posting carefully worded statements online.
Cassian’s phone vibrated continuously.
News.
Gossip.
Headlines.
His engagement ending publicly.
Maid assaulted.
Voss family scandal.
One headline had already changed the framing.
FIANCÉE OF CHICAGO BUSINESSMAN ATTACKED DURING PRIVATE GALA.
Fast.
Too fast.
Harrison’s influence was moving.
Cassian looked at Miles.
“Tell them.”
Miles looked at his father.
Harrison’s expression did not change.
Miles swallowed.
“I don’t know what he means.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“Eleven minutes.”
Miles looked away.
“You entered Camilla’s room.”
“No.”
“Your ring is on camera.”
“My ring was stolen.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Cassian smiled faintly.
Miles had chosen.
Fear beat truth.
For now.
Detectives searched the estate.
They found no Margaret.
The service tunnel beneath the house had been built during Prohibition.
Victor Voss used it to move liquor.
Cassian had kept it maintained because his father had taught him one lesson worth remembering:
Never own a house with only one exit.
Mrs. Bell guided Adeline and Margaret through the tunnel.
They emerged in a detached carriage house behind the property.
Matteo waited with a car.
“Get in.”
Adeline stopped.
“Where’s Cassian?”
“Handling the police.”
“I’m not leaving without him.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Cassian Voss does not need rescuing from lawyers.”
Margaret almost smiled.
Adeline did not.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere cameras won’t follow.”
They drove south.
The city lights blurred across the windows.
Margaret sat beside Adeline.
“You’re angry with me.”
“Yes.”
“You should be.”
“Did my mother know about the will?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she claim it?”
“She hated Victor.”
“That simple?”
“No.”
Margaret looked down.
“She believed accepting anything from him would put you in danger.”
“She was right.”
“Yes.”
“Then why bring me here?”
“Because Elena changed her mind before she died.”
Adeline stared.
“Why?”
“She learned Harrison was preparing to transfer controlling assets from Ashford Development into a joint company after Camilla married Cassian.”
Adeline understood slowly.
“If they married—”
“Harrison would gain influence inside Voss Holdings.”
“And the missing will could stop that?”
“Potentially.”
“So my mother sent me into the middle of it.”
“She sent you the key.”
“She didn’t send me here.”
“No.”
Margaret glanced at Matteo driving.
“I did.”
Adeline looked out the window.
Her anger shifted direction.
At the estate, Cassian finished with police after two hours.
They took Miles.
They did not find Margaret.
Camilla remained until the end.
When she finally walked toward the door, she turned.
“You think putting your coat around her made you noble?”
Cassian said nothing.
Camilla approached.
“You have no idea who she is.”
“I know more than you hoped.”
Her expression flickered.
“Margaret told you.”
Cassian watched.
“You know Margaret.”
Camilla smiled.
“Everyone knows someone when enough money is involved.”
“What did your father tell you?”
“Enough.”
“And Samuel Drake?”
The smile disappeared.
Interesting.
Cassian continued.
“Was he murdered?”
Camilla looked toward Harrison.
Then back.
“You should ask Margaret.”
“So the accusation is false.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Camilla walked away.
Harrison paused beside Cassian.
“We could still fix this.”
Cassian almost admired the nerve.
“How?”
“You apologize publicly.”
“To Camilla?”
“You claim the maid provoked her.”
“No.”
“You reinstate the engagement.”
“No.”
“You turn Margaret over.”
“No.”
“And the girl?”
Cassian’s voice became dangerously soft.
“What about her?”
Harrison smiled.
“Send her away.”
“No.”
Harrison sighed.
“Then by tomorrow morning, every bank connected to your company will know there is a disputed ownership claim. Your board will panic. Your lenders will reconsider exposure. Your partners will wonder whether a housemaid owns twenty percent of your company.”
There.
Confirmation.
Cassian said, “You know the will exists.”
Harrison realized his mistake.
Barely.
Cassian smiled.
“Thank you.”
Harrison’s expression hardened.
“You’ve always been too much like Victor.”
“No.”
Cassian stepped closer.
“That’s why you never understood me.”
Harrison left.
Cassian called Matteo.
“Where are you?”
“South Loop.”
“Take them to the bank.”
“Now?”
“Harrison knows about the will. We need whatever Elena left before he gets there.”
Adeline heard through the speaker.
“The vault won’t be open.”
Margaret said, “I know the current owner.”
Cassian answered.
“Then wake him.”
Twenty minutes later, Cassian joined them outside the old First Federal building.
The structure had been converted into private document storage.
A nervous manager unlocked the entrance.
Margaret showed identification.
Adeline showed the brass key.
The manager checked decades-old records.
His face changed.
“What?”
He turned the ledger around.
Box 417.
Renter: Elena Croft.
Authorized secondary access: Adeline Croft.
Cassian looked at Adeline.
Her mother had planned this.
The manager led them underground.
A steel vault door opened slowly.
Rows of boxes stretched inside.
Adeline inserted the key.
Her hand trembled.
Cassian stood beside her.
“You don’t have to open it tonight.”
She looked at him.
“Yes, I do.”
She turned the key.
Inside were three items.
A stack of photocopied financial ledgers.
A sealed legal envelope.
And a small cassette recorder.
Margaret covered her mouth.
“Elena.”
Adeline picked up the recorder.
A label was attached.
FOR ADDIE.
She pressed play.
Static.
Then her mother’s voice.
Older.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
“Adeline, if you’re hearing this, I’m gone.”
Adeline shut her eyes.
Cassian looked away, giving her privacy even while standing beside her.
Elena continued.
“I lied to you about many things because I thought lies could keep you safe.”
Adeline’s tears came silently.
“I was wrong.”
A pause.
“There is something you need to know about Victor Voss.”
Cassian looked toward the recorder.
Elena’s voice cracked.
“Victor was not your father.”
Adeline’s eyes opened.
Cassian froze.
Margaret whispered, “What?”
The recording continued.
“But the man who is your father is the reason I spent twenty-six years running.”
Adeline stopped breathing.
A sound came from the vault entrance.
Matteo turned.
Someone had entered the building.
Then the lights went out.
May you like
In the darkness, a man’s voice spoke from behind them.
“Don’t play another word.”
