Chapter 4 - The Man My Father Trusted
Marcus did not reach for his weapon.
That was the only reason Mara did not shoot him.
“Hands where I can see them.”
He raised both hands.
Victor stepped forward.
“Mara.”
“Back up.”
“He has served this family for nineteen years.”
“That sentence has never stopped anyone from committing murder.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Elena.”
I studied his face.
No panic.
No anger.
Something worse.
Disappointment.
“Were you near Senator Hale’s table?”
“Yes.”
“Did you touch his drink?”
“No.”
“Who on your team did?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara removed Marcus’s firearm.
Then his radio.
Then his access card.
Marcus didn’t resist.
We returned upstairs under escort.
The ballroom became silent when people saw him.
Arthur Hale was awake in the medical room.
His skin looked gray.
A physician stood beside him.
Mara leaned close.
“You said someone from Vale security poisoned you.”
Arthur nodded weakly.
“Did you see who?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Arthur looked at me.
“Because the man who brought my champagne used the security phrase.”
“What phrase?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Blue lantern.”
My father froze.
I noticed immediately.
“What does that mean?”
Victor answered reluctantly.
“It was an old authentication phrase.”
“For what?”
“Internal Vale personnel.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We stopped using it twelve years ago.”
Arthur stared at him.
“That is exactly why I knew.”
Mara frowned.
“What?”
“The man said, ‘Senator Hale, blue lantern requested you switch glasses.’”
My father whispered, “Only old personnel would know that phrase.”
Arthur nodded.
“I thought Victor had sent him.”
“Could you identify him?”
“He wore catering clothes.”
Mara looked toward the ballroom doors.
All catering staff had been contained.
Good.
Then Arthur grabbed my hand.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“Your mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That someone inside your family was helping Crosswell.”
“I heard the recording.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“You found it?”
“Yes.”
His grip tightened.
“Then you know about Evelyn.”
My father stepped back.
The name struck him harder than any accusation against Marcus.
I turned.
“Who is Evelyn?”
Dad looked at me as though I had asked him who he was.
“My sister.”
I stared.
“You told me Aunt Evelyn died before I was born.”
“She did.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Arthur continued.
“Evelyn Vale is alive.”
My stomach turned.
“Where?”
“No one knows.”
Dad whispered, “Arthur, stop.”
Arthur’s eyes hardened.
“She deserves the truth.”
“Not like this.”
“There is no good way to tell a daughter her entire childhood was built around a lie.”
I looked at my father.
“You told me she died in a boating accident.”
Victor said nothing.
Arthur answered for him.
“She disappeared after your mother died.”
The room felt colder.
“Why?”
Arthur struggled to breathe.
“Because Isabella believed Evelyn was the Vale insider.”
Dad snapped, “She had no proof.”
Arthur looked at him.
“She had enough.”
I released Arthur’s hand.
“Did Evelyn have access to Room Seven?”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did she know the security system?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know the old authentication phrases?”
“Yes.”
Every answer made the air heavier.
Mara asked the obvious question.
“Could Evelyn Vale be inside this estate?”
Dad shook his head.
“I haven’t seen her in fifteen years.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I don’t know.”
A commotion erupted outside.
One of Marcus’s security officers ran into the medical room.
“Mr. Vale.”
Victor turned.
“What?”
“We found the catering uniform.”
“Where?”
“Service level.”
“Who was wearing it?”
“No one.”
The officer swallowed.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“We checked the underground garage after Ms. Vale ordered every vehicle secured.”
He looked directly at me.
“One car is missing.”
Marcus frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“It left before lockdown.”
“When?”
The officer checked his tablet.
“Twenty-seven seconds before the first barrier dropped.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Whose car?”
The officer’s expression changed.
“It was registered to Victor Vale.”
Everyone looked at my father.
He went completely still.
“I did not authorize anyone to use my car.”
The officer turned the tablet around.
A surveillance image showed the vehicle leaving the lower gate.
The driver’s face was barely visible.
A woman.
Silver hair.
Thin features.
And even through the grainy image, I knew those eyes.
Because I saw them in the mirror every morning.
They were Vale eyes.
My eyes.
My father whispered one word.
“Evelyn.”
May you like
My dead aunt had just escaped from the estate.
And she had done it thirty seconds before I locked everyone else inside.
