Chapter 10 — Beaumont House Had Been Lying for Fourteen Years
By 9:17 a.m., Beaumont House was sealed.
No employees.
No customers.
No deliveries.
Every door locked.
Every camera monitored.
Ronan stood in the center of the restaurant while Marcus spread fourteen years of records across the main dining table.
Tessa sat beside him.
Victor remained in a private room upstairs under guard.
The evidence was overwhelming.
And somehow, none of it was enough.
Fourteen years of missing documents.
Altered timestamps.
Fake death reports.
Payments to dead men.
A hidden basement.
A living woman claiming to be Eda's sister.
A photograph proving Ronan's mother was alive after the official time of death.
And now—
Elias Vale.
Ronan picked up an old floor plan.
“Why was this room removed?”
Marcus looked at it.
“What room?”
“Kitchen archive.”
He pointed.
“Here.”
Marcus compared it to the current plan.
“That's strange.”
“What?”
“The archive existed fourteen years ago.”
“And now?”
“There's a wine storage area.”
Tessa looked at the floor.
“It's still there.”
Ronan stood.
“Open it.”
They moved toward the wine cellar.
Behind a row of expensive bottles was an old stone wall.
Marcus knocked.
Hollow.
He removed the bottles.
Then the shelving.
Behind it was a steel panel.
Ronan inserted the brass key.
Nothing.
Tessa remembered the recipe.
“Try the silver medal.”
Ronan removed the tiny key hidden inside the medal.
He inserted it.
Click.
The panel opened.
Behind it was an archive.
Dust covered everything.
Boxes reached the ceiling.
Marcus pulled out the first.
BEAUMONT HOUSE — 1988-2012.
Another.
SECURITY.
Another.
KITCHEN STAFF.
Another.
PRIVATE EVENTS.
Ronan found a box labeled:
SEPTEMBER — CONFIDENTIAL.
He opened it.
Inside was a restaurant ledger.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
Then Tessa noticed the numbers.
“These aren't sales.”
Ronan looked.
She pointed.
“Look at the columns.”
Payments.
Deliveries.
Vehicles.
Names.
But instead of customer names, there were initials.
G.C.
A.F.
D.C.
S.P.
Ronan recognized them.
Gabriel Callahan.
Arthur Fletcher.
Daniel Callahan.
Samuel Pierce.
Tessa turned another page.
There was a fifth initial.
E.V.
Evelyn.
Ronan frowned.
“She was involved.”
“Maybe.”
“Then why was she hiding?”
Tessa looked at the entries.
“Because look at the dates.”
Every payment involving Evelyn occurred after September 15.
Not before.
Ronan stared.
“She was paid after my mother disappeared.”
Marcus pulled another ledger.
The same initials.
Different amounts.
Then another.
More payments.
And another.
Tessa looked at Ronan.
“Beaumont House wasn't just a restaurant.”
“No.”
“It was a bank.”
Ronan shook his head.
“Not a bank.”
“What then?”
“A clearinghouse.”
“For what?”
“Money.”
Ronan flipped through the records.
Bribes.
Protection.
Weapons.
Political favors.
Property transfers.
Blackmail.
Everything passed through Beaumont House.
And every transaction had one thing in common.
A percentage.
Five percent.
Paid to a company called:
VALE CONSULTING.
Ronan froze.
“Elias.”
Marcus nodded.
“That's his company.”
Tessa looked at him.
“Then he wasn't just your father's attorney.”
“No.”
Ronan's voice became cold.
“He was the architect.”
They found the first murder record at 10:03 a.m.
It wasn't labeled as a murder.
It was labeled:
KITCHEN INCIDENT — 11:40 P.M.
Inside was a handwritten statement from Victor Voss.
Ronan read it.
Then read it again.
Victor had written:
I saw Arthur bring a covered body through the kitchen.
I saw Daniel arguing with Gabriel.
I saw Mrs. Callahan alive.
She was bleeding.
She told me to remember the number.
Eleven forty.
Then Gabriel ordered the lights turned off.
When they came back on, the body was gone.
Tessa looked at Ronan.
“The body was never there.”
Ronan nodded.
“It was staged.”
“Then what happened at 11:40?”
They found another statement.
This one from Eda.
It contained only one sentence.
At 11:40, the woman in the basement became someone else.
Tessa stared.
“What does that mean?”
Ronan shook his head.
Then he saw the attached photograph.
His mother.
Standing beside Eda.
Both women were wearing different clothes.
Tessa understood first.
“She changed clothes.”
Ronan looked at her.
“Why?”
“To make someone else look like her.”
The room went silent.
His mother had staged her own death.
But she hadn't planned it alone.
Eda had helped.
Daniel had helped.
Maybe even Gabriel.
And the body?
Someone else had died.
Ronan stared at the photograph.
“Who?”
A voice came from behind them.
“Sarah.”
They turned.
Evelyn stood in the doorway.
Her face was exhausted.
Ronan raised his weapon.
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
Tessa stepped toward her.
“About what?”
Evelyn looked at the photograph.
“About my daughter.”
“You said she died.”
“I believed she did.”
“Then what happened?”
Evelyn looked at Ronan.
“Your mother changed clothes with Sarah.”
Ronan's face went pale.
“They looked similar?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“From a distance.”
Evelyn swallowed.
“They didn't need the body to look perfect.”
“They needed everyone to believe it was your mother.”
Tessa whispered:
“Sarah was the body.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Ronan stared at her.
“Your daughter died so my mother could disappear.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“She was found dead.”
“No.”
“What are you saying?”
Evelyn looked at Tessa.
“Sarah wasn't dead.”
Silence.
“She was alive when they took her.”
Ronan's eyes widened.
“Then where is she?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Who took her?”
“Gabriel.”
“Why?”
Evelyn's face collapsed.
“Because she knew where your mother went.”
Tessa's pulse raced.
“Where?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Mercy Home.”
Ronan turned toward Marcus.
“Find it.”
Marcus nodded.
“Already did.”
“And?”
“There's an old property outside New Orleans.”
Ronan looked at him.
“Who owns it?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Elias Vale.”
Ronan's face became expressionless.
“Then we go there.”
Evelyn grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Ronan looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Elias isn't dead.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand.”
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“He's been waiting for you.”
At 11:22 a.m., they left Beaumont House.
Tessa sat beside Ronan.
The road followed the Mississippi.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Tessa asked:
“Why did your mother choose you?”
Ronan looked at her.
“What?”
“If she was planning to disappear, why take you with her?”
“I don't know.”
“Maybe she didn't.”
He frowned.
Tessa held up the photograph.
“Maybe you followed her.”
Ronan remembered.
A flash.
A kitchen.
Smoke.
His mother's hand.
A little girl crying.
A door.
And someone saying:
Run.
Ronan closed his eyes.
“I remember something.”
Tessa waited.
“My mother gave me something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
He looked at the photograph.
“But I remember her saying…”
His voice became quiet.
“Don't let them make you forget her.”
“Who?”
“My sister.”
Tessa froze.
Ronan looked at her.
“I had a sister.”
“Did you know her?”
“No.”
“Then why do you remember her?”
“I don't know.”
The car went silent.
Then Marcus called.
“Sir.”
Ronan answered.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The Mercy Home property isn't abandoned.”
Ronan looked ahead.
“Who's there?”
May you like
Marcus paused.
“Someone just opened the gate.”
