Chapter 13 — The Traitor Sitting at Ronan's Table
Nobody spoke on the drive back to Beaumont House.
Ronan sat in the rear seat.
Tessa sat beside him.
Neither looked at the other.
The photograph lay between them.
Samuel Pierce.
Arthur Fletcher.
Daniel Callahan.
Gabriel Callahan.
Ronan's father.
Five men.
One night.
One dead woman.
One missing child.
And fourteen years of lies.
Marcus finally broke the silence.
“We need to assume everyone is compromised.”
Ronan stared out the window.
“Not everyone.”
Marcus glanced at him.
“You're sure?”
“My mother trusted Eda.”
“And Eda trusted Tessa.”
Ronan looked at the photograph.
“That means someone protected them.”
Tessa spoke quietly.
“Or someone wanted us to believe they did.”
Ronan turned toward her.
For the first time that night, she saw fear in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for her.
When they reached Beaumont House, the security team was waiting.
Three guards.
One manager.
One familiar face.
Elias was gone.
Ronan entered the dining room.
The long table was still set.
Crystal glasses.
Silverware.
Half-burned candles.
The place looked untouched.
Too untouched.
Marcus immediately noticed something.
“Where's the security chief?”
Ronan looked around.
“Call him.”
A guard pulled out his phone.
No answer.
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You're back.”
Ronan turned.
Arthur Fletcher stood in the doorway.
Everyone froze.
Arthur smiled faintly.
“You look like you've seen a ghost.”
Ronan's hand moved toward his weapon.
Arthur raised both hands.
“Easy.”
“You disappeared.”
“I had business to handle.”
“You abandoned your office.”
“I was afraid someone was going to kill me.”
Ronan stared at him.
“Were you?”
Arthur swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Arthur looked toward Tessa.
“That depends on what she remembers.”
Tessa's stomach tightened.
Marcus stepped between them.
“You've got five seconds.”
Arthur's eyes shifted to Ronan.
“Your father.”
The room went silent.
Ronan's face hardened.
“Explain.”
Arthur took one step forward.
“He ordered the body moved.”
Ronan's breathing changed.
“He ordered the cover-up.”
Arthur nodded.
“And he ordered Eda watched.”
Tessa whispered:
“Why?”
Arthur looked directly at her.
“Because Eda knew where your mother sent you.”
Ronan grabbed Arthur by the collar.
“Who else knew?”
Arthur hesitated.
Then he said:
“Elias.”
Ronan released him.
“Elias was helping my mother.”
“At first.”
Tessa's eyes narrowed.
“At first?”
Arthur looked ashamed.
“He tried to get her out.”
“What happened?”
“He was caught.”
“By whom?”
Arthur's lips parted.
But before he could answer—
the lights went out.
A single gunshot cracked through the dining room.
Arthur dropped.
Tessa screamed.
Ronan pulled her behind the table.
Marcus fired toward the windows.
Glass shattered.
The emergency lights came on.
Arthur was bleeding from the shoulder.
Alive.
Ronan crouched beside him.
“Who shot you?”
Arthur's eyes moved toward the kitchen.
Then toward the long dining table.
His lips barely moved.
“Not from outside.”
Marcus looked around.
“What?”
Arthur coughed.
“The traitor…”
He pointed weakly.
“At your table.”
Ronan slowly stood.
There were six people in the dining room.
Marcus.
Tessa.
Two guards.
Arthur.
And Ronan.
No one else.
Then Tessa noticed something.
One of the guards wasn't looking at Arthur.
He was looking at her.
His hand was inside his jacket.
Tessa whispered:
“Ronan.”
The guard drew his weapon.
Marcus fired first.
The man collapsed.
A silenced pistol skidded across the floor.
Ronan stared at the weapon.
Then at the guard.
A small black onyx ring gleamed on his finger.
The same ring.
The same symbol.
The same warning Eda had given Tessa years ago.
But the man wasn't Gabriel.
He wasn't Daniel.
He wasn't Arthur.
He was someone Ronan had trusted for years.
His personal security officer.
His oldest employee.
The man who had eaten at Ronan's table every Christmas since Ronan was eighteen.
Marcus picked up the ring.
“This wasn't an outside hit.”
Ronan looked at the dining table.
Then at the blood spreading across the floor.
His voice became dangerously calm.
May you like
“It came from inside.”
And somewhere beneath Beaumont House, a phone began to ring.
