Chapter 7 - Adrian’s House
Adrian Hale lived fifteen miles from the mansion in a stone estate overlooking the river.
He answered Grant’s call on the second ring.
“Little brother.”
His tone was relaxed.
“Police are surrounding my house. Should I assume you are responsible?”
“Where is Naomi?”
“Who?”
“Do not lie to me.”
Adrian laughed.
“I am in Washington for a finance conference. There are twelve hundred witnesses.”
Ruiz verified the event.
Adrian had appeared onstage less than an hour earlier.
A live broadcast showed him discussing corporate ethics beneath a banner bearing Hale International’s logo.
Like Renata at the Boston gala, Adrian understood the value of a public alibi.
Tactical officers entered his estate at ten thirty.
Grant, Ruiz, Harris, and I remained inside the mobile command vehicle.
Lily stayed at the mansion under police protection.
The first search of Adrian’s house found no Naomi.
Then officers located a concealed elevator behind the wine cellar.
It descended beneath the property.
The underground level contained five rooms.
One of them had blue floral wallpaper.
The chair from the photograph stood in the center.
Naomi was gone.
Blood marked the rope around one arm, but Ruiz’s medical specialist believed it came from struggling against the restraints.
There was no evidence she had been seriously injured.
On a metal table lay a small transmitter.
Renata’s threats had been sent from it.
Adrian’s people had abandoned the location only minutes before police arrived.
A tunnel led from the underground rooms to the river.
A security camera captured a boat traveling north.
Ruiz dispatched helicopters and patrol vessels.
Grant watched the footage.
“Adrian knew we were coming.”
“Someone warned him,” Harris said.
Every police action required authorization through multiple channels.
Renata and Adrian still had someone inside law enforcement.
Possibly more than one person.
Ruiz looked at Harris.
“Only six people knew Lily identified Adrian’s house.”
“I was one of them.”
“Yes.”
Harris did not look away.
“So were you.”
The tension between them sharpened.
Grant stepped between them.
“We do not have time for this.”
Ruiz’s phone rang.
The boat had been located.
It was drifting empty near a marsh.
The interior contained bloodstained gauze and one of Naomi’s shoes.
No bodies.
No suspects.
At eleven fifty, Grant received another call.
Adrian appeared on the screen.
He was still at the conference.
Camera flashes flickered behind him.
“You look tired,” Adrian said.
“Where is Naomi?”
“I truly have no idea.”
“You killed Claire.”
Adrian’s expression remained smooth.
“That accusation comes from a frightened child who has not spoken for two years.”
“She drew you on the bridge.”
“I used a cane for fifteen years. Thousands of people know that.”
“You were at the mansion.”
“I left before Claire died.”
“Renata was working with you.”
Adrian’s eyes cooled.
“Be careful, Grant.”
“With what?”
“With the comforting belief that everyone betrayed you except the woman you buried.”
Grant’s face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“Claire discovered the missing money because she was moving funds of her own.”
“That is a lie.”
“Is it?”
Adrian leaned closer to the camera.
“Ask Maya.”
I stared at the screen.
Grant turned toward me.
“I do not know what he is talking about.”
Adrian smiled.
“She never told you why Claire hired her.”
The call ended.
Silence filled the command vehicle.
Grant looked at me.
“Why did Claire hire you?”
“Through an agency.”
“That is not what he means.”
I tried to remember every detail from my interview.
Claire had requested me by name.
At the time, I assumed she had read my employment profile.
She asked about my childhood, my mother, and the neighborhood where I grew up.
She cried when I mentioned my mother’s name.
I had believed she was simply emotional after Lily’s difficult birth.
Now that memory felt different.
“My mother worked for the Hales.”
Grant frowned.
“When?”
“Before I was born.”
“What was her name?”
“Sofia Bennett.”
Harris stepped backward.
I noticed.
“You know that name.”
Harris looked toward Grant.
“Sofia Bennett was a junior accountant for the Hale Foundation.”
I stared at him.
“My mother cleaned offices.”
“That was after she left the foundation.”
“Why did she leave?”
Harris did not answer.
Grant’s voice hardened.
“Tell her.”
“She accused Edmund and Adrian’s mother of hiding illegal payments.”
“My mother never told me that.”
“She was dismissed.”
“When?”
“Twenty-eight years ago.”
The year I was born.
I felt the walls closing around me.
“Why would Claire know about her?”
Harris looked uncomfortable.
“Because Claire reopened Sofia’s allegations.”
Grant turned toward me.
“Claire did not choose you by accident.”
I remembered her last words.
You are a good person.
She had known who I was before I entered the mansion.
Ruiz received a new message from the kidnappers.
A live video appeared.
Naomi sat in a dark room.
Her face was bruised, but she was conscious.
A masked man held a gun beside her.
Renata’s voice spoke from behind the camera.
“The key.”
Grant held it up.
“Release Naomi.”
“Bring it to the mill.”
“You are not at the mill.”
A pause.
Then Renata laughed.
“Very good, Lily.”
She knew Lily had identified the blue room.
Renata continued.
“Perhaps the little mute is finally useful.”
I stepped toward the screen.
“You will never control her again.”
“Maya.”
Her tone became almost affectionate.
“Did Claire tell you what happened to your mother?”
My blood turned cold.
“She died in a car accident.”
“No.”
Renata’s voice sharpened.
“She was murdered.”
Grant stared at me.
Renata continued.
“And the person who ordered it is standing beside you.”
May you like
The video ended.
Every eye turned toward Harris.
