Chapter 9 - THE BREAK-IN
The intruder entered through a bathroom window.
No one was home.
Nothing else was touched.
Jewelry remained.
Cash remained.
Two televisions remained.
The decoy laptop disappeared.
That meant whoever ordered the break-in knew Matthew had evidence.
Grant’s attorneys denied everything.
Owen claimed ignorance.
Howard Lyle stopped answering investigators and disappeared from his California home.
Marcus traced a rental vehicle seen near Emma’s aunt’s house.
The renter used false identification.
The phone number associated with the booking belonged to a prepaid device.
One outgoing call connected to a security contractor previously used by VantaCore.
Enough for suspicion.
Not proof.
Emma sat inside Adrian’s kitchen while Lily ate cereal beside her.
“I’m putting you both somewhere secure,” Adrian said.
Emma sighed.
“You keep saying that.”
“This time I’m not negotiating.”
Lily looked up.
“Are we going to Hawaii?”
“No.”
“Then negotiate.”
Emma covered a smile.
Adrian did not.
He was terrified.
Lily saw it.
“Daddy?”
He softened immediately.
“We’re going to Aunt Rachel’s for a few days.”
“With Emma?”
“If Emma agrees.”
Lily looked at Emma.
Emma surrendered.
“Fine.”
That evening, Emma and Lily moved to Adrian’s sister’s gated home in Pasadena.
Two security officers remained outside.
At 2:37 a.m., glass shattered downstairs.
Emma woke instantly.
She ran to Lily’s room.
“Shoes.”
Lily blinked.
“What?”
“Put them on.”
Emma locked the bathroom door and called security.
The intruder never reached the second floor.
Officers arrived within minutes.
A man fled through the garden.
He dropped a phone.
One message remained on-screen:
GET THE RYAN MACHINE. NO CONTACT WITH CHILD.
Emma’s hands shook afterward.
Not because someone wanted the laptop.
Because Lily had been in the house.
Intentions did not matter once glass broke beneath a sleeping child.
Adrian arrived twenty-six minutes later.
He ran inside.
Lily threw herself at him.
Emma stood near the staircase holding a fireplace poker.
Adrian stared.
“You were going to attack him with that?”
“If necessary.”
He exhaled.
Then, unexpectedly, laughed.
The panic escaped in one strange breath.
Emma laughed too.
Then cried.
Adrian almost hugged her.
Stopped.
She noticed.
For the first time, he understood how many boundaries he had taken for granted.
He simply said:
“Thank you.”
Emma wiped her face.
“For?”
“My daughter.”
“She’s my responsibility.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
“She was your responsibility when you were my employee.”
He looked back.
“You resigned.”
Emma had forgotten that.
Adrian hadn’t.
“You protected her anyway.”
Emma whispered:
“I love her.”
Lily shouted from Adrian’s arms:
“I love you too!”
Everyone laughed.
The danger did not disappear.
But something warm survived inside it.
The recovered burner phone eventually provided a fingerprint.
The man was identified.
A former contractor.
He agreed to cooperate after arrest.
Who hired him?
Howard Lyle.
Who told Howard about Matthew’s laptop?
Owen Price.
And who had ordered both men to retrieve it?
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According to the contractor…
Grant Mercer himself.
