Chapter 5 - The Waitress Someone Wanted Dead
Damian read the sentence three times.
Lily watched the color drain from his face.
She had seen him under gunfire.
She had seen him confront Victor Romano with weapons aimed at his chest.
She had watched him stay completely calm while his brother stood beaten and bleeding inside an enemy warehouse.
This was the first time Damian Vale looked truly shaken.
“My father is dead.”
Lily sat on the floor beside the open boxes.
“I know.”
“I buried him.”
“I know.”
“I saw his body.”
Lily said nothing.
Damian stood abruptly and walked toward the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
“Your mother could have been wrong.”
“She wrote that my father was murdered. Adrian’s records support it.”
“That doesn’t mean my father—”
He stopped.
Lily waited.
“What?”
Damian’s shoulders tightened.
“Three weeks before he died, my father tried to destroy the family archive.”
She stood slowly.
“Why?”
“He said the records were dangerous.”
“Maybe they were dangerous to him.”
Damian turned.
The possibility clearly hurt.
Lily wished she could soften it.
She could not.
“My mother trusted you.”
“I don’t know why.”
“She wrote your name.”
“I was a child when Michael disappeared.”
“She must have spoken to Michael after that.”
“Possibly.”
Lily touched the brass key around her neck.
“We need the deposit box.”
“Not tonight.”
“Damian.”
“The bank is closed.”
“Oh.”
He almost smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
“I’ll arrange entry first thing in the morning.”
Lily looked around the apartment.
“I want to stay here.”
“No.”
“You don’t own me.”
“No.”
“Then stop answering like you do.”
He stepped closer.
“Someone followed you before you ever touched the briefcase. Victor knew who you were. If your mother’s letter is correct, there may be people who have been waiting twenty-seven years for you to appear.”
Lily swallowed.
“That sounded worse when you said it out loud.”
“It was meant to.”
She glared at him.
“Fine.”
Damian’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Adrian.”
A pause.
“What?”
His expression changed again.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Lock the estate down.”
He hung up.
Lily already knew she would dislike whatever came next.
“What happened?”
“Charles is missing.”
She stared.
“Your lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“The man from headquarters?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Thirty minutes ago.”
“Could he have gone home?”
“His car is still at my estate.”
Lily remembered Charles examining the photograph.
Charles knowing the company systems.
Charles having access.
“What if…”
Damian nodded slowly.
“He may have been the leak.”
Lily felt betrayed despite barely knowing the man.
“He seemed nice.”
“The dangerous ones often do.”
“That sounds like something people say about you.”
Damian looked at her.
“Also true.”
She almost laughed.
Then someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three quiet taps.
Damian immediately reached beneath his jacket.
Lily whispered, “Who knows we’re here?”
“No one.”
The knock came again.
“Lily?”
She froze.
Ray.
She moved toward the door.
Damian caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“That’s Ray.”
“How did he know?”
“He knows where I live.”
“Why would he come after midnight?”
“Because I haven’t answered him.”
Damian looked through the peephole.
Then relaxed slightly.
He opened the door.
Ray stood holding a baseball bat.
He stared at Damian.
Then at Lily.
Then back at Damian.
“You Dracula?”
Lily groaned.
“Ray.”
Damian blinked.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Ray walked inside.
“You okay?”
“I’m okay.”
He hugged her fiercely.
Then examined her face.
“You’re bleeding.”
“It’s a scratch.”
“What happened?”
Lily looked at Damian.
Then at Ray.
“You should probably sit down.”
Ten minutes later, Ray had heard enough to stare silently at the floor.
“So your mother knew his uncle.”
“Yes.”
“And somebody shot at you.”
“Yes.”
“And kidnapped you.”
“Temporarily.”
Ray glared at Damian.
“You let her get kidnapped?”
Damian’s eyebrows rose.
Lily intervened.
“To be fair, he was rescuing his brother.”
“That doesn’t sound better.”
“No.”
Ray pointed his baseball bat at Damian.
“If anything happens to her—”
Damian said calmly, “I understand.”
Ray lowered the bat slightly.
That seemed to bother him more than an argument would have.
He looked at Lily.
“You are coming home with me.”
Damian answered.
“No.”
Ray turned.
“Wasn’t asking you.”
Lily sighed.
“My apartment isn’t safe.”
“You can stay at my place.”
“They know who I am.”
“They probably know who you are too,” Damian said.
Ray slowly turned toward Lily.
“You bring this nonsense anywhere near my café, I’m charging you overtime.”
She laughed.
It was exactly what she needed.
Then Damian’s security team arrived.
Ray reluctantly agreed to stay at a secure hotel under protection until the situation was resolved.
Lily returned to the Vale estate.
She did not sleep.
At seven thirty in the morning, Damian found her sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.
No makeup.
Hair still messy.
Same waitress clothes from the night before.
He had changed into a charcoal suit.
“You look annoyingly functional,” she said.
“I slept for forty minutes.”
“Never mind.”
He set a paper bag on the counter.
“What’s that?”
“Breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Neither am I.”
“Then why did you bring it?”
“You served me dinner yesterday. I’m attempting balance.”
Lily opened the bag.
Inside was a breakfast sandwich.
Exactly the way she ordered hers at the café.
“No tomatoes.”
Damian sat across from her.
“I remember.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“You remember weird details.”
“So do you.”
“How would you know?”
“You remembered I left the case.”
“That was a giant silver suitcase beside a booth.”
“Briefcase.”
“It has handles and emotional baggage. It’s a suitcase.”
He laughed.
Actually laughed.
For a moment, Lily could almost forget everything.
Then Adrian entered.
His face was bruised but cleaned.
“You two flirting over breakfast?”
“No,” they said simultaneously.
Adrian smiled.
“Promising.”
Damian glared at him.
Adrian placed a folder on the table.
“Charles accessed the vault before disappearing.”
Damian stood.
“What did he take?”
“Nothing.”
Lily frowned.
“Then why go in?”
“He photographed the black ledger.”
Damian’s face hardened.
“Can you track his phone?”
“Found it in the garage.”
“Vehicle?”
“Camera shows him leaving in a delivery truck.”
Lily remembered her mother’s letter.
“Could Charles be working for your father?”
Damian looked at her.
“My father is dead.”
She held his gaze.
“For now, let’s stop assuming anything.”
Adrian nodded.
“She has a point.”
Damian looked offended by both of them.
At nine, they drove to First Commonwealth Bank.
The manager was waiting.
The deposit box had been opened using a trust arrangement established twenty-seven years earlier.
Lily inserted the brass key.
The lock turned.
Inside was one envelope.
One flash drive.
And a small cassette tape.
Lily stared.
“That’s it?”
Damian picked up the envelope.
Her name was written across the front.
LILY.
She opened it.
Inside was another letter from Evelyn.
And a photograph.
This one showed Michael Vale standing with Evelyn.
But they were not alone.
A third man stood beside them.
Damian stared.
“No.”
Lily looked at him.
“Who is it?”
“My father.”
Alexander Vale.
All three looked young.
They were smiling.
Friends.
Whatever had happened between them came later.
Lily read Evelyn’s letter.
Michael discovered Alexander had secretly partnered with someone inside the Romano organization. They were laundering money through Vale shipping routes. Michael wanted to expose them.
Damian closed his eyes.
Lily continued.
Alexander begged him to stop. Michael refused. After Michael disappeared, Alexander told me he was dead and warned me that Lily would be next if I spoke.
Damian looked away.
There was more.
Years later Alexander came to me again. He said he regretted everything. He claimed he had tried to save Michael but failed. I did not believe him.
Lily’s hands trembled.
Then came the final paragraph.
If Alexander is truly dead, Lily may finally be safe. But I never saw proof of his death myself. Michael once told me Alexander had prepared a second identity and foreign accounts in case the truth came out.
Damian whispered, “No.”
Adrian stared at his brother.
“Could Dad have faked it?”
“I identified the body.”
“After a plane crash.”
Damian’s face changed.
Lily remembered news reports she had seen during her internet search.
Alexander Vale had died when his private aircraft crashed off the coast.
Only partial remains were recovered.
Damian had identified him through personal effects and DNA.
Adrian said quietly, “Who controlled the DNA verification?”
Damian looked at him.
Neither spoke.
Lily knew the answer before they said the name.
“Charles,” she whispered.
Damian pulled out his phone.
At that exact moment, every screen inside the private bank room went black.
The lights flickered.
A voice came through the wall speakers.
“Hello, son.”
Damian froze.
Adrian’s face went white.
The voice was older.
Calm.
Almost warm.
“You’ve spent eleven years believing I was dead.”
Lily felt Damian’s hand close around hers.
Whether to protect her or steady himself, she did not know.
The speaker crackled.
Alexander Vale continued.
“Bring me Lily Harper and Michael’s evidence by midnight.”
Damian’s grip tightened.
“Otherwise, Adrian dies before sunrise.”
Adrian stared at the speaker.
Then whispered:
“I’m standing right here.”
Damian looked at him.
The voice continued.
“I’m not talking about you.”
Silence.
Then Alexander laughed softly.
May you like
“I’m talking about your other brother.”
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