Chapter 4 - A Debt the King Couldn’t Repay
Adrian Vale had spent fifteen years teaching people not to surprise him.
Lena Mercer had managed it repeatedly in less than six hours.
But nothing compared to seeing his father standing beside Elaine Mercer.
Vincent Vale had been dead for three years.
And Adrian had spent those three years believing he understood exactly what kind of man his father had been.
He had been wrong.
“Your father knew my mother?”
Lena's question echoed through the church basement.
Adrian picked up the photograph.
On the back, someone had written a date.
March 14.
Two years earlier.
Three months before VMX-17 had officially been terminated.
“What does this mean?” Lena asked.
“I don't know.”
She gave him a look that suggested she was becoming tired of those words.
Adrian understood.
He was becoming tired of them too.
Gabriel came downstairs.
“Building clear.”
“Someone was upstairs.”
“We found an open side door.”
“Camera?”
“Old system. Checking.”
Lena took the photograph.
Her thumb moved across her mother's face.
“She never mentioned him.”
“Neither did my father.”
“Was he involved with the foundation?”
“He created it.”
Lena looked up.
That answer changed everything.
Adrian saw it.
Suspicion.
Anger.
Fear.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Decide what happened before we know.”
“My mother received a canceled experimental drug from a program funded by your family, the records disappeared, somebody stole her paperwork, and now I find a picture of her standing beside your father.”
“Yes.”
“You understand how that looks?”
“Yes.”
“Then don't tell me how to react.”
Adrian held her gaze.
“Fair.”
It was the only answer that didn't make her angrier.
They returned to Manhattan shortly before dawn.
By sunrise, Gabriel had assembled eleven years of foundation records.
By seven, Adrian knew enough to become dangerous.
VMX-17 had begun as a promising targeted therapy developed by a small biotechnology company called Helixor Therapeutics.
The Vale Foundation had funded late-stage trials.
Then patients began developing unexpected complications.
The program was halted.
Publicly.
Privately, something else had happened.
Twenty-seven additional doses had been manufactured after termination.
There was no record of where they went.
Elaine Mercer might have received one.
“Twenty-seven people,” Lena said.
“Potentially.”
“How many are alive?”
“We don't know.”
“Find them.”
“We are.”
Lena paced the library.
Adrian watched her.
She had not slept.
Neither had he.
“Sit.”
“No.”
“You're going to collapse.”
“Then your expensive carpet will catch me.”
Adrian leaned back.
“You're difficult.”
“You've mentioned that.”
“And stubborn.”
“So have you.”
“And reckless.”
“You're alive because of that one.”
He couldn't argue.
Gabriel entered carrying a folder.
“Reeves disappeared.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Before or after the crash?”
“Before.”
Lena stopped.
“How long before?”
“His phone went dark at nine seventeen.”
Adrian's crash had happened shortly after eleven.
Meaning Reeves already knew something was coming.
“Bank accounts?”
“Untouched.”
“Family?”
“Wife died eight years ago. No children.”
“Property?”
“One apartment. One cabin.”
“Search both.”
Lena stepped forward.
“You can't just search people's homes.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Of all the things you've learned about me tonight, that's the one that concerns you?”
“Yes.”
He almost laughed.
Gabriel didn't.
“There's something else.”
He placed another document on the desk.
“A payment.”
Adrian read it.
Then read it again.
Lena approached.
“What?”
Adrian didn't answer.
She took the page.
A transfer of $750,000.
Recipient:
Malcolm Reeves.
Sender:
V. Vale Holdings.
Date:
six weeks after Elaine Mercer died.
Lena slowly looked up.
“Your father was already dead.”
“Yes.”
“So who controlled V. Vale Holdings?”
Adrian knew.
Only three people had authorization.
Himself.
Gabriel.
And—
“My uncle.”
Lena's expression changed.
“Name?”
“Sebastian Vale.”
Gabriel went rigid.
Adrian saw it.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“But?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Sebastian called Reeves twice yesterday.”
The room went silent.
Lena whispered, “Your uncle.”
Adrian stood.
“Where is he?”
“At the Vale winter estate.”
“Get the car.”
Gabriel didn't move.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“You need to consider the possibility that this is exactly what someone wants.”
“Explain.”
“The crash failed. Within hours, evidence leads directly to Sebastian.”
“Too directly.”
“Yes.”
Lena watched them.
“So somebody could be framing him.”
“Possibly.”
“Or he's guilty.”
“Possibly.”
Lena groaned.
“I hate that word.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're staying here.”
“No.”
“Lena.”
“If Sebastian knows something about my mother, I'm coming.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You don't own me.”
“No, but—”
“And don't say my safety is your responsibility.”
“It is.”
“I was doing perfectly badly before meeting you.”
“That sentence makes no sense.”
“It makes enough.”
Adrian stared at her.
Lena stared back.
Gabriel sighed.
“I'll arrange another vehicle.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You're enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Two hours later, the Manhattan skyline disappeared behind them.
Snow covered the countryside.
The Vale estate stood behind iron gates north of the city.
Lena looked through the window.
“Your family has a castle.”
“It's a house.”
“It has towers.”
“Decorative.”
“It has a gatehouse.”
“Security.”
“It has gargoyles.”
Adrian paused.
“My grandmother liked gargoyles.”
Lena smiled despite herself.
It was the first time Adrian had seen her do it.
He forgot what he was about to say.
Then she turned serious again.
“Your uncle lives here?”
“Sometimes.”
“What is he like?”
“Charming.”
“That sounded like an insult.”
“It was.”
Sebastian Vale met them in the library.
He was fifty-eight, silver at the temples, perfectly dressed, and smiling before they entered.
“Adrian.”
His smile vanished when he saw the bruise near Adrian's temple.
“My God.”
He approached.
Adrian didn't move.
Sebastian stopped.
“You heard about the crash.”
“Everyone heard.”
“Did everyone hear my brakes were cut?”
Sebastian's expression remained calm.
“No.”
Adrian watched carefully.
Lena did too.
Then Sebastian noticed her.
“And this is?”
“Lena Mercer.”
The effect was immediate.
Tiny.
But unmistakable.
Sebastian's fingers tightened around his glass.
Adrian saw it.
Lena saw it.
“You know the name,” she said.
Sebastian recovered.
“No.”
“You reacted.”
“I was surprised my nephew brought a guest.”
“She saved my life.”
Sebastian looked at her differently.
“Then I owe you gratitude.”
“I'd rather have answers.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Sebastian did not.
Lena placed the photograph on the table.
Elaine.
Reeves.
Vincent Vale.
Sebastian stared at it.
“Where did you get this?”
“Why does it matter?” Adrian asked.
Sebastian looked toward the windows.
Then toward the door.
For the first time, fear entered his face.
“We shouldn't discuss this here.”
Adrian's voice hardened.
“Why?”
“Because your father made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
Sebastian looked at Lena.
“He tried to expose something.”
Lena's heart accelerated.
“VMX-17?”
Sebastian nodded.
“He discovered the trial had continued illegally.”
“Who continued it?”
Sebastian opened his mouth.
The library lights went out.
Darkness.
Gabriel shouted from the hallway.
“Down!”
Adrian grabbed Lena.
Glass shattered somewhere downstairs.
The security alarm began screaming.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Sebastian was gone.
The side door stood open.
Adrian ran toward it.
Lena followed.
Outside, tire tracks cut through fresh snow.
A vehicle disappeared beyond the trees.
Gabriel reached them.
“He's gone.”
Adrian stared at the tracks.
“Find him.”
Lena noticed something on the floor.
An envelope.
Her name was written across it.
LENA MERCER.
She opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
A handwritten note.
She recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her knees weakened.
“Lena?”
Adrian caught her arm.
She couldn't answer.
The note had been written by her mother.
If anything happens to me, find Vincent Vale. He knows what they did.
Below that was another sentence.
One Lena had never seen before.
May you like
And whatever you do, don't trust the hospital records.
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