Chapter 4 - The Woman in White
Nobody spoke after Michael’s recording ended.
Adrian replayed the final sentence.
The person who arranged my death is probably standing beside you.
Vincent stood on Adrian’s right.
Grace and Lily were behind him.
Two security officers guarded the door.
Adrian looked at every face.
Michael’s warning had been recorded seven years earlier.
“Probably standing beside you” could mean someone close.
Family.
Security.
Attorney.
Business partner.
Fiancée.
Someone Michael believed Adrian would trust.
Vincent broke the silence.
“We need to authenticate the video.”
Adrian nodded.
“And the date.”
“Already copying it.”
Grace looked at Michael’s frozen image.
“Can I see the rest?”
“That was everything on the card.”
“There has to be more.”
Adrian agreed.
Michael would never leave only a warning.
There had to be evidence somewhere else.
The lab technician appeared at the doorway.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Adrian followed him into the hall.
“What did you find?”
The technician hesitated.
“The replacement glass contained trace residue.”
“What kind?”
“A cardiac medication.”
Adrian’s gaze sharpened.
“Dangerous?”
“In the concentration we detected, combined with alcohol, potentially.”
“What would happen?”
“Blood pressure could collapse. Heart rhythm could become unstable.”
“Could it kill me?”
“Yes.”
Vincent whispered, “And look natural?”
The technician nodded.
“In a man with no known cardiac condition, an autopsy might catch it. But if emergency response were delayed…”
Adrian understood.
The person who placed the glass expected him to drink.
Expected him to collapse.
And expected the house to lose eleven minutes of security coverage.
“This wasn’t intimidation,” Vincent said.
“No.”
“It was murder.”
Adrian looked toward Lily.
She had noticed one scratch.
One tiny moon.
And because of that, someone’s perfect plan had failed.
His phone rang.
Celeste.
This time audio only.
Adrian answered.
“Where are you?”
Her breathing was rapid.
“I got away.”
“From who?”
“I can’t tell you on the phone.”
“Come back.”
“I can’t.”
“You left your phone here.”
“I have another.”
Adrian looked at Vincent.
“Celeste, did you know Michael Moretti?”
Silence.
That silence was too long.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Grace’s face changed.
“How?”
Celeste whispered, “My brother knew him.”
“What brother?”
“You’ve met Damian.”
Adrian remembered.
Damian Vale.
Forty-one.
Polished.
Charming.
A venture capitalist who appeared twice a year, drank expensive bourbon and never stayed long enough to be disliked.
“What did Damian have to do with Michael?”
“More than I understood.”
“Where are you?”
“Adrian, please listen.”
“I am.”
“I gave Damian my access card.”
Grace gasped.
Celeste continued.
“He said he needed to get into the house to retrieve something before the wedding.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I knew he was lying.”
“Then why?”
“Because he had something on me.”
“What?”
Celeste started crying.
Adrian had seen Celeste angry.
Impatient.
Amused.
Cold.
He had almost never seen her cry.
“Years ago, I helped him move money through an account.”
“How much?”
“Six million dollars.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Whose money?”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“And later?”
“I found out.”
“Whose?”
“The Moretti family trust.”
Grace looked at Lily.
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“You helped steal from my family.”
“I was twenty-three.”
“You were old enough to understand theft.”
“I thought Damian was protecting our father.”
“From what?”
“Prison.”
Adrian remembered Grace’s earlier answer.
Michael kept saying one name.
Vale.
“Did your family kill my brother?”
“No!”
“Did Damian?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I swear.”
“Where are you?”
Celeste began whispering.
“I’m near the old greenhouse.”
Adrian signaled Vincent.
Security moved.
“I need you to promise something.”
“What?”
“If you find me, don’t trust Samuel Reed.”
Adrian froze.
“My attorney?”
“He gave Damian the safe code.”
The call ended.
Adrian tried calling back.
Nothing.
Vincent was already giving orders.
They crossed through the rear corridor and entered the storm.
The old greenhouse sat two hundred yards from the mansion, beyond a row of skeletal oak trees.
Rain soaked Adrian immediately.
Vincent reached the door first.
It was partly open.
Inside they found Celeste crouched behind an overturned potting table.
A bruise darkened her cheek.
When she saw Adrian, relief crossed her face.
Then shame.
He helped her stand.
“Who did this?”
“Damian’s man.”
“The scarred man?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in my house.”
Celeste stared.
“You caught him?”
“He came back.”
Her expression became fearful.
“For what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Samuel gave Damian my safe code?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I heard them talking.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“And you said nothing.”
Celeste looked away.
“I was afraid.”
“Of Damian?”
“Of what he’d tell you.”
“What else is there?”
Celeste’s face crumpled.
“The engagement.”
“What about it?”
“He wanted it.”
Adrian went still.
“You’re saying Damian wanted you to marry me.”
“I loved you.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Celeste lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because once we married, he thought I could influence the trust.”
“You don’t control the trust.”
“Not if you’re alive.”
Vincent turned sharply.
Celeste realized what she had said.
“Adrian…”
He stepped back.
“So the glass was part of the plan.”
“I didn’t know.”
“But Damian expected your marriage to give him access after my death.”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared into the rain beyond the greenhouse glass.
Then Celeste whispered something even worse.
“The trust doesn’t pass to me if you die.”
“I know.”
“It passes to your closest blood heir.”
Adrian looked at Lily.
Celeste nodded slowly.
“That’s why Damian wants her.”
The sound of a gunshot cracked through the storm.
Vincent pushed Adrian down.
Glass shattered above them.
A second bullet hit the greenhouse frame.
Security returned fire toward the tree line.
Celeste screamed.
Adrian pulled her behind a stone planter.
Vincent shouted into his radio.
“Shooter west side!”
More gunfire.
Then silence.
A guard called back.
“They’re running!”
Adrian rose.
His phone rang.
Grace.
He answered immediately.
“Adrian.”
Her voice was shaking.
“What happened?”
“Someone called the house.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they say?”
Grace began crying.
“They said if you want to see Samuel Reed alive, bring Lily to the old train station at midnight.”
Adrian checked his watch.
11:17 p.m.
Forty-three minutes.
Grace continued.
“And Adrian…”
“What?”
“They knew Michael’s video was here.”
For the first time that night, Adrian understood the true scale of the trap.
The glass had not started this.
The stolen portrait had not started this.
Even Michael’s death had not started it.
May you like
Someone had been waiting for Lily to be discovered.
And now that she had been, the clock was running.
