Chapter 11 - What Was Hidden Beneath the Wine
Claire searched every possession she owned.
Her room.
Locker.
Car.
Old handbags.
Uniform pockets.
Nothing.
“I don't have a recording,” she said for the tenth time.
Roman believed her.
Vivian didn't.
That was what mattered.
They returned mentally to October seventeenth.
Claire had carried coffee.
Collected the Northstar folder.
Found the envelope and key.
What could have recorded the conversation?
Her phone?
No.
She hadn't been carrying it.
Security camera?
No audio.
Then Mrs. Patel asked one question.
“What tray did you use?”
Claire frowned.
“The silver service tray.”
“Which one?”
“The old one with the wooden base.”
Mrs. Patel's face changed.
She left.
Minutes later she returned carrying an antique serving tray.
She turned it over.
A tiny black device was attached beneath the wood.
Roman stared.
“What is that?”
Mrs. Patel looked embarrassed.
“A recorder.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“You bugged the conservatory?”
“No.”
Mrs. Patel sighed.
“I used it to record instructions.”
“What?”
“Your father used to change dinner arrangements twelve times in one afternoon,” she told Roman. “He would then blame staff when we forgot. I started recording meetings so I could replay instructions.”
Roman almost smiled.
“My father would have hated you.”
“He did.”
Claire stared at the device.
“Was it running October seventeenth?”
Mrs. Patel thought.
“Possibly.”
Roman connected it to a laptop.
There were dozens of files.
Menus.
Guest lists.
Event instructions.
Then a recording dated October 17.
Everyone went silent.
At first only room noise.
Glasses.
Fire.
Footsteps.
Then Victor Mercer.
“The liabilities have to move before the first-quarter audit.”
Salvatore answered.
“Roman won't approve Northstar.”
Vivian:
“Then he doesn't see the full agreement.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
Victor spoke again.
“The signature page can be substituted after the ceremony.”
Claire covered her mouth.
The conversation continued.
Granite Harbor.
Shell corporations.
Hidden accounts.
Then Salvatore:
“If Roman discovers the losses, we're finished.”
Victor:
“He won't.”
Vivian:
“And the staff girl?”
Silence.
Claire's skin went cold.
Victor asked, “What girl?”
“The brunette. She came in during the discussion.”
Salvatore answered, “She didn't hear enough.”
Vivian:
“You don't know that.”
Then the recording ended.
Claire stared.
“This proves everything.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It proves conspiracy. But depending on recording-consent laws and where the device was placed, admissibility gets complicated.”
Roman looked at him.
“But investigators can use it to find independent evidence.”
“Absolutely.”
Claire remembered Damian's statement.
“Vivian thought I had this.”
“Yes,” Roman said.
“She searched my things because she thought I removed the recorder.”
“Yes.”
“But I didn't even know it existed.”
Mrs. Patel looked horrified.
“I did this.”
Claire turned.
“No.”
“If I hadn't left it—”
“Vivian tried to hurt me because she made a choice.”
Mrs. Patel's eyes filled.
Claire took her hand.
“This isn't yours.”
Roman watched her comfort the woman whose accidental recording had become the most valuable evidence in the case.
Claire was like that.
Even after everything, her first instinct was to remove guilt from someone else.
Perhaps that was when Roman finally stopped pretending what he felt was simple concern.
Later, he found Claire alone on the rear terrace.
Snow had begun melting.
She wore a heavy coat.
“You're supposed to be inside.”
She smiled slightly.
“I survived five minutes.”
“Impressive.”
Roman stood beside her.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Claire said, “When this is over, I should leave.”
Roman looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because this house isn't really my life.”
“What is?”
“Lily. Work. Paying bills. Figuring out what's next.”
“You don't have to pay Granite Harbor.”
“I know.”
“Then what's next?”
Claire looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Roman wanted to say Stay.
He didn't.
Not yet.
Instead:
“The federal team wants the recording tomorrow.”
“Good.”
“They also want your statement.”
“I'll give it.”
“You don't have to.”
She smiled.
“Wasn't it you who said this became visible because you got involved?”
“Yes.”
“Then let it stay visible.”
Roman nodded.
Claire turned toward the lawn.
“The snow looked different from here on Christmas Eve.”
“How?”
“Like it would never end.”
Roman remembered carrying her.
How light she'd felt.
How terrified he'd been.
“I thought you were dead.”
She looked at him.
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
His voice changed.
Claire stopped.
“I've seen death before.”
Roman looked away.
“I know what it feels like to realize someone is gone.”
He faced her again.
“When I couldn't find your pulse at first…”
Claire's eyes softened.
Roman rarely spoke this openly.
“When I felt it, I thought I had one chance to get you back inside.”
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“You saved me.”
Roman shook his head.
“You kept breathing.”
“Barely.”
“It was enough.”
The space between them changed.
Claire stepped closer.
So did Roman.
Then a car arrived at the front entrance.
Gabriel appeared through the terrace doors.
“Roman.”
Something in his face broke the moment.
“What?”
“Federal agents are here.”
“Now?”
Gabriel nodded.
“They moved early.”
“Why?”
“Someone leaked the investigation.”
Roman stared.
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“And there's more.”
“What?”
“Victor Mercer left the country three hours ago.”
Claire's stomach dropped.
“Where?”
“Private flight to Switzerland.”
Roman's face hardened.
Victor was running.
Which meant the conspiracy was collapsing.
And collapsing conspiracies were dangerous.
Especially for the person who knew the most.
Vivian.
Roman turned toward Claire.
“Where is she?”
Gabriel looked grim.
“No one knows.”
At that exact moment, Claire's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered before Roman could stop her.
Vivian's voice filled the line.
“Claire.”
Claire froze.
Roman moved closer.
Vivian continued.
“You took something that belongs to me.”
Claire looked at the recorder sitting on Roman's desk through the glass doors.
“No.”
“You have until midnight to return it.”
“And if I don't?”
A pause.
Then Vivian said the name Claire feared most.
“Lily.”
May you like
The line went dead.
---
