Chapter 4 - The Bottle That Never Existed
Marcus Dane vanished before breakfast.
That told Roman almost everything he needed to know.
His apartment was empty.
His personal vehicle had been abandoned near Interstate 95.
His company phone had been found in the carriage house.
And his access card showed that he had entered the estate's security room three minutes before the cameras went down.
Roman stood inside that room watching the remaining footage.
8:38 p.m.
Claire passed through the service hallway carrying dessert.
8:39.
Vivian entered from the ballroom.
8:40.
Marcus used his access card.
8:41.
South lawn cameras failed.
8:43.
Claire opened the service door.
8:44.
A vehicle passed through the delivery gate without authorization.
Then nothing.
Roman replayed the footage.
“Again.”
His security chief, Gabriel Torres, obeyed.
Roman watched Vivian turn into the service corridor.
There was no panic.
No hesitation.
She knew exactly where Claire would be.
“Do we have audio?”
“No.”
“What about inside the kitchen?”
“Camera only.”
Roman paused the screen on Vivian's face.
His fiancée.
Eleven weeks from their wedding.
Their relationship had never been romantic in the conventional sense.
Both families understood that.
The Mercers controlled ports, commercial property, freight companies, and political relationships Roman's organization needed.
The DeLucas controlled distribution networks the Mercers wanted access to.
Their marriage would combine influence.
Roman had accepted it because marriages like theirs were often strategic.
Vivian had accepted it because she wanted the DeLuca name.
At least that was what Roman had believed.
Now Claire's memory from the conservatory kept returning.
Once Roman signs, DeLuca won't be able to separate the companies without destroying himself.
That didn't sound like a marriage.
It sounded like a trap.
Roman turned toward Gabriel.
“Find Marcus before the Mercers do.”
“You think they'll kill him?”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“I think he's the only loose end they can't control.”
Upstairs, Claire had changed into borrowed clothes Mrs. Patel found in the guest wing.
She refused to remain in bed.
“I nearly died getting a bottle that didn't exist,” she said. “I'm not spending the morning sleeping.”
Mrs. Patel poured tea.
“You also nearly died because you never listen.”
Claire managed a weak smile.
“You told me not to go.”
“Yes.”
“I should have listened.”
“Yes.”
“Are you ever going to stop agreeing?”
“No.”
That finally made Claire laugh.
It hurt.
Mrs. Patel sat across from her.
“I need to tell you something.”
Claire's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“The night Vivian first asked about you.”
Claire frowned.
“When?”
“October.”
“That was two months ago.”
“Yes.”
“What did she ask?”
Mrs. Patel hesitated.
“Your schedule.”
Claire went cold.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“She said she wanted to arrange holiday staffing.”
“And you believed her?”
“At the time.”
“What else?”
“Whether you lived on the estate. Whether you had family. Whether you drove yourself to Connecticut.”
Claire stared at her.
“Connecticut?”
Mrs. Patel nodded reluctantly.
“She already knew Lily existed.”
Two months.
Vivian had been researching Claire for two months.
Long before the conservatory threat.
Why?
Claire stood.
“I need to talk to Roman.”
They found him in his office.
Daniel Ross was there, along with Gabriel.
Claire entered without knocking.
Roman looked up.
“Something happened?”
“Vivian started asking about me in October.”
Daniel stopped writing.
Roman's gaze shifted to Mrs. Patel.
“What questions?”
She repeated everything.
Roman's expression tightened.
“October eighteenth?”
Mrs. Patel thought.
“Around then.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
Daniel understood instantly.
“What?” Claire asked.
Roman didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“October seventeenth was when Roman refused the first version of the Mercer merger agreement.”
Claire looked between them.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Roman leaned back.
“I don't know.”
“Then why—”
A thought hit Claire.
The conservatory.
She had worked that event too.
October seventeenth.
She remembered carrying coffee.
Victor Mercer and two attorneys had been there.
Roman had left the room angry.
Vivian had watched him go.
Then—
Claire's breathing changed.
“What?”
Roman stood.
“There was a folder.”
“What folder?”
“I found papers in the conservatory after the meeting.”
Roman came around the desk.
“What papers?”
“I didn't read them.”
“Think.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“They were under the table near the fireplace. I assumed someone dropped them. I gave them to Marcus.”
Gabriel muttered something under his breath.
Roman's face became still.
“What was written on the folder?”
“I don't remember.”
“Anything.”
Claire searched the memory.
Dark blue paper.
Gold lettering.
A logo.
Then she remembered.
“Northstar.”
Daniel's pen stopped.
Roman looked at him.
“What is Northstar?” Claire asked.
Daniel answered slowly.
“A Mercer subsidiary.”
“For what?”
“International freight.”
Roman finished the explanation.
“And the company named in the merger agreement I refused.”
Claire felt sick.
“I gave the folder to Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“So Vivian thought I read it.”
“Probably.”
Claire shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“That may not matter.”
Roman returned to the desk and opened a locked drawer.
He removed the original merger proposal.
“Victor wanted DeLuca Logistics to guarantee Northstar's foreign obligations.”
Claire looked confused.
Daniel explained.
“If Northstar had hidden liabilities, Roman's companies could inherit them after the marriage-linked merger.”
“How much?”
Roman answered.
“Potentially hundreds of millions.”
Claire stared.
This was no longer about a cruel fiancée bullying an employee.
Vivian and Victor believed Claire might have seen evidence capable of exposing something enormous.
Roman closed the file.
“They didn't send you into the storm because of your father's debt.”
Claire whispered, “The debt was leverage.”
“Yes.”
“Then why kill me?”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“We don't know that they intended to.”
“A man was waiting outside.”
“To frighten you. Abduct you. Question you. Maybe worse.”
Claire wrapped her arms around herself.
Roman immediately softened.
“But they failed.”
“Because you found me.”
“Yes.”
“What if you hadn't?”
Roman didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The office phone rang.
Gabriel picked it up.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Roman watched him.
Gabriel hung up.
“We found Marcus.”
Claire held her breath.
Roman asked, “Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Penn Station.”
Relief flickered briefly.
Then Gabriel added:
“He was trying to leave for Canada.”
Roman took his coat.
“Bring him somewhere secure.”
Claire stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“He knows why they wanted me outside.”
“Which is exactly why you aren't coming.”
“You can't keep deciding things for me.”
Roman stopped.
The room went silent.
Claire met his eyes.
For years people had decided everything.
Lenders.
Doctors.
Employers.
Vivian.
Fear.
She was done.
“If Marcus helped send me outside, I deserve to hear why.”
Roman studied her.
Then something almost like respect appeared in his expression.
“Fine.”
Mrs. Patel protested.
Claire ignored her.
An hour later, Marcus Dane sat beneath a single hanging light in a private office across town.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
Roman entered first.
Claire followed.
Marcus saw her.
All color drained from his face.
Roman noticed.
“So,” Roman said quietly, “you thought she was dead.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“Roman—”
“Look at her.”
He did.
Claire stood motionless.
“Who was waiting at the carriage house?”
Marcus said nothing.
Roman placed a photograph of Lily on the table.
Marcus stared.
Claire's breath caught.
“Where did you get that?”
Roman looked at Marcus.
“Your phone.”
Claire's blood went cold.
Roman leaned forward.
“Talk.”
Marcus swallowed.
“It wasn't supposed to happen like that.”
Claire whispered, “What was supposed to happen?”
Marcus looked directly at her.
And what he said changed everything.
“They were supposed to take you somewhere private and ask what you saw.”
Claire's knees nearly weakened.
Roman asked, “Who is they?”
Marcus glanced at the closed door.
Then back at Roman.
“The Mercers.”
“Victor?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Vivian gave the order.”
Roman's expression didn't change.
But the room seemed colder.
Marcus continued.
“She said if you resisted, they should use Lily.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Roman leaned closer.
“Who was outside?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Damian Cross.”
Roman knew the name.
And that was when even Roman DeLuca looked disturbed.
Because Damian Cross didn't collect debts.
May you like
He made people disappear.
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