Chapter 4 - A Name No One Was Supposed to KnowDr. Amelia Ross was supposed to have retired four years earlier.
According to public records, she lived in Florida.
According to Blackwood Manor’s guest registry, she did not exist.
Yet Claire had seen her outside Suite 317.
And twelve years earlier, Amelia had photographed Rebecca Bennett standing beside Edward Vale.
Dominic wanted to confront her immediately.
Claire refused.
“If she’s involved, confronting her warns everyone.”
“If she knows what happened to my grandfather—”
“She may also know what happened to my mother.”
That stopped him.
They returned to the ballroom separately.
Claire entered through the east corridor.
Dominic waited three minutes before reappearing.
The gala continued as if nothing had happened.
People danced.
Glasses clinked.
Money changed hands through silent promises.
Claire searched faces.
No Amelia.
Ethan approached near the terrace.
“You found something.”
Claire nodded.
“Dr. Amelia Ross.”
His expression changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“Apparently Blackwood specializes in impossible guests.”
They showed him the photograph.
Ethan stared at it.
“She was Edward’s physician for nearly twenty years.”
“Did she examine my mother?”
Claire asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Ethan nodded.
Dominic scanned the room.
“Harrow’s gone.”
Claire saw Nathan near the stage.
“Your uncle is still here.”
“Which means Harrow is handling something privately.”
“Or someone.”
They split up.
Claire walked toward the service hallway where she had last seen Amelia.
Halfway there, someone caught her elbow.
She turned.
Nathan.
“Ms. Bennett.”
Claire calmly pulled her arm free.
“Mr. Vale.”
“We should talk.”
“About?”
“My nephew.”
Claire almost smiled.
“Everyone wants to talk to me about Dominic except Dominic.”
Nathan’s expression remained pleasant.
“He’s charming.”
“He’s actually fairly irritating.”
That surprised Nathan.
Claire continued.
“But I’m learning to tolerate him.”
Nathan glanced toward the ballroom.
“Dominic sees enemies everywhere.”
“Sometimes there are enemies everywhere.”
“My family has suffered enough because of his suspicions.”
“And the foundation?”
“What about it?”
“Has it suffered?”
Nathan studied her carefully.
“You’re very much like your mother.”
Claire stopped breathing.
He realized his mistake instantly.
But it was too late.
“You knew her.”
Nathan looked away.
“Briefly.”
“You recognized my surname.”
“I recognized your face.”
Claire stepped closer.
“You knew exactly who I was the moment we met.”
“I knew Rebecca.”
“What happened to her?”
“Claire—”
“What happened?”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“My office.”
“No.”
His expression tightened.
“You want answers.”
“I do.”
“Then stop treating everyone like a suspect.”
Claire looked directly at him.
“My profession has taught me that the people most offended by questions are usually the ones worth questioning.”
For the first time, Nathan’s polite mask slipped.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Then he stepped back.
“Your mother came here twelve years ago believing she had uncovered financial misconduct.”
“She had.”
“She misunderstood what she saw.”
“She refused a payment.”
Nathan froze.
Claire knew she had him.
He did not know they had found the ledger.
“Who told you that?”
“My mother left records.”
A lie.
But Nathan couldn’t know.
His gaze sharpened.
“What records?”
“Good night, Nathan.”
Claire turned.
He caught her wrist.
Not violently.
But firmly.
She looked down at his hand.
Then up at him.
He released her.
“Be careful,” he said.
Claire’s voice went quiet.
“Is that advice or a threat?”
Nathan walked away.
Dominic appeared seconds later.
“I saw that.”
“I handled it.”
“He touched you.”
“And now he knows I have evidence.”
Dominic stared.
“You told him?”
“I told him enough.”
“Claire.”
“He made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He said I look like my mother.”
Dominic understood.
“He knew her.”
“Yes.”
Ethan hurried toward them.
“I found Ross.”
“Where?” Claire asked.
“Not where. Who.”
He handed her his phone.
A medical licensing record appeared.
Amelia Ross had once specialized in cardiology.
More importantly, she had worked as a consultant for Hawthorne Health Research.
“She was on the foundation payroll,” Claire said.
“For twenty-two years.”
Dominic took the phone.
“And her retirement?”
“Fake.”
Ethan opened another record.
“She has been receiving $180,000 annually through a company called AR Medical Consulting.”
Claire immediately recognized the pattern.
“Same shell structure.”
Ethan nodded.
Dominic looked furious.
“So she was being paid.”
“Or silenced,” Claire said.
A text arrived on Claire’s phone.
Unknown number.
If you want the truth about Rebecca Bennett, come alone to the greenhouse at 10:30.
Dominic read it over her shoulder.
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“I didn’t ask.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“The message specifically says—”
“I can read.”
“Then you know what alone means.”
Dominic lowered his voice.
“Claire, every person who has tried to expose this either died or disappeared.”
“That is exactly why I’m going.”
“And if it’s Harrow?”
“Then stay close enough to intervene.”
Dominic shook his head.
“You are impossible.”
“I’ve heard that recently.”
At 10:29, Claire entered the greenhouse alone.
Blackwood’s greenhouse sat thirty yards from the mansion.
Rain had begun tapping against the glass roof.
Rows of white roses filled the interior.
Claire walked toward the center.
No one.
“Hello?”
A figure stepped from behind the plants.
Amelia Ross.
The older woman looked exhausted.
“You came.”
“You knew I would.”
“You’re Rebecca’s daughter.”
“Yes.”
Amelia’s eyes filled with something like grief.
“You have her eyes.”
Claire was tired of hearing that.
“What happened to my mother?”
Amelia looked toward the door.
“We don’t have much time.”
“Then don’t waste it.”
“She discovered Nathan and Harrow were diverting money. At first it was small. Construction contracts. Property fees.”
“Then?”
“They expanded.”
“Why didn’t my mother go to the police?”
“She tried.”
“And?”
“Harrow knew before she reached them.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“Did he kill her?”
Amelia closed her eyes.
“No.”
Claire stared.
“Who did?”
“No one.”
“What?”
“Rebecca did have an aneurysm.”
Claire felt anger surge.
“You expect me to believe that after everything—”
“Listen.”
Amelia stepped closer.
“Your mother died naturally. But Harrow used her death to take the evidence.”
Claire stopped.
“The medical report was real?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide this?”
“Because Edward wanted to protect you.”
“Dominic’s grandfather?”
“He believed Harrow would assume Rebecca had told you everything.”
“I was nineteen.”
“That wouldn’t have mattered.”
Claire struggled to process it.
All day she had imagined murder.
Now the truth was somehow crueler in a different way.
Her mother had died while carrying a secret she had been trying to expose.
“What about Edward Vale?”
Amelia’s face changed.
“That death was not natural.”
Rain hammered harder against the glass.
Claire whispered, “What happened?”
“His medication was changed.”
“By you?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Amelia looked toward the door.
“I signed the certificate because Harrow threatened my son.”
Claire stared.
“Who changed the medication?”
“Nathan.”
A sound came from outside.
Amelia panicked.
“He knows I contacted you.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come with me.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
Amelia shook her head.
“There’s one more file.”
“Where?”
“Suite 317.”
Claire almost laughed from disbelief.
“We searched it.”
“You searched the room.”
“What does that mean?”
“Edward redesigned that suite after Rebecca died.”
Amelia grabbed Claire’s hands.
“The shower wall.”
“What about it?”
“Behind the lion-colored marble.”
Claire thought of the gray veining in Dominic’s bathroom.
“The wall?”
“Edward hid a safe.”
“What’s inside?”
“Video.”
Claire froze.
“Of what?”
“His last conversation with Nathan.”
The greenhouse door opened.
Claire turned.
Harrow entered.
He held no weapon.
He didn’t need one.
His expression was enough.
“Doctor,” he said.
Amelia stepped in front of Claire.
“You promised you would leave her alone.”
Harrow sighed.
“You always were sentimental.”
Claire looked toward the side door.
Another guard entered.
Trapped.
Then the greenhouse lights went out.
Glass shattered somewhere behind Harrow.
A hand found Claire’s.
Dominic.
“Run.”
They moved between rows of roses.
Harrow shouted.
Claire heard footsteps behind them.
Dominic pushed open a side service door.
They ran into the rain.
Amelia followed.
Ethan waited with an SUV near the kitchen drive.
They climbed inside.
Ethan accelerated before the doors fully closed.
Claire turned.
Amelia was shaking.
Dominic looked at her.
“The safe.”
Amelia nodded.
“Behind the shower wall.”
Ethan looked through the mirror.
“We can’t go back tonight.”
Claire stared at Blackwood Manor disappearing through the rain.
“Yes, we can.”
Everyone looked at her.
She opened her clutch.
Inside were photographs of the ledger.
Nathan’s name.
Harrow’s transactions.
Rebecca’s history.
But none of it directly proved Edward Vale had been killed.
The video might.
“If we leave now,” Claire said, “they destroy everything.”
Dominic stared toward the mansion.
“They’ll expect us to run.”
“Exactly.”
Claire looked at him.
“So we go back.”
And for the first time that night, Dominic smiled.
May you like
Not because anything was funny.
Because he realized Claire Bennett might be even more stubborn than he was.
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