Chapter 4 - The Warning Elise Left Behind
Victor didn't move.
Neither did Roman.
For several long seconds, the only sound in the nursery was Miles breathing through his nose.
Naomi looked from the torn page to Victor.
"Don't trust the man standing closest to Roman."
Her voice sounded too loud.
Roman's eyes remained fixed on Victor.
There were very few people in the world who could stand close to Roman Vale.
Victor Rowe had apparently stood closest for fifteen years.
Naomi knew that much from newspapers.
Childhood friend.
Business partner.
Fixer.
Shadow.
Some stories said Victor had saved Roman's life twice.
Others said he was the only person on earth Roman trusted without reservation.
Now Elise was dead.
And she had written a warning.
Victor finally spoke.
"Where exactly did your team find that?"
Roman's voice was quiet.
"Don't."
Victor looked at him.
"Don't what?"
"Turn this into a security question."
"It is a security question."
"My wife wrote your description in a book belonging to a woman she'd met once."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"And you think that means me?"
Naomi answered before Roman could.
"Who else stands closest to him?"
Victor looked at her.
"Half the time? Security."
"She didn't write 'don't trust security.'"
"Naomi."
Roman's warning stopped them.
He looked down at the page.
"Is this definitely Elise's handwriting?"
Naomi nodded.
"I remember it."
Roman didn't look satisfied.
"You met her once."
"Enough to recognize the way she wrote my name."
He studied the letters.
His expression shifted.
He recognized them too.
Victor walked toward the window.
"If Elise suspected me, she never said a word."
Roman's head lifted.
"Maybe that's why she wrote it somewhere you wouldn't look."
That hurt Victor.
Naomi saw it.
"You believe that?"
"I believe my wife was afraid."
Victor turned around.
"I loved Elise."
Roman's eyes became dangerous.
"Careful."
"I loved her like family."
"I said careful."
"And I love those boys."
Roman stood.
The room changed.
No shouting.
No dramatic threat.
Just two men who had known one another long enough to recognize the edge of a cliff.
Naomi stepped between them.
It was probably the stupidest thing she'd done all day, which was impressive.
"Stop."
Roman looked at her.
"Move."
"No."
Victor almost objected.
Naomi held up a hand.
"You too."
She took the evidence bag from Roman.
"Elise didn't write Victor's name."
"She didn't have to," Roman said.
"Maybe."
She looked at Victor.
"But warnings are sometimes written indirectly because the person writing them doesn't know exactly who the threat is."
Roman frowned.
Naomi continued.
"What if 'the man standing closest to Roman' wasn't about physical closeness?"
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
"What if Elise meant someone with access? Someone Roman trusts?"
Roman gave a bitter laugh.
"That list is short."
"How short?"
He didn't answer.
Victor did.
"Five."
"Name them."
Roman stared at Naomi.
"You're investigating my organization now?"
"I'm investigating why someone watched my apartment."
Fair enough.
Roman began.
"Victor."
Victor nodded.
"Gabriel Shaw. Legal counsel."
"Marcus Deane. Security director," Victor added.
Roman continued.
"Caleb Voss. Chief financial officer."
"And?" Naomi asked.
Roman hesitated.
"Dr. Elias Grant."
Naomi frowned.
"Doctor?"
"Family physician. Elise trusted him."
Victor's expression changed.
Roman saw it.
"What?"
Victor shook his head.
"Nothing."
"Victor."
"It's probably nothing."
"Tonight has been full of probably nothing."
Victor exhaled.
"Grant signed Elise's death certificate."
Naomi felt a chill.
Roman's face went still.
"I know that."
"No. You know he confirmed the hospital report."
Victor looked at him.
"You didn't know he personally signed the final certificate."
Roman stared.
"Why would he?"
"Because he was already at the hospital."
Roman's voice lowered.
"How?"
Victor didn't answer.
The answer was obvious.
Nobody knew.
Naomi looked at the page again.
"What exactly happened the night Elise died?"
Roman crossed the nursery and sat beside the window.
For the first time, he looked tired rather than frightening.
"She left the house at seven twenty."
"Alone?"
"Driver."
"Where was she going?"
"Foundation dinner."
"Did she arrive?"
"No."
Victor took over.
"Rain. Highway. The car went through a barrier near Alexandria."
Naomi swallowed.
"Driver?"
"Also killed."
"Any other vehicles involved?"
"Police said no."
Roman laughed without humor.
"Police said a lot of things."
Naomi looked at him.
"Why did you suspect it wasn't an accident?"
Roman stared at his wedding ring.
"Elise called me eleven minutes before the crash."
"What did she say?"
"Nothing."
Naomi frowned.
"Nothing?"
"The call lasted four seconds. I heard her breathe. Then it ended."
"Maybe accidental dial."
"Elise never accidentally called me."
Roman's certainty was heartbreaking.
Victor added, "We found damage to the rear bumper inconsistent with the main impact."
"From another car?"
"Possible."
"Did police investigate?"
Victor looked toward Roman.
Roman's face hardened.
"The officer handling the case retired six days later."
Naomi stared.
"Retired?"
"Moved to Costa Rica."
"That sounds bad."
"It sounds purchased," Roman said.
Naomi felt suddenly exhausted.
She had started that morning planning to edit a manuscript and sleep through part of the train ride.
Now she was standing in a crime boss's nursery discussing a suspicious death while three babies slept around her.
Life could apparently lose its mind in under twelve hours.
"Who benefited from Elise dying?" she asked.
Victor's eyes went to Roman.
Roman answered.
"Kincaid."
"How?"
"Elise wanted me out."
Naomi frowned.
"Out of what?"
Roman met her gaze.
"The things you've heard about me."
There it was.
No denial.
Naomi sat slowly.
"She wanted you to leave crime."
"I never said that word."
"You didn't need to."
Victor watched Roman carefully.
Roman continued.
"Elise tolerated my past because she believed it was my past. Then she learned some of it wasn't."
Naomi felt disappointed.
Which was ridiculous.
She barely knew him.
Yet she had watched him hold his sons.
He had looked human.
Kind even.
Now the shadow around him returned.
"What did she find?"
Roman looked toward Victor.
Victor answered.
"Money moving through Vale Maritime."
"Laundering?"
Roman's mouth tightened.
"Yes."
Naomi nodded slowly.
"And Kincaid?"
"Used our shipping routes," Victor said.
"With your permission?"
Roman didn't answer.
That was an answer.
Naomi stood.
"I need air."
Roman rose too.
"Naomi—"
"No."
She walked into the hallway.
The enormous estate was quiet.
Security guards moved at distant intersections.
Flowers stood on tables.
Elise's funeral photographs remained beside condolence cards.
Naomi reached a balcony overlooking the dark lawn.
Cold air touched her face.
She wrapped both arms around herself.
She had fed Roman's children.
She had pitied him.
She had defended him in her own mind.
But grief didn't make a man innocent.
Fatherhood didn't erase the choices he'd made.
Roman joined her after a minute.
Naomi didn't look at him.
"How bad are you?"
Roman leaned against the railing.
"That's a broad question."
"Try."
He stayed silent.
Naomi turned.
"Did you kill people?"
Roman's face changed.
"This isn't a conversation you want."
"That's not an answer."
"No."
"No, you didn't?"
"No, I won't answer."
Naomi laughed bitterly.
"Convenient."
"Naomi."
"Your wife wanted out because of your world. Now she's dead. Someone was watching me. Your sons almost starved because their mother isn't here. And I'm supposed to accept mystery?"
Roman's jaw tightened.
"You think I don't connect those things every minute?"
"Then why were you going to meet Kincaid instead of taking your sons to a doctor?"
"Because Kincaid controls information I need."
"What information?"
Roman looked toward the windows.
"Who killed Elise."
Naomi stopped.
"He says he knows?"
"He says he has evidence."
"And you believe him?"
"No."
"Then why meet him?"
"Because sometimes liars carry pieces of truth."
Naomi looked at the dark lawn.
"Maybe Elise died because she wanted you to stop living like that."
Roman's face turned hard.
"Don't use my wife against me."
"I'm not."
"You're standing in my house twelve days after I buried her telling me what she wanted."
"Because she literally left a warning."
Roman looked away.
The anger left his face.
What remained was grief.
"I know what she wanted."
His voice was low.
"She wanted a normal breakfast."
Naomi frowned.
Roman gave a sad smile.
"That was her phrase."
"A normal breakfast?"
"No security briefing. No phones. No men waiting outside. She wanted cereal on the floor because the boys were learning to throw food. She wanted to complain about school drop-offs. She wanted neighbors we didn't investigate before inviting to dinner."
He looked at Naomi.
"She wanted ordinary."
Naomi's eyes filled.
"And you?"
Roman swallowed.
"I thought I had time."
That sentence destroyed her anger.
Naomi understood.
People always thought they had time.
Time to apologize.
Time to leave dangerous lives.
Time to make changes.
Time to kiss a baby one more morning.
Then sometimes there was only silence.
A door opened behind them.
Victor stepped onto the balcony.
"Sorry."
Roman turned.
"What?"
"We searched Naomi's apartment."
Naomi stiffened.
"The book?"
"Missing."
Of course.
Victor continued.
"But whoever took it missed something."
He held up his phone.
A photograph showed the inside of Naomi's old parenting book.
The back cover had been cut open.
Inside was a small flash drive.
Naomi stared.
"That was in my book?"
"Hidden beneath the binding."
Roman's face changed.
"Elise put it there."
Victor nodded.
"Our guy found the empty compartment. Whoever searched the apartment removed the book but didn't notice the drive had fallen behind the shelf."
"Where is it?"
"On the way here."
Roman straightened.
Victor continued.
"There's another problem."
Naomi almost laughed.
"Naturally."
Victor looked at Roman.
"The guard bringing it was followed."
Roman's expression hardened.
"By who?"
"We don't know."
"Distance?"
"Ten minutes."
Roman immediately moved toward the door.
"Lock the property."
Victor nodded.
"No one enters or leaves."
Naomi stared at them.
"What do you think is on that drive?"
Roman stopped.
"If Elise hid it with you..."
He didn't finish.
The alarm sounded.
Not loud.
Three low tones throughout the house.
Victor checked his phone.
"North gate."
Roman's face went cold.
"Vehicle?"
Victor's expression became confused.
"It's Dr. Grant."
Naomi remembered the name.
Family physician.
Elise's death certificate.
Roman looked toward the nursery.
"Why is he here?"
Victor answered.
"No one called him."
The three men stared at one another.
Then from down the hallway came the sudden cry of a baby.
Jude.
Naomi ran.
Roman was beside her instantly.
They reached the nursery.
Dr. Shah stood over the crib.
"What happened?" Roman demanded.
"He's warm."
"How warm?"
"One hundred point five."
Roman's face drained.
"For a newborn?"
"Too high."
Naomi's stomach dropped.
Dr. Shah was already packing medical equipment.
"We're going to the hospital."
Roman didn't argue.
Then Victor's phone rang again.
He answered.
His expression darkened.
"What?"
Roman asked.
Victor lowered the phone.
"Dr. Grant says he knows what's wrong with Jude."
Dr. Shah looked up.
"How would he know Jude is sick?"
Nobody had told him.
Nobody outside the nursery was supposed to know.
Roman slowly turned toward the hallway.
Where Dr. Elias Grant was waiting beyond the locked doors.
And Naomi suddenly understood why Elise hadn't written a name.
Maybe she hadn't known which man standing closest to Roman had betrayed her.
Maybe she had been trying to give Roman enough clues to discover it after she was gone.
May you like
The question was whether they would discover the truth before the same person reached her sons.
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