Chapter 6 - A House With Locked Doors
Adrian locked down the property.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Every employee was questioned.
Security footage was reviewed.
Ellie hated it.
Not because she didn't understand.
Because locked doors reminded her too much of Philip.
By afternoon, Adrian noticed.
“You can leave.”
“What?”
“If this feels like a prison, you can leave.”
“And go where?”
“Anywhere you choose. I'll arrange protection.”
Ellie studied him.
“You'd really let me walk out?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it's dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because safety without choice is another kind of cage.”
That sentence stayed with her.
Ellie remained.
Not because Adrian ordered it.
Because she chose it.
The investigation uncovered a security guard who had accepted money from an unknown intermediary.
He had photographed Ellie's hospital room.
He was fired and questioned.
But the intermediary remained unidentified.
Victor.
Probably.
Yet probabilities weren't evidence.
Ellie was learning that distinction.
She spent the next week recovering.
Her bruises changed colors.
Her shoulder improved.
Her ribs stopped screaming every time she laughed.
And she began laughing more.
Rosa made that inevitable.
“You're too thin,” Rosa announced one morning.
Ellie looked at herself.
“Rosa, nobody has ever accused me of that.”
“Then everybody is stupid.”
Ellie laughed so hard she nearly spilled coffee.
Adrian entered.
“What happened?”
“Rosa declared war on diet culture.”
“Again?”
Rosa pointed a spoon at him.
“Eat.”
Adrian obeyed.
Ellie watched and smiled.
It was strange seeing a feared man defeated by an elderly woman holding oatmeal.
But the quiet moments frightened Ellie too.
Because she liked them.
She liked Adrian.
That complicated everything.
One evening they sat outside beneath a covered terrace while rain whispered against the garden.
“Why aren't you married?” Ellie asked.
Adrian glanced over.
“Interview?”
“Curiosity.”
“I was engaged once.”
“What happened?”
“She realized my life wasn't one she wanted.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yes.”
Ellie hadn't expected the answer.
“Do you still?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because wanting someone back isn't the same as remembering them kindly.”
Ellie looked toward the rain.
“I'm afraid I'll miss Philip.”
“You probably will.”
She frowned.
“You're supposed to tell me I won't.”
“Why would I lie?”
Ellie considered that.
“You can miss the person you hoped he was,” Adrian said. “That doesn't mean you should return to the person he actually is.”
Her eyes filled.
She hated how easily he sometimes found the truth.
“I used to think if I became prettier, quieter, thinner, more interesting—”
“Stop.”
Ellie stiffened.
Adrian immediately corrected himself.
“Sorry. Continue.”
She smiled faintly.
“No. That one was okay.”
He waited.
“I thought if I changed enough, he'd become the man I married.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What if you were never the thing that needed changing?”
Ellie had no answer.
Two days later, Detective Morales called.
Philip had disappeared.
His attorney claimed not to know where he was.
His company office was empty.
Several bank accounts had been drained.
And Victor Dane had also vanished.
Ellie felt sick.
“Together?”
“We don't know.”
Adrian's security doubled.
Then Caroline Webb's flash drive yielded another surprise.
A scheduled video.
Caroline appeared on screen.
Tired.
Frightened.
Alive at the time of recording.
“If you're watching this, Victor found out.”
Ellie leaned closer.
Caroline named several locations.
Then she said:
“Philip Hughes thinks he's Victor's partner. He's not. He's expendable.”
Ellie closed her eyes.
Philip didn't understand the world he had entered.
Perhaps he finally did now.
Caroline continued:
“There is one person Victor fears because he cannot buy him.”
The video distorted.
Then returned.
“Adrian Moretti.”
Ellie turned toward Adrian.
He showed no surprise.
“You knew her.”
“I met her once.”
“You didn't tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked me for help and disappeared before I could give it.”
Anger flashed through Ellie.
“You should've told me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I thought it would frighten you.”
“That wasn't your decision.”
“No.”
Adrian didn't defend himself.
That made it harder to stay angry.
“You don't get to protect me with secrets.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Ellie stood.
“Then no more.”
“No more.”
That night, Adrian gave Ellie access to every piece of information he had.
No filters.
No omissions.
Among the files was something unexpected.
A photograph of Caroline.
Taken three weeks earlier.
Ellie stared.
“This is recent.”
“Yes.”
“Then she's alive.”
“Maybe.”
“Where was this?”
Adrian pointed.
“Milwaukee.”
Ellie looked at him.
Caroline Webb—the woman everyone believed might be dead—could still be alive.
And if they found her, she could destroy Victor's entire operation.
But somewhere between Chicago and Milwaukee, Philip Hughes had disappeared too.
May you like
And Ellie suddenly wondered whether her husband was running with Victor—
or running from him.
