Chapter 8 - The Servant’s Secret
Elias disappeared before security reached the mansion.
His room had been emptied.
His bank accounts contained no unusual transactions.
His identity records appeared legitimate until investigators examined the earliest entries.
The real Elias Hart had died thirty years earlier.
The man who had served the Whitmores for twenty-six years had stolen a dead child’s identity.
Andrew sat inside an interview room while detectives questioned Margaret.
Mariana watched through the glass.
Margaret told them that Daniel had forced her into the car.
She claimed Elias intercepted them near the river.
According to her story, Elias attacked Daniel and allowed Margaret to escape.
She had walked four miles before contacting Escalante security.
“Do you believe her?” Andrew asked.
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
Mariana looked at him.
“That is your mother.”
“I have spent my entire life believing people because they were family.”
Andrew’s voice was tired.
“I will not make that mistake again.”
An investigator entered.
“Samuel survived surgery.”
“Can he speak?” Mariana asked.
“Not yet.”
“Did you find Daniel?”
“No.”
The investigator placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Elias entering a storage facility two weeks earlier.
A woman walked beside him.
Her face was hidden beneath a hat.
She carried Mariana’s old brown leather purse.
Mariana stared at the photograph.
Her purse was currently locked inside her office.
She had carried it out of the mansion.
Only two identical bags had ever existed.
Her mother had owned the other.
“She is alive,” Mariana whispered.
Andrew looked at the image.
“You think that is your mother?”
“I know that walk.”
Mariana remembered following Isabel through gardens, hotel lobbies, and crowded airports.
Her mother always leaned slightly toward the left because of an old riding injury.
The woman in the photograph had the same posture.
The storage facility belonged to a company registered in Canada.
The company’s owner was listed as Elena Hart.
Hart.
The same surname Elias had stolen.
Mariana requested every document connected to the facility.
One hour later, Escalante security surrounded the building.
Mariana entered with Andrew and two armed officers.
The unit contained old furniture, medical equipment, and dozens of sealed boxes.
A desk stood against the far wall.
On it was a recent photograph of Mariana.
It had been taken outside the mansion three months earlier.
Someone had been watching her.
Andrew found photographs of himself beside it.
Some showed him entering hotels with Brenda.
Others showed him meeting Daniel.
One showed him screaming at Mariana inside their car.
“They knew everything,” Andrew said.
Mariana opened a file cabinet.
Inside were detailed reports about the Whitmore family.
Margaret’s gambling debts.
Andrew’s affairs.
Brenda’s secret payments.
Daniel’s encrypted communications.
There were also reports about Alejandro and Rafael.
Every person in Mariana’s life had been monitored.
A locked door stood at the back of the unit.
Security forced it open.
The room beyond contained a bed, fresh food, and a wall covered with maps.
Someone had been living there recently.
Mariana found a cup of tea that was still warm.
“She was here.”
Andrew opened a laptop.
A video began automatically.
Isabel Escalante appeared on the screen.
She was older.
Her face was thinner.
But she was unmistakably alive.
“Mariana.”
Her recorded voice filled the room.
“If you found this place, then Elias has failed to keep you away.”
Mariana moved closer.
“I wanted to return to you every day.”
“But the person hunting me was always close to you.”
Isabel looked directly into the camera.
“The Whitmore empire was never the real target.”
“You were.”
The screen changed.
A list of dates appeared.
Each date marked a major event in Mariana’s life.
Her marriage.
Her appointment to the Escalante trust.
Her mother’s false death.
The restructuring of Whitmore Global.
The final date was tomorrow.
Beside it were two words.
MARIANA’S TERMINATION.
A timer appeared beneath the message.
Eleven hours remained.
May you like
Then the storage facility doors locked automatically.
Gas began pouring from the ceiling vents.
