Chapter 11 - The Price of Leaving
Adrian had no intention of going alone.
He also had no intention of telling Vincent that.
The address led to a closed restaurant on the industrial edge of Everett.
Marcus placed teams in three surrounding buildings.
Rachel threatened to have all of them arrested for interfering with a custody case.
Nobody listened.
Claire was told to remain at the mansion.
This time she did not argue immediately.
She waited until Adrian finished checking his weapon and then followed him into the side hall.
"Don't go."
He looked at her.
"I have to."
"No, you want to."
"He says he has Rebecca's recording."
"He also wants you alone."
"I won't be."
Claire glanced toward Marcus.
"That's not what Vincent will think."
"Good."
"You're treating this like a negotiation."
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"It is one."
"With a man who approached your daughter at school."
"Which is why I'm going."
Claire stepped closer.
"And if the entire point is to make you react exactly like this?"
Adrian went still.
She continued.
"Vincent keeps pushing the same buttons."
"Rebecca."
"Lily."
"Your guilt."
"My father."
"He wants us angry enough to move before we think."
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
"You said us."
Claire blinked.
"What?"
"You said he wants us angry."
"This is not the time."
"No."
Something almost warm moved through his expression.
"It isn't."
Then he left anyway.
Claire watched the convoy disappear through the gates.
She hated him for going.
She hated herself more for understanding why.
Lily was in the library with Mrs. Callahan and a court-approved child therapist named Dr. Nora Bell.
Claire was not permitted to participate in the session, so she sat in the adjacent morning room pretending to read.
Every two minutes she checked her phone.
No messages.
At 7:06 p.m., Rachel called.
"They're in position."
"Why are you telling me?"
"Because Adrian told me not to."
Claire almost laughed.
"I like you more every hour."
"Don't."
"I'm expensive."
"What happens now?"
"Marcus watches."
"Adrian goes in."
"If Vincent appears, police move once we have enough for an arrest."
Claire looked toward the library.
Lily was drawing something at a table.
"And if it's a trap?"
Rachel was silent.
"Rachel?"
"Then we hope Marcus is better at traps than Vincent is."
The closed restaurant smelled like dust and old grease.
Adrian entered through the front door alone.
At least that was what anyone watching from inside would believe.
A microphone beneath his collar transmitted everything to Marcus.
One table in the center of the dining room had been cleaned.
A laptop sat on it.
No Vincent.
Adrian stopped six feet away.
The screen turned on by itself.
Rebecca appeared.
Adrian forgot to breathe.
She was thinner than he remembered from that period.
A scarf covered her hair.
Her face looked exhausted.
But her eyes were clear.
Painfully clear.
The recording timestamp showed eighteen days before her death.
Rebecca looked directly into the camera.
"If Adrian sees this, then I failed to keep it from him."
His throat closed.
"And if Vincent has it, then somebody I trusted failed me first."
The video cut off.
Adrian stepped toward the laptop.
Text appeared.
ONE ANSWER FOR ONE ANSWER.
His phone rang.
Vincent's voice came through.
"Still impatient?"
Adrian looked around the empty restaurant.
"Where are you?"
"Safer than you."
"Play the rest."
"Tell me where the Pier Nine recorder is."
Adrian's expression did not change.
"Destroyed."
Vincent laughed.
"Rebecca taught you to lie better than that."
"Then ask something else."
"Where is Claire Bennett?"
Adrian went still.
Marcus heard it through the microphone and whispered a curse from the surveillance van.
"Why?"
"Because Thomas Bennett died trying to protect her from you."
Adrian's hand tightened around the phone.
"He died because of you."
Vincent's voice became almost amused.
"Did he?"
"Julian's car followed him."
"Julian's stolen car."
"You used Dominic's authorization code."
"So did half the company after he died."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Play the recording."
"First answer my question."
"Claire is nowhere you can reach."
Vincent laughed again.
"Nephew, she has been somewhere I can reach since she was nineteen."
Adrian stopped breathing.
"What does that mean?"
The laptop screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
Claire at nineteen.
She stood outside a hospital beside her mother.
Neither knew they were being photographed.
A second image appeared.
Claire at twenty-one, leaving a community college building.
Then another.
Claire at twenty-four, carrying groceries into an apartment.
Adrian's face turned cold.
Vincent whispered, "Thomas didn't die because he found the route."
"He died because he threatened to give me something I wanted."
"What?"
"Leverage."
Adrian's voice sharpened.
"Against whom?"
"You still think everything is about you."
The line went dead.
On the laptop, Rebecca's video resumed.
"Adrian, if you're watching, listen to me before you decide who deserves your anger."
He stared at her face.
"Thomas Bennett brought me evidence against Vincent."
"But he brought something else too."
Rebecca looked away from the camera.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to continue.
"He brought me proof that someone in our family had been watching his daughter."
Adrian's blood turned cold.
"Claire."
Rebecca said the name softly.
"Thomas believed Vincent intended to use her one day."
The video froze.
A timer appeared.
00:30.
Then another message.
TELL MARCUS TO CHECK THE SOUTH EXIT.
Marcus saw it through Adrian's camera feed.
"Move!"
His team rushed the south side of the building.
A car engine roared.
Adrian ran toward the rear door.
Outside, a black sedan tore from the alley.
Marcus's men pursued.
Adrian reached the curb too late.
His phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
WHILE YOU WERE HERE, WHO WAS WITH LILY?
Adrian stopped breathing.
"Marcus."
"Call the house."
Claire was still in the morning room when the library door opened.
Dr. Nora Bell stepped out.
"Lily is asking for you."
Claire stood.
"Am I allowed in?"
"For a few minutes."
Claire entered.
Lily sat at the table surrounded by drawings.
One picture showed three people holding hands.
A tall man.
A little girl.
A woman with brown hair.
Claire's chest tightened.
"Who's that?"
Lily pointed.
"Daddy."
Then herself.
Then Claire.
Claire looked at Dr. Bell.
The therapist's expression revealed nothing.
Lily held up another drawing.
This one showed a blond woman beside a blue door.
"Mommy."
Claire knelt.
"What's the blue door?"
Lily frowned.
"Her doctor room."
"At the hospital?"
"No."
Claire's pulse changed.
"Where?"
Lily looked toward the hallway.
"Uncle Julian's house."
Claire went still.
"Your mom went to Julian's house?"
Lily nodded.
"She took me once."
"When?"
"Before she got too sick."
Claire looked at Dr. Bell.
The therapist leaned forward.
"Lily, what happened there?"
Lily stared at her drawing.
"Mommy yelled."
"At Julian?"
"Yes."
"About what?"
Lily's face tightened as she tried to remember.
"She said, 'You changed it.'"
Claire's skin prickled.
"Changed what?"
Lily shook her head.
"Then Uncle Julian said Daddy would never believe her because she was sick."
Claire's breath caught.
Dr. Bell looked at her sharply.
At that moment, the lights in the library went out.
Claire stood.
"Lily, stay with me."
Emergency lights should have come on.
They did not.
The hallway outside was completely dark.
Claire heard a door close somewhere nearby.
Then a woman's voice spoke softly from the darkness.
"Claire?"
Claire froze.
The voice sounded almost exactly like her own.
Lily whimpered.
The woman spoke again.
"It's okay, sweetheart."
Claire felt terror crawl up her spine.
The impersonator was inside the mansion.
Again.
Claire grabbed Lily and moved backward.
Dr. Bell whispered, "What is happening?"
"Lock the door."
The handle turned before she reached it.
Claire shoved a chair beneath the knob.
Something struck the door from outside.
Lily screamed.
Then Claire's phone rang.
Adrian.
She answered.
"Where are you?"
His voice came hard and fast.
"With Lily in the library."
"Lock the door."
"Already did."
"Is anyone with you?"
Claire looked at Dr. Bell.
"The therapist."
A sound came from Adrian's end.
Not relief.
Fear.
"Claire, listen to me."
"What?"
"Nora Bell never arrived at the estate tonight."
Claire turned slowly.
May you like
The woman standing three feet from Lily smiled.
Then she reached into her coat.
