Chapter 4 - The Lullaby Wasn't Just a Song
The first bullet missed Evelyn Shaw by less than four inches.
The second buried itself in the bookcase behind Adrian's desk.
By the time Marcus's men reached the tree line beyond the east lawn, the shooter was gone.
They found a shallow depression in the snow.
A single brass casing.
And tire marks on a maintenance road that should have been locked.
The lock itself was not broken.
Someone had used a key.
Claire sat on the floor of Lily's dressing room while the child clung to her neck.
The security team had moved them away from exterior windows.
Lily's crying had stopped, but her breathing still came in short, frightened bursts.
"Was that thunder?"
Claire closed her eyes.
Lying to a frightened child could buy five minutes and cost years of trust.
"No."
Lily pulled back.
"Was it a gun?"
Claire hated the question.
"Yes."
Lily's face crumpled.
"Is Daddy hurt?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I saw him after it happened."
"Mrs. Callahan said I can't go downstairs."
"Not yet."
Lily buried her face against Claire again.
"I hate this house today."
Claire rubbed her back.
"I know."
"Mommy hated it when the gates were closed."
Claire's hand stopped.
"What?"
Lily sniffed.
"She said gates are for keeping bad things out, but sometimes they keep good things in."
Claire looked at her.
"When did she say that?"
"When she was sick."
"Do you remember anything else?"
Lily thought.
"She used to hide things."
Claire's pulse changed.
"What kind of things?"
"Games."
"What games?"
Lily slid off her lap.
She crossed the dressing room and opened the bottom drawer of a cabinet.
From beneath folded pajamas, she pulled out an old wooden music box.
Claire had seen it before.
A tiny silver fox sat on top.
Lily turned the key.
The melody that began was Rebecca's lullaby.
Claire felt goosebumps rise along her arms.
"Mommy said the fox always knows where home is."
Claire stared at the music box.
"Did she ever hide anything inside it?"
Lily nodded.
"Letters."
"Do you know where they are?"
"Daddy found them after Mommy died."
Claire's hope fell.
Then Lily added, "But not the tiny one."
Claire leaned forward.
"What tiny one?"
Lily turned the music box over.
A thin groove ran around the wooden base.
Claire pressed it.
Nothing happened.
Lily frowned.
"You have to sing."
Claire almost smiled.
"I don't think the box cares if I sing."
"Mommy said it does."
Claire looked at the mechanism.
Then she listened.
The melody repeated.
She began humming Rebecca's lullaby softly.
Lily joined her.
On the third phrase, Lily stopped and tapped the underside of the box three times.
Then once.
Then four.
Claire went completely still.
Three.
One.
Four.
She thought of the brass key Evelyn had brought.
314.
"Lily."
"What?"
"Why did you tap like that?"
The child looked confused.
"That's what Mommy did."
Claire's pulse hammered.
"Every time?"
"Only on that part."
Claire picked up the music box.
"Can we show your dad?"
Lily's face closed.
"Mommy said not to."
Claire's heart seemed to stop.
"She said that?"
Lily nodded.
"She said it was our secret until the fox came back."
"What fox?"
Lily pointed at the silver figure on the box.
Claire stared at it.
"Did the fox go somewhere?"
"Mommy gave another one away."
"To who?"
Lily shrugged.
"The sad man."
Claire felt suddenly cold.
"What sad man?"
"He cried in the kitchen when Mommy gave it to him."
"Do you remember his name?"
Lily squeezed her eyes shut as if forcing the memory closer.
Then she shook her head.
"Mommy called him Tom."
Claire stopped breathing.
Her father had been Thomas Bennett.
Everyone who knew him had called him Tom.
A knock sounded at the dressing room door.
Claire jumped.
Adrian entered.
He had a shallow cut along one cheek from flying glass.
Lily ran to him.
"Daddy."
Adrian dropped to his knees and caught her.
For several seconds, he held her without speaking.
Claire watched his eyes close.
Then he saw the music box in her hands.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"Lily showed me."
Adrian stood.
"Rebecca's father made it."
Claire turned the base toward him.
"Did you know about the tapping?"
"What tapping?"
Lily demonstrated.
Three.
One.
Four.
Adrian's eyes moved to Claire.
"The key."
"Exactly."
Claire told him what Lily had said about the second fox.
About the sad man named Tom.
Adrian listened without interrupting.
When she finished, his face had become unreadable.
"You knew my father," Claire said.
It was not a question.
Adrian's gaze held hers.
"I met him once."
Anger flashed through her.
"Once?"
"Yes."
"Evelyn said Rebecca knew him."
"She did."
"And you somehow forgot to mention that when I started working here?"
"I didn't know you were his daughter when you were hired."
"When did you find out?"
Adrian hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Claire stepped back.
"When?"
"Six weeks ago."
Her face hardened.
"Six weeks."
"I had Marcus review all household records after an attempted data breach at Mercer Holdings."
"And you discovered my father's name."
"Yes."
"Then what?"
"I looked into it."
"Without telling me."
"I didn't have anything concrete."
"You had my dead father's name tied to your dead wife."
Lily looked between them.
Claire forced her voice lower.
"We are not doing this in front of her."
Adrian's expression shifted.
"Agreed."
Mrs. Callahan arrived to take Lily to the interior guest room.
Lily resisted until Adrian promised he would stay on the same floor.
Once she was gone, Claire faced him again.
"Tell me everything."
Adrian did not move.
"Your father came to the house once, seven years ago."
Claire folded her arms tightly.
"Why?"
"He wanted to speak to me about Pier Nine."
"Did you?"
"No."
The answer hit harder than she expected.
"Why not?"
Adrian looked away for a moment.
"I was in New York negotiating an acquisition."
"Then Rebecca met him."
"Yes."
"And he died before you came back."
"Two days later."
Claire's throat tightened.
"Did you investigate?"
"I asked questions."
"That's not what I asked."
Adrian's jaw flexed.
"The crash was ruled accidental."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"You, of all people, trusted the report?"
"No."
"Then what did you do?"
"I had Marcus look into it."
Claire waited.
Adrian said nothing else.
"And?"
"He found no evidence of tampering."
"So you stopped."
"Rebecca was already sick."
"So you stopped."
"I had a wife who was dying and a three-year-old daughter who barely understood why her mother couldn't get out of bed."
The control in his voice cracked for the first time.
Claire went quiet.
Adrian looked at the floor.
"I chose them."
She swallowed.
"And my father became a question you could live with."
His eyes lifted.
"No."
"That's what happened."
"I said I chose my family."
"Everyone says that right before explaining why somebody else's family had to accept the damage."
The words landed.
Adrian did not defend himself.
That somehow made Claire angrier.
She turned away.
The music box was still in her hands.
Three.
One.
Four.
"The key has to open something connected to the lullaby," she said.
Adrian looked at it.
"Or to the number."
Claire studied the silver fox.
A tiny seam ran around its neck.
She twisted gently.
The head came free.
Inside the hollow figure was a rolled strip of paper.
Adrian stepped closer.
Claire unfolded it.
There were only four words.
DO NOT TRUST JULIAN.
Adrian's face lost all color.
Claire looked at him.
"Who is Julian?"
He answered immediately.
"My chief financial officer."
Claire stared at the note.
"How long has he worked for you?"
Adrian's voice turned flat.
"Fifteen years."
"Does he have access to the mansion?"
Silence.
That was the answer.
Adrian took out his phone.
Before he could dial, Marcus entered the room.
"We have a problem."
Adrian held up the paper.
"So do I."
Marcus read the words.
His face hardened.
Then he said something worse.
"Julian Cross is downstairs."
Claire felt every hair on her arms rise.
Adrian turned toward the door.
"Who let him in?"
May you like
Marcus's expression was grim.
"He used Rebecca's old access code."
