Chapter 4: Fire Beneath the Palace
Adrian pulled off his jacket and pressed it against the grate.
Clara searched the walls for another exit while smoke thickened around them.
“There must be a service passage,” she said.
“There hasn’t been one on the plans for decades.”
Clara ran her hands across the stone until she felt cold air moving through a crack.
Together, they pushed against the wall.
A narrow panel gave way, revealing a maintenance tunnel.
They crawled through just as flames spread across the archive room.
When they emerged behind the library fireplace, alarms were ringing throughout the palace.
Malcolm Price hurried toward them.
“What happened?”
“Someone locked us inside,” Adrian said.
Malcolm’s face remained calm.
Too calm.
Clara watched his eyes move toward the smoke coming from the hidden passage.
He had known exactly where they would emerge.
The fire department contained the blaze, but the archive was destroyed.
Everything connected to Thomas Bennett was gone.
Everything except the torn Ashford paper Adrian had placed in his pocket.
That afternoon, Eleanor revealed that Victoria’s father, Senator Charles Ashford, had been one of the trustees overseeing the Blackwood fortune when the missing transfers occurred.
“The Ashfords built their empire with our money,” Eleanor said.
Adrian stared at the burned paper.
“Why would Victoria return now?”
“To finish whatever her father started.”
Before they could continue, Malcolm entered carrying a velvet jewelry case.
“This was found in Clara Bennett’s room.”
Inside lay Eleanor’s famous sapphire necklace.
Clara’s stomach dropped.
“I have never seen that before.”
Malcolm placed a second object on the table.
A small electronic device.
“The signal jammer used to disable the security cameras.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
Victoria appeared in the doorway behind him.
May you like
Her eyes settled on Clara with quiet satisfaction.
“I warned you,” she said. “You should have stayed invisible.”
