Chapter 6 - My Mother’s Enemy
Conrad denied receiving the key.
Adrian didn’t care.
“You kept it in the safe behind your office painting.”
Conrad turned on him.
“Stop talking.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You told me it opened a Hartwell vault.”
Vivian whispered his name.
“Adrian.”
“No.”
He pointed at his father.
“You wanted me to find whatever Evelyn left behind.”
Conrad’s mask finally cracked.
“You have no idea what you’re saying.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“How did the key end up in Adrian’s jacket?”
Adrian looked at me.
“I brought it tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because your father announced the gala would be held here.”
He nodded toward the west wing.
“And I knew the old Hartwell archives were still beneath the library.”
My stomach tightened.
“So you came here to steal from us.”
“I came to take back something your mother stole first.”
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
Conrad did.
“A ledger.”
Every eye turned.
He realized his mistake immediately.
Nathan Pierce smiled without humor.
“What ledger, Mr. Mercer?”
Conrad said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“The missing foundation ledger?”
He looked at me.
“You are playing with things you don’t understand.”
“You’ve had seven years to explain.”
“This isn’t about charity donations.”
“What is it about?”
He glanced toward my father.
My father looked just as confused as I felt.
Conrad lowered his voice.
“Your mother discovered a private investment network.”
“What kind?”
“The kind powerful people pay very large amounts of money to keep private.”
Murmurs spread through the ballroom.
I looked around.
A senator turned away.
A real estate developer suddenly became fascinated with his shoes.
A banking executive whispered urgently to his wife.
This wasn’t forty-eight million dollars anymore.
It was bigger.
My mother’s note had warned me.
The theft is larger than the foundation.
Nathan noticed the reactions too.
He ordered federal agents to begin collecting names.
That was when the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Owen touched his earpiece.
“Control room?”
No answer.
The chandeliers went black.
Women screamed.
Someone knocked over a table.
Glass shattered.
Emergency lights flashed red along the walls.
I heard my father shout my name.
Then a hand grabbed me from behind.
I drove my elbow backward.
The grip loosened.
I spun.
I couldn’t see a face.
Only a dark silhouette disappearing toward the service corridor.
Then Brooke screamed.
“ADRIAN!”
A door slammed.
Backup power came on.
I looked across the room.
Adrian’s chair was empty.
One officer lay dazed beside it.
Brooke was gone too.
Owen shouted into his radio.
“West service corridor.”
Security ran.
I looked toward the emergency map.
There was only one place Adrian could be going.
The underground passage beneath the Winter Room.
May you like
And if he had taken Brooke with him, he wasn’t running alone.
He was taking a hostage.
