Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Knew Too Much
Mark ran toward the staircase.
Elena stayed with Liam.
“Lock the door.”
Mark did not wait for an answer.
He reached the ground floor as one of the security guards rushed from the sitting room.
“Sir.”
“What happened?”
“Ms. Victoria broke a window.”
Mark looked toward the room.
Curtains moved in the night wind.
Pieces of glass covered the carpet.
Victoria was gone.
Mark stared at the guard.
“How?”
“She threw a lamp.”
“And two men couldn’t stop her?”
“She didn’t go through the window.”
Mark frowned.
The guard pointed toward an open bookcase.
Behind it was a narrow service corridor.
Mark knew the mansion had old servant passages.
He had never known there was one behind the sitting room.
“Seal the property.”
“It already is.”
“Then she’s still here.”
Mark returned upstairs.
Elena was standing near the window with Liam.
She looked frightened when Mark entered.
“She escaped the room.”
Elena turned pale.
Mark noticed.
“You knew there was a passage.”
Elena did not deny it.
“How?”
She looked toward Liam.
“Because Sarah showed it to me.”
Mark went still.
“My wife?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Sarah?”
Elena’s eyes filled with something that looked like regret.
“I met her seven months before she died.”
Mark stared at her.
“You told me you were recommended by Mrs. Daniels.”
“I was.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Elena looked down.
“Sarah asked Mrs. Daniels to recommend me if you ever needed help.”
“Why?”
Elena reached into the pocket of her uniform.
She removed an old brass key.
“She was afraid.”
Mark felt cold.
“Of Victoria?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then who?”
“Sarah believed someone was stealing from the family foundation.”
Mark’s late wife had managed the Ashford Children’s Foundation.
After her death, Mark had placed the organization under the temporary supervision of his financial office.
A year later, Victoria joined the board.
“She suspected millions were being redirected through fake charities.”
Mark shook his head.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She planned to.”
Elena swallowed.
“The night she died.”
Mark’s face changed.
Elena continued carefully.
“She called me that afternoon.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she finally had proof.”
Mark could hear his own heartbeat.
“And?”
“She said she was going to meet someone who could verify it.”
“Who?”
“She never told me.”
Mark turned away.
For three years he had believed Sarah’s final drive was ordinary.
She had told him she was meeting a foundation accountant.
The police ruled her death accidental.
Her vehicle had lost control on a wet mountain road.
Mark forced himself to breathe.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I didn’t know Victoria was connected.”
Mark faced her.
“And now?”
Elena pointed toward the photograph from beneath Liam’s bed.
“Sarah showed me that photograph once.”
Mark frowned.
“She carried a copy in her purse.”
Elena looked directly at him.
“It was taken at the foundation’s first charity gala.”
“Victoria attended that gala?”
“Yes.”
Mark felt the ground shift beneath him.
Sarah and Victoria had known each other.
Victoria had told Mark they met only after Sarah’s death.
That lie suddenly seemed enormous.
Liam tugged on Elena’s hand.
“She’s here.”
Mark turned.
“What?”
Liam pointed toward the wall.
“She comes through there.”
Mark followed his finger.
The wooden panel beside the fireplace looked perfectly ordinary.
Until Mark pressed against it.
It opened.
Darkness waited beyond.
Mark grabbed a flashlight.
“Elena, stay with Liam.”
He stepped into the passage.
The narrow corridor smelled of dust.
He moved slowly.
Then he heard footsteps.
“Victoria?”
No answer.
Mark followed the sound.
The corridor ended behind the library.
He pushed open the panel.
The room was empty.
But the safe behind his desk stood open.
Documents covered the floor.
And the small steel box containing Sarah’s private papers was missing.
Mark looked toward the open French doors.
A black SUV was parked beyond the garden.
Its headlights came alive.
Mark ran outside.
The vehicle accelerated toward the estate gate.
Security vehicles followed.
Mark stopped beneath the rain.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
Victoria’s voice came through the speaker.
“You should have let me leave quietly.”
“Where are you?”
“You have bigger problems than me now.”
“What did you take?”
Victoria laughed softly.
May you like
“Something Sarah died trying to protect.”
Then the call ended.
