Chapter 5 - THE BAGGAGE CLAIM
The clock on the mantel chimed 2:00 AM.
The Sterling estate was fortified, private security replacing Marcus’s men on Adrian’s direct orders. Little Leo was asleep on the leather sofa, covered by Adrian’s suit jacket, his small hands still clutching the wooden airplane.
Adrian stood by the crackling fire, turning the baggage claim ticket over in his hands.
“If Julian is hiding in the city, Marcus’s people will find him eventually,” Elena said, pacing the length of the rug. She had kicked off her heels hours ago. “We have to go to that train station. Now. Before the board convenes at 8:00 AM.”
“I can’t leave Leo here,” Adrian said softly, glancing at the sleeping boy. The fiercely protective instinct he felt for his nephew was completely new, yet undeniable. “If Marcus gets his hands on him, he’ll use him to force Julian out.”
“I’ll stay with him,” a voice said from the doorway.
Adrian spun around. Vanessa stood there, her burgundy dress wrinkled, her makeup completely washed off. She looked exhausted, smaller, stripped of the arrogant veneer she had worn at the ballroom.
“Are you out of your mind?” Adrian growled, taking a protective step toward Leo. “You just sold me out to Marcus.”
“And he fired me the second we got in the car,” Vanessa said, her voice shaking but resolute. “He didn’t pay me, Adrian. He laughed in my face and left me on the side of the road. I had to walk three miles back up the estate driveway.”
She looked at Adrian, her eyes shining with genuine tears. “I was terrible to you tonight. I was greedy, and I was terrified of being poor again. But I am not a monster. I don't want to see a child get hurt. Let me watch him. I’ll lock the doors. I’ll protect him. It’s the least I can do.”
Adrian stared at her, searching her face for the lie. He found none. Just a deeply flawed woman who had hit rock bottom.
He looked at Elena. Elena gave a brief, tight nod. “We need to go, Adrian. We are running out of time.”
“Lock the doors from the inside,” Adrian told Vanessa, his tone clipped. “Don’t open them for anyone but me.”
Twenty minutes later, Adrian and Elena were speeding down the deserted highway in one of the estate’s black SUVs. The tension in the car was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“You never told me you stole those letters from your father,” Elena said quietly, watching the streetlights wash over his profile.
“You were my father’s lawyer, Elena,” Adrian replied, keeping his eyes on the road. “I couldn’t put you in that position. I ran away because I couldn’t stand the poison in this family. I just wanted a normal life.”
“And you tested Vanessa to see if she was different,” Elena murmured. “I’m sorry she failed.”
Adrian glanced at her. “I’m not. I’m glad the truth came out.”
They arrived at the central train station. It was cavernous and empty, echoing with the sound of their footsteps. They found the 24-hour baggage lockers tucked away in a dimly lit corridor.
Adrian inserted the ticket into the automated scanner. Locker 402 clicked open.
Inside was a heavy, battered leather briefcase. Adrian pulled it out and set it on a nearby bench. He snapped the latches open.
It was full of thick, bound ledgers.
Elena pulled one out, flipping through the pages. Her breath hitched. “This isn’t just Marcus’s embezzlement, Adrian. These are offshore accounts. Shell companies. Marcus has been siphoning millions from the Sterling employee pension fund. If this goes public, he goes to federal prison.”
“This is why he forced my father out,” Adrian realized, the puzzle pieces slamming into place. “Marcus needed control of the company before the auditors caught the missing pension funds.”
As Adrian reached into the briefcase to check the other ledgers, his hand brushed against something cold and metallic at the bottom of the bag. He pulled it out.
It was a heavy, vintage emerald necklace.
Elena dropped the ledger. All the color drained from her face. She took a stumbling step backward, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Elena?” Adrian asked, confused. “What is this?”
“That,” Elena choked out, her voice barely a whisper, “was my mother’s necklace. She sold it to your father twenty years ago to pay off our family’s debts. The debts your father forced us into.”
She looked up at Adrian, tears brimming in her fierce, dark eyes. “He promised he would give it back. He never did.”
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Before Adrian could process the revelation, his cell phone vibrated violently in his pocket. It was a text from Vanessa.
Marcus came back. He brought the police. They have a warrant for Leo. I’m sorry. I tried.
