Chapter 5 - THE SECURITY LOG
The study fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Adrian stared at the pearl bracelet on his nephew’s wrist. His breathing deepened, the muscles in his jaw ticking.
“Marcus,” Adrian whispered.
Answer One: Vivienne wasn’t the mastermind of Leo’s death. Marcus, Adrian’s trusted head of security, was the inside man who betrayed Leo. Open Two: If Marcus was the killer, why was Vivienne covering for him? And why did Marcus arrest Vivienne tonight instead of silencing her?
“Where did she get this?” Adrian asked Eleanor, his voice dangerously calm.
“Vivienne found it in Leo’s apartment the night he died,” Eleanor wept. “She kept it as leverage. Marcus has been blackmailing her for years, forcing her to siphon money from your accounts using the Whitmore name.”
I stood up, backing away from the door. “Mr. Falcone, if Marcus is the traitor… he’s the one who locked Vivienne in the east wing.”
Adrian’s eyes widened. He pulled his sidearm from his shoulder holster. “Tom, stay here with the boy and Eleanor. Maggie, you know the service corridors. Show me the fastest way to the east wing without passing the main cameras.”
“Yes, sir.”
I stripped off my white apron, tossing it on a chair. I wasn’t a maid tonight. I was a survivor.
I led Adrian through the hidden staff hallway behind the kitchen, a narrow, unlit corridor that smelled of cleaning supplies and old dust. We moved silently, the sound of our breathing amplified in the dark.
“Why did you really come to the theater, Tom?” Adrian asked quietly into his radio as we walked.
Tom’s voice crackled back over the earpiece Adrian handed me. “I didn’t. Vivienne found me. She recognized me from the old days when I helped Leo. She hired me because she knew Marcus would recognize me. She was trying to spook him into making a mistake.”
A reversal. Vivienne wasn’t trying to fool Adrian with the fake dad. She was setting a trap for Marcus, using Tom as the bait.
We reached the heavy service door leading to the east wing. I pressed my ear against the wood.
I could hear a man’s voice. Marcus.
“You got greedy, Viv,” Marcus was saying. “You were supposed to just marry him and transfer the deed to the docks. Instead, you brought the old man back.”
I pushed the door open an inch.
Marcus was standing over Vivienne, holding a syringe.
“An overdose,” Marcus said clinically. “Tragic end for the new bride. The stress was just too much.”
Adrian kicked the door open.
Before Marcus could turn, Adrian fired once. The gun barked, a suppressed, deadly sound.
Marcus dropped the syringe and clutched his shoulder, falling to his knees.
Vivienne scrambled backward, weeping.
Adrian walked forward, his gun aimed directly at Marcus’s head. “You killed my brother.”
Marcus laughed, blood staining his teeth. “I didn’t kill him, Adrian. I just opened the door.”
He reached into his pocket with his good hand and pulled out a crumpled, yellowed train ticket. He tossed it at Adrian’s feet.
“Look at the date, boss. Look who bought the ticket to skip town the night Leo died.”
May you like
Adrian looked down at the ticket. His face went pale.
The name on the ticket was Maggie Sullivan. My mother.
