THE MAID WHO HID A BROKEN WRIST

“Daniel?” Clara breathed, staring at the gold clip in Leo’s hand.

Her mind spun. Daniel, the head of security. The gray-haired man who shadowed Leo’s every move. Why would he be at the apartment before Leo even gave the order?

Before Leo could answer, heavy footsteps crunched on the gravel outside the basement door.

Leo pushed Clara and Lily behind him, raising his pistol seamlessly, the barrel aimed squarely at the doorway.

A figure stumbled down the concrete steps, clutching his side.

It was Daniel.

His suit jacket was torn, and blood seeped through the white fabric of his shirt, staining his hands. He leaned heavily against the stone archway, breathing in ragged, painful gasps.

“Boss,” Daniel wheezed, managing a grim smile when he saw Lily was safe. “Glad you found them.”

Leo didn’t lower his gun. “You were at the apartment before I gave the order, Daniel. Explain. Now.”

Daniel slid down the wall, sitting on the cold floor to conserve his strength. “I’ve been watching Vincent for three weeks, Leo. I knew he was skimming. I knew he was using the docks. But I couldn’t prove it. Not definitively.”

He coughed, wincing in pain.

“When you sent the girl to the study tonight, Vincent panicked,” Daniel continued. “He texted his crew. I intercepted the message. He ordered a hit on Mrs. Gable’s apartment to take the kid as leverage against Clara. I didn’t have time to tell you. I just drove.”

Clara clutched Lily tighter, her heart pounding. Daniel hadn’t betrayed them. He had bled for them.

“Vincent’s man got there right as I did,” Daniel grunted, pressing his hand harder against his bleeding side. “I managed to put him down, but he caught me with a knife on the way out. Told Mrs. Gable to run with the kid to their safe spot. Figured you’d be smart enough to find them.”

Leo finally lowered his weapon. He knelt beside his oldest friend, pulling out a handkerchief and pressing it against Daniel’s wound.

“You should have come to me three weeks ago,” Leo said softly.

“You’re the boss, Leo,” Daniel replied, his eyes filled with fierce loyalty. “I don’t bring you suspicions. I bring you proof. And I have it. Vincent isn’t just smuggling. He’s staging a coup.”

The basement went dead silent.

“Tonight,” Daniel breathed, his skin growing pale. “While you’re hosting the families. Vincent’s men are moving on the main house. They’re going to empty the estate vault. The waterfront deeds, the offshore account ledgers. Everything. He’s planning to rob you blind and leave you holding the bag for the smuggling operations.”

Leo’s face became a mask of terrifying, icy calm. “The vault is coded to my biometric scan. He can’t open it.”

“He has a bypass cipher,” Daniel coughed. “He paid a hacker in Milan half a million dollars for it. He’s in your office right now, Leo.”

Leo stood up. The predator was fully unleashed. “Can you walk?”

“I can drive,” Daniel gritted his teeth, forcing himself up.

They hurried back to the SUV. Clara strapped Lily into the backseat, shielding her eyes from the rain.

Leo tore through the city streets, heading back up the hill toward the Castillion estate. But as they crested the final turn, Leo slammed on the brakes, the tires skidding on the wet asphalt.

The massive wrought-iron gates of the estate were shut.

The security booth, usually manned by two guards, was dark.

“He locked down the perimeter,” Leo said, his jaw clenching. “He changed the master codes. We can’t get a vehicle through without blowing the gates and alerting half the city.”

Clara looked at the towering iron fence, spiked at the top. “We can’t climb that with Lily.”

“We don’t need to,” Leo said, staring at the gate. “There’s a blind spot near the ravine. I can scale the wall, drop down, and open the service entrance from the inside.”

“They’ll see you on the cameras,” Clara said quickly. “Vincent will have men watching the monitors.”

“I’ll take that risk.”

“No, wait,” Clara said, her voice suddenly steady. “I know a way in. A way they aren’t watching.”

Leo turned to her.

“The old coal chute,” Clara explained. “Behind the greenhouse. It connects to the sub-basement where the laundry machines are. Vincent never goes down there. He thinks it’s beneath him. The camera down there has been broken for two months. I reported it to maintenance, but no one fixed it.”

Leo looked at her, truly seeing the woman beneath the maid’s uniform. She was brilliant, observant, and fiercely brave.

“Lead the way,” Leo said.

They left Daniel in the car with Lily, locking the doors and arming him with Leo’s backup piece.

Clara guided Leo through the freezing rain, trekking through the muddy woods flanking the estate. Her cast throbbed violently, but she pushed through the pain. They found the rusted iron door of the coal chute hidden beneath a patch of overgrown ivy.

Leo pulled it open. They slid down into the pitch-black, suffocating darkness of the sub-basement.

As they crept out of the laundry room and into the main service corridor, they heard footsteps above them.

“They’re patrolling the main floor,” Leo whispered, pressing his back against the wall. “My office is on the second floor. I need a distraction to clear the stairs.”

Clara looked at her maid’s uniform. It was damp and dirty, but she was still staff.

“I’ll do it,” Clara said.

“No,” Leo caught her arm. “It’s too dangerous.”

“He thinks I’m terrified of him, Leo,” Clara said, her eyes flashing with defiance. “He thinks I ran away. If I walk up there, he’ll gloat. He won’t shoot a maid in the middle of a coup. I’ll buy you the time you need.”

Before Leo could stop her, Clara stepped out of the shadows and began walking up the grand staircase.

She reached the second-floor landing.

Vincent Marlowe was standing outside the heavy double doors of Leo’s office, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, checking his silver pocket watch.