Chương 7
“Good.”
We took the service staircase down.
I had never noticed how many doors there were in that house until I started wondering who might be behind each one.
At the first-floor landing, voices drifted from the east salon.
A man was demanding to leave.
Someone else was threatening a lawsuit.
Dominic did not slow.
“You can’t keep a hundred people here forever.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“What are you going to tell them?”
“The truth when I have enough of it.”
“That could be hours.”
“Then they’ll be unhappy for hours.”
“You make that sound easy.”
“It isn’t.”
We reached the basement door.
Two guards stood outside.
One opened it after seeing Dominic.
The lower level of the estate was nothing like the polished rooms above.
Concrete floors replaced marble.
Exposed pipes crossed the ceiling.
The air smelled faintly of detergent, dust, and warm metal from the mechanical systems.
I had been down there plenty of times for inventory.
That night it felt unfamiliar.
Gabriel stood near the boiler room entrance.
Dr. Harris knelt on the floor beside Daniel.
Daniel had been rolled onto his side.
One sleeve was torn, and dried blood darkened the hair behind his left ear.
My stomach tightened.
“Daniel.”
His eyelids fluttered.
Dr. Harris looked up sharply.
“Do not crowd him.”
Dominic stopped several feet away.
“What happened?”
“He has a head injury and likely concussion.”
“Can he talk?”
“He shouldn’t.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“Claire?”
His voice was thick and confused.
I stepped forward.
Dr. Harris lifted one hand.
“Slowly.”
Daniel blinked at me.
“You okay?”
The question caught me off guard.
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“Lily?”
“She’s safe.”
His eyes closed.
“Thank God.”
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
“Where did you find him?”
Gabriel pointed toward a utility alcove near the generator room.
“Behind the storage racks.”
“Camera coverage?”
“Partial.”
“Of course.”
Daniel tried to lift his head.
Pain twisted his face.
Dr. Harris pressed a hand to his shoulder.
“Don’t.”
“I need to tell him.”
“You need to stay conscious.”
“I am conscious.”
“You’re arguing with a doctor, so that’s promising.”
Even Dominic seemed surprised by the dryness in Harris’s voice.
Daniel opened his eyes again.
“Rebecca.”
My chest tightened.
“You know her?”
He looked at me.
“She told me she was your sister.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“Daniel.”
Gabriel’s voice was careful.
“How did she get inside?”
Daniel stared at the ceiling.
“I let her in.”
The basement seemed to go quiet around us.
Dominic took one step forward.
“You did what?”
Daniel flinched.
I saw it and moved between them without thinking.
“Let him talk.”
Dominic looked at me.
“He brought an unauthorized person into my house.”
“And someone hit him in the head.”
“That does not erase the first part.”
“No.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
“She called me yesterday.”
Gabriel crouched beside him.
“How did she get your number?”
“She said Claire gave it to her.”
“I did not.”
“I know that now.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“What did she want?”
“She said Claire left something here that belonged to their mother.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“A box.”
“There is no box.”
“She said you refused to answer her calls and she just wanted ten minutes to look for it.”
“You believed that?”
Daniel gave a weak, miserable laugh.
“I believed enough of it.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because she told me not to.”
“That should have been the part that made you call.”
“I know.”
“No, Daniel, I don’t think you do.”
He looked at me.
“I thought it was family drama.”
The phrase hurt in a strangely mundane way.
Not conspiracy.
Not murder.
Family drama.
The kind of explanation people used when they wanted permission not to look too closely.
Dominic spoke.
“How did you bring her in?”
“North service gate.”
“You used your badge?”
“Yes.”
“Was she alone?”
Daniel hesitated.
Gabriel noticed.
“Daniel.”
“She was when she came through the gate.”
“When did the man arrive?”
“I don’t know.”
“You recommended the caterer.”
His eyes shifted toward Gabriel.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“You brought me their proposal.”
“Because Rebecca sent it to me.”
Dominic went very still.
“She sent you a catering proposal?”
“She said a friend of hers owned the company and they were trying to get corporate events.”
“You brought an unknown company into my son’s birthday because a woman you had never met asked you to?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“They were legitimate.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“They were legitimate on paper.”
“They had insurance certificates, food service licenses, references.”
“All forged?”
“We’re checking.”
Daniel grimaced and pressed his fingers against the concrete.
“I didn’t know.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“You did not bother to know.”
Dr. Harris looked up.
“That’s enough.”
“No.”
“It is medically enough.”
Dominic’s stare stayed on Daniel for another second.
Then he stepped back.
I crouched near Daniel.
“What happened tonight?”
He breathed through his nose.
“Rebecca came in around three forty.”
“That early?”
“She said she needed to look through your office before the party got busy.”
“My office?”
“She said the box might be there.”
“There was never a box.”
“I know.”
“What did she actually do?”
“She went upstairs.”
“Alone?”
“I had work.”
“You let her wander through the estate?”
“I thought she was going to your office.”
His shame was becoming defensive now.
It was an old, human shift.
Fear looking for somewhere else to stand.
Gabriel saw it too.
“Then?”
“She came back about forty minutes later.”
“With anything?”
“No.”
“Was she upset?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
Daniel frowned, trying to hold the memory.
“She looked scared.”
“Of what?”
“She said her friend had lied to her.”
“What friend?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
Dominic folded his arms.
“What happened next?”
“I told her to leave.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She said she needed to fix something first.”
I thought of Lily’s words.
You promised nobody gets hurt.
“What did she mean?”
“I didn’t ask.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel saw it.
May you like
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
