Chương 9
“You people really should stop trusting uniforms.”
The call ended.
Dominic stared at the dark phone screen for half a second and then looked at Gabriel.
“Lock the cottage perimeter.”
Gabriel was already moving.
“I’m on it.”
“No radios.”
“Understood.”
“Use runners.”
Gabriel nodded once and disappeared through the basement door.
I looked at Dominic.
“Martin has worked for you for years.”
“Three.”
“You trusted him.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now I trust behavior.”
His voice was calm, but his right hand had curled into a fist.
Daniel shifted on the floor.
Dr. Harris pressed two fingers to his wrist.
“You are going to the hospital.”
Daniel muttered something that sounded like a refusal.
“That was not an invitation to negotiate.”
Dr. Harris glanced at Dominic.
“I need an ambulance brought to the service entrance.”
Dominic pulled out his phone, then stopped.
The message still sat in my hand.
Bring Dominic’s phone to your cottage.
Come alone.
I looked at his device.
“They want that.”
“They aren’t getting it.”
“Why your phone?”
“Could be access.”
“To what?”
“Contacts, accounts, security, communications.”
“Could they unlock it?”
“Not easily.”
“That isn’t the same as no.”
“No.”
I stared at the photograph of Rebecca again.
Her wrists were tied.
The image cropped out everything below her shoulders.
There was no visible background except black upholstery and a strip of gray fabric.
“Could this have been taken earlier?”
Dominic looked at the screen.
“Yes.”
“Before they left the estate?”
“Yes.”
“Then she may not be at the cottage.”
“Correct.”
“Or she may not even be alive.”
He did not answer.
I looked away.
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Don’t protect me with silence.”
His face tightened.
“I don’t know if she is alive.”
“Thank you.”
“That didn’t help.”
“No.”
“But I asked for the truth.”
“You did.”
Daniel opened his eyes again.
“Claire.”
I crouched beside him.
“What?”
He swallowed.
“The man said something.”
Dr. Harris frowned.
“You need to stop talking.”
Daniel ignored him.
“When he hit me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Rebecca had made this harder than it needed to be.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“How?”
Daniel blinked slowly.
“She moved the plate.”
I stared at him.
“What plate?”
“The kitchen prep plate.”
“What does that mean?”
Daniel’s eyes shifted toward Dominic.
“She switched something.”
My pulse quickened.
“Before the cake was served?”
“I think.”
“You think?”
“I heard them arguing.”
“About what?”
“She said, ‘You said the boy wouldn’t touch it until after the speech.’”
Dominic went very still.
I felt the meaning arrive piece by piece.
“They expected Ethan to eat after a specific moment.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Daniel kept talking.
“Rebecca said the timing was wrong.”
Dr. Harris put a hand against his shoulder.
“That’s enough.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“I heard her say Claire was still downstairs.”
My mouth went dry.
Dominic’s gaze sharpened.
“They needed you upstairs before Ethan took the first bite.”
I looked at the message that had lured me away.
“So when Lily ruined the cake, whoever planned this lost control of the timing.”
“And Rebecca may have tried to delay it before that.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Which means she wasn’t simply helping them.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“She was scared of him.”
“Who?”
“I never heard a name.”
Dominic turned toward the door.
I followed him.
“Where are you going?”
“Upstairs.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
He stopped.
“I am not staying in a basement while my sister is being held somewhere.”
“And I am not taking you into an active security breach.”
“You need me.”
His eyes met mine.
“For what?”
“For Rebecca.”
He said nothing.
“She will respond differently to me than to you.”
“If she is able to respond at all.”
“That is exactly why I need to be there.”
He studied my face.
Then he exhaled through his nose.
“Stay behind me.”
“That is becoming repetitive.”
“Good.”
We climbed the basement stairs.
At the first floor, the house felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Most of the guests were still confined to the east salon, but the usual movement of servers and staff had disappeared.
Two security men stood at opposite ends of the corridor.
Both watched us approach.
I found myself checking their faces, wondering whether either uniform meant anything anymore.
Dominic noticed.
“That is the problem.”
“What?”
“You’re looking at everyone like they might be involved.”
“Shouldn’t I?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because fear makes patterns where there aren’t any.”
“That sounds philosophical for a man whose guard just laughed at us from my kitchen.”
“Then consider it practical.”
We reached the security room.
Gabriel was inside with three monitors lit across the wall.
One showed the east salon.
Another showed the front gates.
A third displayed the road near my cottage.
“Martin’s vehicle is still parked on the south lot.”
Gabriel pointed at the screen.
“So he reached the cottage on foot?”
“Or someone drove him.”
“Perez?”
“Still missing.”
My stomach tightened.
“Missing as in not answering?”
“Phone dead.”
“Could he be with Rebecca?”
“Could be injured.”
“Or involved.”
Gabriel gave me a tired look.
“Everything is possible until it isn’t.”
Dominic leaned over the console.
“What about my phone?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“What about it?”
“They specifically requested it.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Gabriel rubbed one hand across his jaw.
“Could be authentication.”
“To what?”
“Your security app, internal contacts, encrypted messaging, property systems.”
Dominic frowned.
“Property systems require separate credentials.”
“Which is why I said could.”
I looked at the screens.
“What if the phone is not the real objective?”
Both men turned toward me.
“What if they only want Dominic out of the house?”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
I continued.
“They tell me to bring his phone.”
“I can’t get it without involving him.”
“He goes to the cottage or sends security with me.”
“Either way, attention moves away from the estate.”
Dominic looked toward the monitor showing the salon.
Gabriel swore quietly.
“Diversion.”
“From what?”
May you like
I asked.
Neither answered immediately.
