Chapter 4 - The Man They Called a Thief.
Claire removed a small brass key from a chain around her neck.
Adrian stared at it.
"What's that for?"
"I don't know."
His patience snapped for the first time.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Claire flinched, then immediately looked angry at herself for doing it.
"Daniel gave it to me the night before he disappeared."
She lifted her chin.
"He told me that if anything happened, I should keep it hidden and never trust anyone from Cafalli Holdings."
The accusation landed exactly where she intended.
Adrian's face hardened.
"Yet you came to my apartment."
"Because he also told me one other thing."
"What?"
Claire's eyes searched his.
"If they ever came for Noah, I was supposed to find you personally."
Adrian said nothing.
The contradiction was too precise to dismiss.
Daniel had distrusted his company but trusted him.
That meant Daniel had known the problem was inside Cafalli Holdings.
Possibly near the top.
Adrian called Marcus Vane, his chief operating officer.
Marcus answered sleepily.
"Adrian?"
"Did Daniel Dawson steal from the company?"
There was a pause.
"What kind of question is that at one in the morning?"
"Answer it."
"Internal audit said yes."
"Who led the audit?"
Another pause.
"Gabriel Stone's security division coordinated it with finance."
Gabriel.
Adrian's chief of security.
One of the four people who knew the emergency override for his penthouse.
Adrian's gaze shifted toward the door.
"Send me the original Dawson file. Every version."
Marcus sounded more awake now.
"Why?"
"Because I asked."
He ended the call.
Claire gave him a humorless smile.
"You really do talk to everyone like that."
"It saves time."
"It also makes people afraid of you."
Adrian looked at her.
"Are you afraid of me?"
She looked down at Noah.
"Tonight?"
She thought for a moment.
"Less than I was an hour ago."
The answer bothered him more than a lie would have.
Evelyn checked Noah again.
His fever had begun to fall.
Relief softened Claire's face.
Then Adrian's second phone rang.
Only three people had that number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
He heard breathing.
Then a distorted voice said, "The maid stole something that belongs to us."
Adrian's eyes went to the brass key.
"Who is this?"
"You know who we are."
"I know you're afraid to say your name."
The voice laughed softly.
"Your father said the same thing."
Adrian's grip tightened around the phone.
Claire saw the color leave his face.
"What do you want?"
"The key."
"And if I refuse?"
There was a pause.
"Then history repeats itself."
The call ended.
Adrian stared at the dark screen.
Claire whispered, "What did they say?"
He looked at her, then at Noah.
"They know about the key."
Across the room, Dr. Mercer suddenly pointed toward the ceiling.
"Adrian."
A tiny red light was blinking inside the smoke detector.
May you like
It was not part of the alarm system.
Someone had been listening from inside his home.
