Chapter 9 - The Hidden Camera.
The guard’s name was Daniel Cross.
He had joined the estate security team fourteen months earlier after passing every background check Marcus required.
Marcus immediately ordered the gates sealed and every guard accounted for.
Daniel did not answer his radio.
His bedroom in the staff wing was empty.
His vehicle remained in the employee garage.
That meant he was still somewhere on the property or had escaped through the greenhouse route on foot.
Lorenzo watched the hidden-camera video again.
Daniel entered the cellar at 8:39 p.m.
He removed his jacket and reached behind a wine rack.
When he turned, the DeLuca signet ring was visible on his finger.
Mia had been telling the truth from the beginning.
She had not seen Adrian.
She had seen a man wearing the same family crest.
Adrian looked almost relieved.
“There.”
“You have your man.”
Lorenzo did not look at him.
“A hired guard wearing our dead father’s ring does not clear you.”
Adrian’s relief vanished.
Marcus zoomed in on Daniel’s hands.
A small burn scar crossed his left wrist.
Celeste suddenly gasped.
“That’s him.”
“You saw his wrist?” Lorenzo asked.
“When he grabbed me.”
“Then Daniel gave you the pill.”
“Yes.”
“Who told him to do it?”
Celeste shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Lorenzo studied her for several seconds.
He believed she was finally telling the truth about that part.
It did not excuse what she had done.
But it changed the shape of the threat.
Marcus continued through the footage.
At 10:52 p.m., Daniel returned carrying a leather document case.
He opened it on a barrel.
Inside were corporate papers bearing Lorenzo’s name.
The camera angle was too low to read the full text.
But one page had a clear heading.
EMERGENCY TRANSFER OF VOTING AUTHORITY.
Adrian looked away.
Lorenzo saw him do it.
“Interesting,” Lorenzo said.
Adrian folded his arms.
“Anyone can print a document.”
“Only the family attorney can file that one before the board meeting tomorrow.”
Adrian’s gaze snapped back.
The annual board meeting was scheduled for nine in the morning.
Lorenzo had planned to remove Adrian from operational control after discovering unexplained losses in the European division.
Only Lorenzo, Adrian, and family attorney Victor Shaw knew that decision was coming.
Celeste stared at Lorenzo.
“You were going to remove him?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“For temporary accounting differences.”
“For forty-two million dollars that disappeared under your authority.”
Evelyn, who had followed them into the cellar, stared at Adrian.
Marcus looked stunned.
Celeste whispered, “Forty-two million?”
Adrian’s face reddened.
“That money is invested.”
“Then show me where.”
“I don’t have to justify every move to you in front of staff.”
“You do when staff are kidnapping my daughter.”
Before Adrian could answer, Marcus’s tablet chimed.
A new video file had appeared on the hidden camera’s memory card.
It was timestamped ten minutes in the future.
Marcus frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
He opened it.
The footage showed the dining room.
Lorenzo was sitting at the marble table.
Mia was beside him.
A gunshot sounded.
Lorenzo collapsed forward.
The video ended.
At the bottom of the screen, a message appeared.
May you like
ONE O’CLOCK.
COME TO DINNER.
