Chapter 10 - The Driver Who Knew Every Route
Samuel had worked for me for nine years.
He knew where I slept.
Where I banked.
Which entrances I used.
Which restaurants I visited when I wanted privacy.
He knew the location of my father’s building, Julian’s home, the Connecticut archive, and every safe place I might choose after leaving Adrian.
I had trusted him more than most relatives.
That was precisely why Adrian bought him.
Mercer contacted Sofia Reyes at the marina.
She found Rachel tied inside an abandoned office.
Rachel was alive but sedated.
There was no sign of the children.
Samuel had left less than ten minutes earlier.
Traffic cameras captured his black sedan heading toward Manhattan.
“He is taking them to Vale Global,” Celeste said.
“How do you know?” Julian demanded.
“Because Adrian uses the executive garage when he wants to move people without lobby records.”
“People?”
“Employees brought to Cross for assessments. Witnesses. Anyone Adrian wanted inside the building quietly.”
We emerged from the tunnel near a maintenance road.
Mercer’s vehicle was gone.
Its tires had been slashed before we entered the courthouse.
Arthur’s car remained nearby.
The keys were inside.
He had known we might need it.
Julian drove toward Manhattan while Mercer coordinated with Reyes.
Rachel was transported to a hospital under police protection.
The children’s phones had been discarded at the marina.
No active signal remained.
I opened my father’s letter during the drive.
Mara,
If you are reading this, I failed to correct the worst mistake of my life.
I believed Adrian’s ambition could be controlled through contracts. I believed intelligence created limits. I was wrong.
Rebecca came to me seventeen years ago. She said Adrian and Malcolm were moving investor funds through entities carrying her name. She feared Adrian would kill her. I advised her to collect evidence before leaving.
She disappeared three days later.
I told myself I needed proof. In truth, I was afraid that exposing Adrian would destroy your happiness and the company you had helped build.
My silence allowed him to become more dangerous.
If Adrian has turned against you, do not negotiate. He views compromise as permission.
The letter continued with instructions for activating my father’s hidden voting interest.
Then came a warning.
There is a second beneficiary to the trust.
Your mother insisted on it before her death.
The name was withheld from all copies except the sealed registry held by Arthur Bell.
I stopped reading.
“Julian.”
He looked through the mirror.
“What?”
“Did you know the trust had another beneficiary?”
“No.”
“It says Mother added one.”
“Then it is probably me.”
“You were already named separately.”
“Who else could it be?”
The next paragraph answered.
The second beneficiary is Rebecca Vale’s daughter.
I reread the sentence.
Rebecca had a child.
Adrian never mentioned one.
The letter explained that Rebecca gave birth before marrying Adrian.
The daughter was raised under another surname for her protection.
My mother had known Rebecca and secretly supported the child after Rebecca’s disappearance.
If I died or became legally incapacitated, Rebecca’s daughter would inherit my father’s Vale Global interest.
Adrian’s plan to declare me incapable would not give him control.
It would transfer the largest voting block to Rebecca’s daughter.
Unless he had already found her.
I turned toward Celeste.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“Who was your biological father?”
She stared at me.
“I never knew.”
“And your mother?”
“Eleanor Hart.”
“Was that her birth name?”
“I think so.”
“Think carefully.”
Celeste’s face changed.
“Her first name was Rebecca.”
The car became silent.
Lillian was not Celeste’s biological sister.
She was likely the woman assigned to protect her.
Celeste was Rebecca Vale’s daughter.
Possibly Adrian’s stepdaughter.
Or his biological child.
My father’s hidden trust named her as beneficiary.
Adrian had not promoted Celeste only because of the affair or Lillian’s investigation.
He needed control over the woman who could inherit Vale Global if his plan against me succeeded.
“Did Adrian know who your mother was?” I asked.
“He said he met her once.”
“He married her.”
Celeste shook her head.
“No.”
“Your mother was Rebecca Vale.”
“No.”
“Lillian knew.”
Celeste looked as though the air had left the car.
“That is why she brought you into the company,” I continued. “Not only to investigate. To place you close to your inheritance.”
“She would have told me.”
“She may have been protecting you.”
“By sending me into Adrian’s bed?”
The horror of it appeared slowly.
If Adrian believed Celeste was Rebecca’s daughter, the affair carried another level of cruelty.
Perhaps he knew she was not biologically his.
Perhaps he did not care.
Celeste covered her mouth.
“I’m going to be sick.”
Julian pulled onto the shoulder.
She opened the door and stumbled outside.
I followed.
For several minutes, she stood beneath the highway lights, breathing unevenly.
“He knew,” she whispered. “There were things he asked about my childhood. My mother’s jewelry. A song she used to sing.”
“Did he ever request a DNA test?”
“No.”
“Did Dr. Cross take blood from you?”
Her eyes widened.
“The executive health screening.”
Adrian had likely confirmed her identity through company medical records.
My phone rang.
Samuel.
I answered.
The children were crying in the background.
“Samuel.”
“I am sorry, Mrs. Vale.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“You have served my family for nine years.”
“I have served Mr. Vale for twelve.”
The betrayal predated his employment with me.
Adrian had placed him in my life from the beginning.
“What does he want now?”
“The leather case.”
“He already knows what is inside.”
“He wants the original.”
“Where do I bring it?”
“Executive garage. Level B4.”
“Let me speak to the children.”
A little girl’s voice came through the phone.
“Aunt Mara?”
It was Julian’s daughter, Sophie.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Uncle Samuel said Daddy is angry with us.”
“He lied. Your father loves you.”
“Where is Mom?”
“She is safe.”
Samuel took the phone back.
“Thirty minutes.”
“If you hurt them, Adrian cannot protect you.”
“He has protected me before.”
The call ended.
Mercer requested tactical support.
The request was denied by his supervisor due to the active investigation involving me.
Adrian had transformed me into a legal obstacle.
Any officer helping us risked being accused of assisting a murder suspect.
Sofia Reyes agreed to come anyway.
Nina called with another discovery.
Malcolm Wren had scheduled an emergency board meeting for 7:00 a.m.
The agenda included three resolutions.
Suspend Adrian pending investigation.
Remove me from all company authority due to medical incapacity and suspected criminal conduct.
Appoint Malcolm interim chief executive.
The email I sent to destroy Adrian had opened the door for Malcolm to take everything.
Arthur’s warning returned.
Do not trust the person who helps you take control.
Malcolm intended to remove both Adrian and me.
Nina continued.
“There is more. Malcolm attached a report from Dr. Cross.”
“What does it say?”
“That you suffer from a progressive delusional disorder and may become violent when confronted.”
“Based on fabricated sessions.”
“He included video.”
A file arrived.
The screen showed me sitting in a medical office.
Dr. Cross asked whether I wanted Adrian dead.
My eyes were unfocused.
My voice answered.
“Yes. Sometimes I imagine burying him inside the walls.”
The statement had been recorded months before Rebecca’s body was found.
It made me sound as if I knew the remains were there.
At the end of the video, Dr. Cross asked another question.
“Would you hurt Lillian Hart to protect your marriage?”
May you like
My recorded voice replied.
“I already did.”
