Chapter 14 - The Missing Travel Bag
Garrick remembered Sabrina carrying several old bags downstairs.
She claimed Elena had asked her to select unused items for charity. Garrick had been too distracted by Bluebonnet’s property documents to question her.
“Where did she take them?” Clara asked.
“A consignment store.”
The store’s records showed that Sabrina had delivered six handbags and two suitcases. Seven items were sold.
The old leather travel bag was rejected because of a damaged lining.
A security recording showed Sabrina returning for it two days later. She placed it in the trunk of a rented car and drove away.
The rental company’s location data led Victor to a private members’ club in downtown Austin.
Sabrina remained inside for thirty-seven minutes.
She left without the bag.
The club initially refused to release its security footage. Martin obtained a court order connected to the ongoing property-fraud investigation.
The recording revealed Sabrina sitting across from an elegant woman in a cream suit. The woman examined the travel bag, located the opening in its lining and removed something small.
A brass key.
Garrick did not recognize her.
Victor did.
“Celeste Pierce,” he said.
Nolan’s older sister had avoided every charge connected to Bluebonnet. Publicly, she managed the Pierce Family Trust, donated to hospitals and funded programs protecting older adults.
Privately, Victor suspected she had controlled portions of her father’s property network for years.
“She presented herself as the respectable member of that family,” he said. “Richard never believed her.”
Elena studied the recording.
Celeste did not behave like someone discovering the key for the first time. She knew exactly where to look.
That meant Sabrina had not found the secret accidentally.
Someone had sent her into Elena’s home knowing what the bag contained.
The center’s receptionist entered the room carrying a sealed card.
“A courier delivered this for Mrs. Mercer.”
Inside was an invitation to afternoon tea at the Crescent Hotel.
No signature appeared on the card.
Only a telephone number.
Elena called from Clara’s secure office line.
Celeste answered after the first ring.
“I wondered how long Victor would need to recognize me,” she said.
“You used Sabrina to search my home.”
“Sabrina made her own choices, just as your son did.”
“You have Richard’s key.”
“I had it.”
“What did it open?”
Celeste paused.
“A box your husband was willing to risk his family to protect.”
Elena tightened her grip on the phone.
“Why contact me now?”
“Because Nora Bell was never supposed to reach your center. Someone has restarted my father’s system, and they are using Richard’s work to do it.”
May you like
“You expect me to believe you are not involved?”
“No. I expect you to meet me and decide which liar frightens you more.”
