Chapter 7 - The Wedding Had to Continue)
Marcus hated Daniel's plan.
"You're using your own wedding as an undercover operation."
"I'm not asking permission."
"And Sophie?"
"She won't be in danger."
"You don't know that."
"She'll carry artificial flowers. Rachel will stay beside her. You will have people everywhere."
Marcus leaned back.
"Then why bring her at all?"
Daniel looked away.
"Because if Sophie doesn't appear, Claire knows something is wrong."
"Let her know."
"And Victor disappears."
"Better than risking your daughter."
Daniel knew Marcus was right.
He also knew Claire's recorded words.
I'll handle the girl.
They needed to understand why Sophie mattered.
Marcus had already sent Emily's recovered files to federal investigators through a trusted contact. But the documents were old, incomplete, and carefully insulated from Victor.
To prosecute him, they needed current evidence.
Claire and Victor might provide it.
If the wedding proceeded.
Daniel hated himself for considering it.
Then Marcus offered a compromise.
"Sophie comes for the ceremony. She stays beside Rachel at all times. No food or flowers unless we inspect them. I put two agents disguised as guests near the aisle. If anything feels wrong, we pull her immediately."
Daniel agreed.
But he did not tell Sophie about the danger.
He told her the wedding was a big party.
She was delighted.
Meanwhile, Claire transformed.
Whatever suspicion she had felt vanished beneath excitement.
Dress fittings.
Cake tastings.
Rehearsals.
Photographs.
To anyone watching, she was a bride deeply in love.
Victor returned to the house four days before the ceremony.
This time, openly.
Daniel welcomed him.
Victor was sixty eight, silver haired, polished, and famous for making powerful people feel as though they had always been close friends.
He poured Daniel whiskey.
"Claire says things have been stressful."
"Wedding nerves."
Victor smiled.
"Marriage changes everything."
Daniel remembered the forged authorization.
"So I've heard."
Victor leaned back.
"Emily and I had disagreements."
Daniel's expression remained neutral.
"Claire told me."
"She was brilliant."
"Emily?"
"Very."
Victor took a slow drink.
"Brilliant people sometimes become convinced they're the only ones in the room who understand the truth."
Daniel forced himself not to react.
"What truth did Emily think she understood?"
Victor smiled.
"Ancient history."
"She wrote that she didn't trust you."
The smile disappeared.
For one second.
Then returned.
"Grief makes people search for villains."
"She wrote it before she died."
Victor studied Daniel.
"You've been digging."
Daniel shrugged.
"Not anymore."
"Good."
Victor set down his glass.
"You have Sophie to think about."
There it was.
The threat disguised as concern.
Daniel smiled.
"Always."
Victor stood.
At the door, he turned.
"Claire loves that child."
Daniel almost laughed.
Instead he said, "I know."
The night before the wedding, Sophie stayed at Rachel's hotel.
Daniel visited.
His daughter tried on her fairy wings.
She spun in circles.
"Daddy, I fly."
Daniel laughed despite everything.
"You certainly do."
Rachel waited until Sophie ran into the bathroom.
"Cancel it."
Daniel looked at his sister.
"Not now."
"Yes, now."
"We're close."
"To what?"
"The truth."
Rachel shook her head.
"Emily is dead, Daniel."
He flinched.
Rachel softened.
"And Sophie is alive."
"I know."
"Then act like it."
Daniel looked toward the bathroom door.
Rachel touched his arm.
"If Claire wants something from Sophie, don't give her the opportunity."
Daniel thought about cancelling.
He truly did.
Then Sophie returned carrying something.
A small silver bracelet.
Daniel froze.
It had belonged to Emily.
"Where did you get that?"
Sophie smiled.
"Mommy Claire gave me."
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Daniel crouched.
"Why did she give it to you?"
Sophie touched the bracelet.
"Mommy said pretty."
Daniel examined it.
The clasp looked newer than the bracelet.
Inside the clasp was a tiny black dot.
A camera.
Or a microphone.
Marcus confirmed it twenty minutes later.
"Audio transmitter."
Daniel stared at it.
"Claire bugged my daughter."
"Or Victor did."
"Why?"
Marcus connected the device to a receiver.
They listened.
Static.
Then a faint stored transmission.
Claire's voice.
"Sophie, tell me where Daddy keeps Mommy Emily's phone."
Sophie giggled.
"I don't know."
Claire again.
"You showed Daddy where it was."
"No."
"Did Daddy find it?"
Silence.
Then Sophie's voice.
"Secret."
Claire's tone changed.
"Sophie, secrets are bad."
Another pause.
"Grandpa says Daddy can go away."
Daniel stopped the recording.
Marcus looked at him.
"They were using her to find the evidence."
Daniel's face hardened.
"And now they think she knows where the phone is."
The wedding was tomorrow.
Daniel finally understood.
Claire did not need Sophie dead.
She needed Sophie frightened enough to reveal what she had seen.
And if fear did not work, something else might.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
"No real flowers enter that ballroom."
May you like
Marcus nodded.
But neither man knew Claire had already arranged for one bouquet to bypass the florist completely.
