Chapter 1 - the warning no one believed)
Ninety minutes earlier, the Grand Aurelia Hotel had looked like the safest place in Chicago.
Nathan Cole had believed that completely.
He had spent most of his life distrusting expensive appearances, yet even he had been impressed when he walked through the ballroom doors that afternoon.
The wedding of his younger sister Rachel was supposed to be unforgettable.
Everything had been arranged to perfection.
Hundreds of white roses surrounded the dance floor. Crystal chandeliers scattered warm light across the cream colored ceiling. Champagne waited on every table. A twelve piece orchestra rehearsed behind a curtain while hotel employees moved silently between guests.
Rachel had dreamed of this day since she was a teenager.
After everything their family had endured, Nathan wanted one perfect day for her.
Especially after Anna.
His wife had been dead for eighteen months.
Even thinking her name still created an ache beneath his ribs.
Lily remembered more than Nathan wished she did.
She remembered Anna singing while making pancakes.
She remembered the red scarf Anna wore during winter.
She remembered the little silver moon necklace that never left her mother's neck.
And sometimes, usually late at night, Lily still asked Nathan why Mommy had driven away in the rain on the night she died.
Nathan never had a good answer.
The police had called Anna's death an accident.
Her car had gone through a barrier on an isolated road.
There had been a fire.
Nathan had identified her belongings afterward.
He had buried an empty casket because there had been almost nothing left to bury.
For Lily's sake, he had forced himself to accept it.
Today was supposed to be another step forward.
Rachel was marrying Marcus Vale, the son of one of the wealthiest hotel families in the country.
Marcus had always treated Lily kindly.
That mattered to Nathan more than money ever could.
"Uncle Marcus said I can have two pieces of cake."
Nathan looked down.
Lily was walking beside him in her blue dress, yellow ribbons bouncing behind her.
"He absolutely did not."
"He did."
"One piece."
"One big piece?"
Nathan smiled despite himself.
"We'll negotiate."
Lily grinned.
Then the smile vanished.
She stopped walking.
Nathan almost continued before realizing she was no longer beside him.
"Lily?"
She was staring through an open service doorway.
A man in a black banquet jacket stood beyond it.
Nathan could see only his back.
The employee appeared to be talking to someone.
Lily's fingers tightened around Nathan's hand.
"Daddy."
"Yes?"
"I saw that man before."
Nathan barely paid attention.
There were dozens of hotel employees working the wedding.
"Probably. Everyone has been running around all afternoon."
"No."
Her voice changed.
Nathan looked down.
"Where?"
Lily hesitated.
"At our house."
Nathan's smile disappeared.
"When?"
"The day you were sleeping on the couch."
Nathan crouched.
"What are you talking about?"
Lily pointed toward the service hallway.
But the employee had disappeared.
Nathan looked again.
Nobody.
"When was he at our house?"
Lily frowned, trying to remember.
"I don't know."
"Did he come inside?"
"I saw him through the window."
Nathan felt the first flicker of unease.
"What was he doing?"
"Talking to Mommy."
The ballroom sounds seemed to fade.
Nathan stared at his daughter.
"Lily."
She looked confused by his reaction.
"Mommy died before we moved into our new house."
Lily shook her head.
"No. Not Mommy Anna."
Nathan's chest loosened slightly.
"What mommy?"
Lily pointed toward the bridal suite.
"Aunt Rachel."
Nathan exhaled.
Rachel had occasionally joked that she was Lily's second mother.
"You mean Aunt Rachel."
"Yes."
Nathan kissed Lily's forehead.
"You scared me."
Lily did not laugh.
Nathan stood.
Across the room Marcus Vale was approaching.
Tall, dark haired and wearing a black tuxedo, Marcus looked every inch the polished hotel heir featured in business magazines.
"Everything okay?"
Nathan glanced toward the service door.
"Probably."
Marcus followed his gaze.
"That sounded convincing."
"Lily thinks she recognized one of the employees from Rachel's house."
Marcus's expression sharpened.
"Which employee?"
Nathan pointed.
"Black service jacket. Dark hair. Around thirty five."
"That describes half the banquet staff."
"I know."
Marcus looked down at Lily.
"Would you recognize him again?"
Lily nodded.
Marcus did not dismiss her.
That impressed Nathan.
"I'll have security quietly check the staff list."
Nathan lowered his voice.
"Don't tell Rachel. She has enough happening."
Marcus smiled.
"Agreed."
The ceremony began twenty minutes later.
For a while, Nathan forgot about the stranger.
Rachel walked beneath an arch of white flowers.
Marcus cried before she reached him.
Lily scattered petals down the aisle.
Guests laughed when she accidentally dropped half the basket at once.
For the first time in months Nathan felt something close to peace.
Then, during the reception, Lily disappeared from his side.
Nathan found her near the kitchen corridor.
She was staring through a partially open door.
Inside, several employees surrounded the wedding cake.
One of them was the dark haired man.
Nathan started toward Lily.
Before he reached her, the man turned.
For a fraction of a second their eyes met.
The employee smiled.
Not warmly.
Not nervously.
It was the smile of someone who knew Nathan.
Nathan stopped.
The man lifted one hand and adjusted his cuff.
On his wrist was a silver cuff link shaped like a black stag.
Nathan had seen that symbol before.
He simply could not remember where.
Then Rachel called his name from the dance floor.
Nathan turned for three seconds.
When he looked back, the employee was gone.
Lily remained at the doorway.
Her face had gone pale.
"What happened?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
Nathan touched her shoulder.
"Lily."
She looked up.
"He put something in the cake."
Nathan looked toward the kitchen.
Employees were already rolling the cake toward the ballroom.
"What did he put in it?"
"I don't know."
Nathan should have stopped everything then.
For the rest of his life, he would remember that.
But before he could decide what to do, music started, guests applauded and the cake appeared beneath the chandeliers.
A young waiter carried it on a silver tray.
Everyone turned to watch.
May you like
Lily did not wait for her father.
She ran.
