Chapter 11 - anna was at the wedding)
Dr. Miriam Kessler survived the shooting.
Barely.
Doctors placed her under armed protection.
But the words she gave Nathan before losing consciousness became the center of the investigation.
Anna came back.
The wedding.
Nathan returned to the Grand Aurelia.
Police had secured every second of security footage from the event.
Hundreds of guests.
Dozens of hotel employees.
Photographers.
Musicians.
Florists.
Nathan sat beside Bennett while analysts searched.
"If Anna was there, why wouldn't she come to me?"
Bennett did not answer.
Nathan already knew the possibilities.
She was still hiding.
She did not trust him.
Or she had been prevented.
Footage played from the ballroom entrances.
Guests arrived.
Rachel.
Marcus.
Nathan.
Lily.
Nothing.
Another camera.
Service corridor.
Kitchen.
A woman carrying floral boxes crossed the frame.
Dark hair beneath a catering cap.
Face partly hidden.
Nathan leaned forward.
"Stop."
The analyst paused.
"Go back."
Frame by frame.
The woman turned slightly.
Nathan stood.
"That's her."
Bennett enlarged the image.
Quality deteriorated.
But Nathan knew.
Anna had been twenty yards from him on Rachel's wedding day.
She had watched him.
Maybe watched Lily.
"Follow her."
The analyst changed cameras.
Anna moved through a service corridor.
She entered the cake preparation room at 4:13 p.m.
Caleb Rourke entered at 4:16.
Nathan stared.
"They were together."
Bennett nodded.
At 4:18 another man entered.
Owen Pike.
The fake inspector.
At 4:20 all three left separately.
The cake was served at 4:42.
Nathan turned to Bennett.
"They knew."
"Knew what?"
"About the poison."
"Possibly."
"Anna was trying to stop it."
"Or involved."
Nathan glared.
"Careful."
"I'm investigating."
Nathan looked back at the screen.
"Where did Anna go?"
Another camera captured her entering the bridal preparation floor.
Then nothing.
No footage showed her leaving.
Bennett called hotel security.
"Any blind exits?"
A manager mentioned laundry tunnels connecting to an adjacent parking structure.
Nathan was already standing.
They searched the service level.
Nothing.
Then Lily arrived with Elena.
Nathan had not wanted her at the hotel.
She insisted.
"I can help."
Nathan knelt.
"You've helped enough."
"I saw Mommy."
His entire body froze.
"When?"
"At the wedding."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Lily looked confused.
"I thought it wasn't her."
Nathan's voice softened.
"Where did you see her?"
"Near the bathroom."
"Did she talk to you?"
Lily nodded.
Nathan's knees almost failed.
"What did she say?"
Lily looked toward Elena.
"She told me to stay with Daddy."
Nathan swallowed.
"Anything else?"
"She gave me something."
"What?"
Lily reached under her dress collar.
A thin chain appeared.
Nathan stared.
A silver moon pendant hung from it.
Anna's necklace.
The necklace police claimed had been recovered from the burned car.
Nathan touched it.
His fingers shook.
"Mommy put this on you?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Before the cake."
"What exactly did she say?"
Lily thought carefully.
"She said, 'If the cake comes out, don't let anyone eat it.'"
Nathan closed his eyes.
Anna knew.
"Did she tell you to knock it over?"
"No."
"I did that myself."
Despite everything, Nathan almost smiled.
Of course she had.
Bennett asked, "Did your mother tell you where she was going?"
Lily shook her head.
"She said she had to fix something."
"What?"
"The bad man's mistake."
Nathan looked at Bennett.
Caleb had claimed he was trying to remove something from the cake.
Anna had warned Lily.
Owen had publicly exposed the poison.
Maybe all three were working together.
Then why disappear?
Marcus arrived.
He carried an envelope.
"This was found in Rachel's bridal suite."
Nathan took it.
No name outside.
Inside was a hotel access card and a handwritten message.
Nathan recognized Anna's writing.
Harrison knows I am alive.
Do not let Nathan follow me.
If I fail tonight, Caleb has the second ledger.
Nathan looked up.
"Caleb."
Bennett immediately called the detention facility.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She listened.
Then lowered the phone.
"Caleb Rourke escaped during transport forty minutes ago."
Nathan stared.
"How?"
"The vehicle was struck deliberately."
"Where?"
"Interstate 90."
"Casualties?"
"Two officers injured."
"Caleb?"
"Gone."
Nathan looked at Anna's letter again.
Caleb has the second ledger.
Someone else knew that now.
Probably Harrison.
And if Caleb had escaped rather than been rescued, there was only one place he might go.
May you like
Nathan's house.
Where Lily would normally have been.
