Chapter 1 - The Man Beneath the Staircase)
"Hands where I can see them."
Nathan's bodyguard, Michael Reeves, moved immediately.
The man beneath the staircase stopped.
His hand remained halfway inside his jacket.
Leonard Vale had served as the Whitmore family's attorney for eleven years.
He had handled Nathan's marriage settlement.
He had created Olivia's trust after her mother died.
He knew the passwords to corporate accounts, the structure of the Whitmore estate, the identities of Nathan's private physicians, and almost every legal weakness in the family empire.
More importantly, Nathan considered him a friend.
Leonard slowly removed his hand.
A phone was in it.
Nothing more.
Michael took it from him anyway.
Nathan stared at Leonard.
"Why is my daughter pointing at you?"
Leonard's expression remained calm.
"I have no idea."
Olivia pressed closer against Nathan's leg.
"That's him."
Nathan looked down.
"You're sure?"
Olivia nodded.
"He said the car would come after the wedding."
Leonard's composure changed for less than a second.
Nathan saw it.
So did Michael.
Vanessa pushed herself upright from the broken bookcase.
"This is ridiculous. She's four years old."
Nathan turned toward her.
"She is also my daughter."
"And she's confused."
Olivia shook her head violently.
"No."
Vanessa stepped forward.
Nathan raised one hand.
"Don't come near her."
"Nathan, please. There has obviously been some misunderstanding."
Adrian spoke from the doorway.
"Exactly. Children hear pieces of conversations. They mix things up."
Olivia stared at him.
"You said the place had fences."
Silence.
Adrian looked at Vanessa.
It was automatic.
Small.
But Nathan caught it.
"What place?" Nathan asked.
Nobody answered.
The string quartet in the ballroom continued playing.
Guests had begun gathering beyond the open doors. Some were whispering.
The ceremony was supposed to begin in twelve minutes.
Nathan no longer cared.
"Michael."
"Yes, sir."
"Close the ballroom doors. Nobody leaves."
Vanessa stared at him.
"You can't imprison wedding guests."
"I'm not imprisoning anyone. I'm preventing the people in this foyer from disappearing before I understand why my daughter thinks someone is taking her away."
Leonard adjusted his cuffs.
"Nathan, as your attorney, I strongly recommend that you calm down."
Nathan almost laughed.
"As my attorney?"
"Yes."
"My daughter just identified you."
"A frightened child pointed at me."
"After identifying details she should know nothing about."
Leonard's jaw tightened.
Nathan noticed something else.
Leonard was carrying a leather document case.
He carried one almost everywhere.
But this one looked unusually full.
Nathan pointed at it.
"Open the case."
Leonard did not move.
"Those are confidential documents."
"Mine?"
"Some of them."
"Then open it."
"I cannot allow an emotional misunderstanding to become a violation of privileged material."
Nathan stood.
He handed Olivia to Michael's wife, Grace, who had been helping coordinate the wedding.
"Take her into the library."
Olivia grabbed Nathan's sleeve.
"Don't leave me."
He bent down.
"I won't."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
He walked with her to the library himself.
Before the door closed, Olivia whispered something.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"The lady in the blue room cried when Mr. Vale talked to her."
Nathan frowned.
"What lady?"
Olivia looked toward Leonard.
"The lady who said Mommy's name."
Nathan's breathing stopped.
His first wife, Emily, had been dead for three years.
Nobody at the mansion spoke her name casually around Olivia anymore.
"Where was the blue room?"
Olivia pointed toward the east hallway.
Nathan turned.
There were three guest rooms down that corridor.
One of them had blue wallpaper.
It had been locked for weeks because Vanessa claimed wedding decorations were stored inside.
Nathan looked at Michael.
"Get the key."
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
"There's nothing in that room."
Nathan turned toward her slowly.
"I didn't ask you."
That was when Adrian ran.
He shoved one of the bodyguards aside and sprinted toward a service passage.
Michael went after him.
Nathan heard shouting.
A door slammed.
Vanessa screamed Adrian's name.
And Leonard Vale did something Nathan would remember for the rest of his life.
He dropped the document case.
Papers spilled across the marble.
One page slid directly to Nathan's shoes.
At the top was Olivia's full legal name.
Beneath it were four words.
Residential Transfer Authorization Form.
May you like
Nathan picked it up.
The wedding ended at that exact moment.
