Chapter 5 - ISABEL’S LAST WARNING
They listened to the recording in Adrian’s car inside a private underground garage.
Julian locked the doors.
Adrian inserted the recorder’s memory card into the vehicle’s system.
Static filled the speakers.
Then Isabel’s voice emerged.
“If you are hearing this, I was right to be afraid.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
Sophie reached for his hand.
The recording continued.
“My name is Isabel Vale. For six months, I have been documenting unauthorized transfers from the Vale Family Trust. The amounts are small enough to avoid automatic review, but together they exceed thirty-eight million dollars.”
Adrian looked at Julian.
“I never saw those transfers.”
“Neither did I,” Julian said.
Isabel’s voice shook slightly.
“The signatures appear to be Adrian’s. They are not.”
A series of account numbers followed.
Elena watched Adrian’s face harden.
Then Isabel said the name that changed everything.
“Owen Mercer helped hide the transfers.”
Sophie tightened her grip on Adrian’s hand.
“The money passes through charities connected to Dr. Stephen Carrow. I believe they are creating medical records to establish that Sophie is psychologically unstable. If anything happens to me, they may use those records to challenge her future control of the trust.”
Adrian paused the recording.
“Control of the trust?”
Julian rubbed his bruised jaw.
“Under Father’s will, Sophie receives voting control of Vale Holdings at eighteen.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Celeste knows that?”
“Everyone close to the family knows it.”
Elena looked toward Sophie.
“She is seven.”
“That means they have eleven years to shape the evidence,” Julian said.
Adrian resumed the recording.
“I do not know how many people are involved. I no longer know whom to trust. Adrian believes Owen is loyal. He believes Stephen is helping our daughter. He believes I am overwhelmed.”
Her voice broke.
“Maybe I am. But I am not wrong.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I have hidden copies of the financial records at Blackwood House. The key is with Sophie. She remembers more than people realize. If I die, do not let them convince her that her memories are illness.”
The recording ended with a sound in the background.
A door opening.
Isabel whispered, “Someone is here.”
Then silence.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Adrian turned toward Sophie.
“I’m sorry.”
She stared at the floor.
“You never believed her.”
The words struck harder than anger.
Adrian reached toward her.
Sophie moved closer to Elena.
Julian looked through the garage windshield.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?” Elena asked.
“That car has passed us three times.”
A black sedan moved slowly through the garage.
Its windows were tinted.
Julian started the engine.
The sedan accelerated.
Adrian pulled Sophie down.
The first impact struck the rear of their vehicle.
Metal screamed.
Julian drove between concrete pillars as the sedan followed.
“Call security,” Adrian ordered.
Elena took out her phone.
“No signal.”
“They’re jamming it,” Julian said.
The sedan hit them again.
Julian turned sharply toward the exit ramp.
A maintenance truck blocked the way.
He swore and reversed.
Two men stepped from the black car.
One carried a metal bar.
The other reached inside his jacket.
Adrian opened the center console and removed a pistol.
Elena stared at him.
“You keep a gun in your car?”
“I keep many things in my car.”
He handed it to Julian.
“You remember how to use this?”
“Better than you.”
Adrian turned to Elena.
“When I open the door, take Sophie through the service stairwell.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll follow.”
One of the men struck the driver’s window.
Glass cracked.
Sophie screamed.
Adrian opened his door and charged.
Elena pulled Sophie across the back seat.
Julian kicked open the driver’s door, knocking one attacker backward.
The second man raised his arm.
A gunshot exploded.
The garage lights shattered.
Darkness swallowed the vehicles.
Elena ran with Sophie toward a red exit sign.
Behind them came shouting, another shot, and the sound of someone falling.
They reached the stairwell.
Sophie stumbled.
Elena caught her.
“Keep moving.”
At the top of the stairs, Elena pushed open the door.
Celeste stood on the other side.
She was holding Sophie’s coat.
Her face showed perfect concern.
“What happened?” she asked.
Elena pulled Sophie behind her.
“How did you know we were here?”
Celeste’s expression remained calm.
“Adrian shared his location.”
“No, he didn’t.”
The stairwell door opened behind them.
Julian appeared, breathing hard.
There was blood on his shirt.
Celeste looked at it.
Then she smiled.
Not with relief.
With recognition.
Julian raised the pistol.
“Step away from them.”
Celeste’s eyes moved to the weapon.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I’m beginning to.”
Adrian emerged behind Julian, supporting himself against the wall.
Blood ran from a cut above his eye.
He looked at Celeste.
“How did you know where we were?”
Her smile disappeared.
May you like
For the first time, Adrian asked the right question.
And Celeste had no answer prepared.
