Chapter 6 - The Groom’s First Lie
Elise opened the door while Daniel remained out of sight.
Noah Vale stood in the hallway wearing a navy suit without a tie. Rain darkened his shoulders. His expression moved from relief to anger when he saw Olivia.
“You turned off your phone,” he said.
“I needed time.”
“With her?”
Olivia stepped between them.
“Do not start.”
Noah looked past Elise into the apartment.
The isolated computer was still open.
The ledger filled the screen.
His face changed.
“What is that?”
Elise watched him carefully.
“You came here without being told the address. Before anyone explains anything, you will tell us how you found it.”
Noah hesitated.
That was enough.
Olivia stared at him.
“You knew about this apartment.”
“My father told me.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“And you did not tell me?”
“He said it belonged to Thomas and that classified property might still be inside.”
Olivia’s voice hardened.
“You believed him?”
“No. I came because I thought you might be in danger.”
Daniel stepped from the kitchen.
Noah’s eyes widened.
“You brought military security into this?”
“I am not security,” Daniel said. “And you have not answered the question.”
Noah looked toward the street.
“My father’s investigator tracked Olivia’s car.”
“Then Conrad knows she is here,” Elise said.
“He knows someone entered the building. He does not know which apartment.”
Daniel checked the window again.
“The sedan is gone.”
Noah moved toward Olivia.
“We need to leave.”
She stepped away.
“We need the truth.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“By hiding what your father told you?”
Noah looked toward the ledger.
“My father said Elise manipulated Thomas into stealing confidential records. He said she used your family’s tragedy to build her career.”
Elise felt no anger.
Conrad’s accusation was too carefully designed. It mixed enough personal pain with enough secrecy to sound believable.
“What else?” she asked.
Noah did not answer.
Olivia folded her arms.
“What else did he say?”
“He said Elise would use our wedding to publicly accuse him.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“Conrad planned a defense before anyone announced an attack.”
Noah faced Elise.
“Were you planning to confront him at the wedding?”
“No.”
“Then why are you coming?”
“Because Olivia invited me.”
“She said she did not write the message.”
Elise’s attention sharpened.
Noah should not have known about the handwritten message.
Olivia stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
Noah looked trapped.
A long silence filled the apartment.
Finally, he reached inside his jacket and removed a second invitation.
The same sentence had been written inside.
Please come. I cannot do this without you.
“I received this yesterday,” he said.
The handwriting looked like Olivia’s.
The coordinates were different.
Elise entered them into the secure device.
The location appeared.
Vale Maritime Museum.
Conrad’s private museum contained restored naval aircraft, weapons displays, and thousands of documents his company had collected through defense contracts.
Thomas Mercer’s damaged emergency transmitter had been placed on display there twelve years earlier.
Elise looked at Noah.
“Did your father know you received this?”
“No.”
“Who else has seen it?”
“No one.”
Daniel took the invitation.
“The person who sent these is directing all of us toward pieces of the ledger.”
“Or into traps,” Olivia said.
Noah studied Thomas’s letter.
“What exactly did your father find?”
Olivia did not answer.
Instead, she turned the computer toward him.
Noah read the first page of the ledger.
Then the second.
His face lost all color.
One payment carried his mother’s name.
Eleanor Vale Foundation, nine million dollars.
Noah stepped back.
“My mother runs a charity.”
“Your mother’s charity received money from a supplier connected to the altered components,” Daniel said.
“That does not mean she knew.”
“No,” Elise replied. “But it means Conrad made sure she could not leave him without becoming part of the investigation.”
Noah closed his eyes.
For years, his mother had spoken about escaping Conrad’s control. Each time, she had stayed.
Perhaps she had not stayed because she was weak.
Perhaps she had stayed because Conrad had built a prison around her name.
Noah looked at Olivia.
“I will take you away from this.”
“There is no away,” she said. “Not anymore.”
Elise removed the drive from the computer.
“We go to the museum tonight.”
Daniel nodded.
Noah shook his head.
“My father has armed security there.”
“He also has something that belongs to Thomas.”
Noah stared at Elise.
“If I help you, and you are wrong, I destroy my family.”
Elise met his gaze.
“If you do nothing, and we are right, you marry Olivia beneath a roof paid for by the man who killed her father.”
Noah looked at Olivia.
She said nothing.
At last, he reached into his pocket and placed a black access card on the desk.
“The museum security system resets at midnight.”
Daniel checked the time.
They had forty-seven minutes.
Then Noah added, “There is something else.”
He placed his phone beside the card.
May you like
On the screen was a message from Conrad.
BRING OLIVIA TO THE MUSEUM. COME ALONE, AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY HER FATHER HAD TO DIE.
