Chapter 5 - Twenty-Three Missing Minutes
Adrian stared at the photograph until the numbers blurred.
Claire’s Mercedes lay upside down in the ravine.
Rain streaked across the lens.
Caleb stood near the guardrail.
Madison was beside him.
Neither appeared shocked.
Neither appeared to be calling for help.
Adrian turned the photograph over.
A name had been written on the back.
OFFICER HENRY VALE.
Natalie recognized it.
“Vale was the first officer listed in the accident report.”
Daniel searched the estate records.
Henry Vale had retired eighteen months after Claire’s death.
Three weeks later, he purchased a lake house in Wisconsin for cash.
Adrian looked at Caleb.
“What happened during those twenty-three minutes?”
Caleb’s face had become gray.
“I arrived after the crash.”
“With Madison?”
“She called me.”
“Why did she call you before emergency services?”
“She was panicking.”
“Why was she there?”
Caleb looked toward his mother.
Margaret stared at the floor.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Answer me.”
Caleb lowered his voice.
“Claire asked Madison to meet her.”
“That is not what Claire said in the video.”
“I do not care what she recorded.”
“She was unstable.”
Adrian struck him.
Caleb fell against the cabinet.
Margaret screamed.
Daniel moved between them.
Adrian’s fist ached.
He had imagined hitting his brother many times over the years.
The reality brought no relief.
Caleb wiped blood from his mouth.
“There he is.”
“The perfect Adrian Westwood finally becomes human.”
“You watched my wife die.”
“No.”
“I watched a car in a ravine.”
“She was already dead.”
“You did not know that until you checked.”
Caleb said nothing.
That silence answered enough.
Rachel pulled Emma farther away.
Adrian noticed and forced himself to lower his voice.
“Where is Officer Vale?”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“You think I keep a list?”
Daniel interrupted.
“Madison’s phone received a message three minutes ago.”
The message appeared on the security tablet.
LEAVE NOW.
THE EAST GATE IS OPEN.
It came from an unsaved number.
Adrian looked at Daniel.
“Trace it.”
Daniel’s team began working.
Another message arrived.
BURN THE NOTEBOOK.
THEN COME TO THE LAKE HOUSE.
Caleb closed his eyes.
Adrian understood.
“Vale is at the lake house.”
Caleb denied it.
Daniel searched Caleb’s phone.
A hidden messaging application contained months of communication with someone identified as H.V.
The latest exchange had begun during the engagement party.
Madison had written:
THE CHILD SAW THE CLOSET.
H.V. responded:
GET THE BOOK.
CALEB WILL HANDLE ADRIAN.
Adrian looked at his brother.
“How were you planning to handle me?”
Caleb swallowed.
“You were supposed to drink the whiskey Madison brought upstairs.”
Adrian remembered the glass waiting in his study before the announcement.
He had not touched it because Emma screamed.
“What was in it?”
Caleb looked toward Margaret.
She whispered the answer.
“The same medication the doctor prescribed after Claire died.”
“A larger dose.”
Rachel hugged Emma tightly.
Adrian looked at the child who had entered the ballroom barefoot.
She had not only stopped an engagement.
She had likely saved his life.
Sirens sounded outside the estate.
Daniel frowned.
“We did not call the police.”
Through the garage windows, red and blue lights flashed across the driveway.
A voice boomed through the mansion.
May you like
“Chicago Police.”
“We have a warrant for Adrian Westwood’s arrest.”
