Chapter 10 - THE DAY NORA DISAPPEARED

Nora left the board meeting at 6:42 p.m.

A security driver took her toward Eli’s apartment.

The vehicle never arrived.

It was found inside an underground garage.

The driver lay unconscious beside the car.

Nora’s broken phone was beneath the rear tire.

Detective Ward called Damien immediately.

He wanted to join the search.

She ordered him to remain at the command center.

“You are emotionally involved.”

“She worked in my house.”

“Victor wants you moving without thinking.”

She was right.

A private jet owned by Arden Cultural Development filed a flight plan to Canada.

The passenger list included Nora Hale.

Federal agents stopped the aircraft.

Nora was not aboard.

Her passport and clothing were inside.

The plane was a distraction.

Silverline vans had entered three abandoned Crosshaven properties.

Police searched all three.

The first was empty.

The second contained burned accounting files.

The third was an unfinished coastal resort built above old maintenance tunnels.

Nora was found in a locked laundry room beneath the ballroom.

Her wrists were bound.

A camera faced a chair.

Victor planned to record a confession.

The script said Nora invented the pension theft after stealing Celeste’s jewelry.

It said Alice died because she was drunk.

It said Damien paid Nora to destroy his wife during divorce negotiations.

Nora refused to read it.

Victor’s son, Aaron Arden, struck her twice.

Then he called Celeste from a secure phone.

Celeste said:

“Do not damage her face again.”

“She has to look believable.”

That conversation was recorded by the device they intended to use against Nora.

Police entered before Aaron could move her.

He ran into the service tunnel.

The old security doors locked automatically during the emergency alarm.

Alice had helped design the system years earlier.

Aaron became trapped behind a steel gate.

The estate worker he helped silence had built the mechanism that ended his escape.

Nora spent two days in the hospital.

Damien waited outside until she requested him.

When he entered, she was staring at the ceiling.

“I am sorry.”

She turned toward him.

“For what?”

“For bringing the Ardens into this house.”

“You did not kidnap me.”

“I gave them access.”

“That is true.”

He did not defend himself.

Nora studied him.

“Do not build another story where your guilt becomes the center.”

“What do you need?”

“Restore the money.”

“Protect the employees who testified.”

“And stop letting people call me brave as though fear would make the evidence less real.”

Damien nodded.

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“I can do that.”

“Then do it.”