Chapter 9 - The Empty Garden Room

Victor became terrifyingly calm.

He did not shout.

Did not break anything.

He simply turned toward every security officer in the hallway.

“Find my son.”

The estate gates locked.

Dogs searched the grounds.

Police arrived within minutes.

Lily stood in the garden room staring at Ethan’s abandoned stuffed fox.

“He was right here.”

Victor looked at the unconscious guard.

“What happened?”

Paramedics found a puncture mark in the guard’s neck.

Sedative.

Professional delivery.

Monroe studied the camera system.

“One hallway feed went dark for ninety seconds.”

Victor’s face hardened.

“Inside help.”

Nobody else could have crossed the estate unseen.

Monroe ordered every staff member contained.

Phones surrendered.

Vehicles checked.

Then Lily saw something beneath Ethan’s chair.

A folded paper crane.

She picked it up.

Inside was writing.

BRING THE ASTER RECORDS TO THE OLD BOATHOUSE.

MIDNIGHT.

NO POLICE.

Victor grabbed the note.

“No.”

Monroe looked at him.

“She wants something you don’t have yet.”

“The records under the angel.”

“Yes.”

Lily suddenly understood.

“Serena doesn’t know where they are.”

Monroe nodded.

“She took Ethan to force you to retrieve them.”

Victor looked toward the cemetery visible through the west windows.

“We get the records.”

“And then?”

“We give her whatever she wants.”

Monroe stepped closer.

“No.”

Victor’s eyes turned cold.

“That is my son.”

“And Serena knows it.”

“She will use that.”

Victor did not care.

Lily did.

“She wants you desperate.”

Victor looked at her.

Lily continued.

“Amelia hid those records because they matter.”

“If you hand over the only proof, Serena can destroy it.”

Victor’s jaw tightened.

“I’m not gambling with Ethan.”

“Neither am I.”

Lily stepped closer.

“But if we walk in scared and unprepared, she gets both.”

Victor stared at her.

For a moment, class disappeared.

Employer.

Maid.

Millionaire.

Staff.

They were simply two people who loved the same child.

Monroe broke the silence.

“We retrieve the evidence.”

“We copy everything.”

“We control the exchange.”

Victor nodded reluctantly.

They reached the cemetery at sunset.

The stone angel stood above Amelia’s family plot.

Lily found a loose base stone.

Behind it was a waterproof case.

Inside sat three encrypted drives.

A ledger.

And a photograph.

The photograph showed Serena.

Dr. Adrian Cole.

Charles Mercer.

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And someone Victor never expected.

His own younger brother, Julian Hale.