Chapter 18 - THE LAST PARTNER
Daniel examined the photograph.
It had been taken two days earlier.
Only school staff and family security knew Lily’s schedule.
That meant someone inside Adrian’s trusted circle was still passing information.
Adrian moved Lily to the farmhouse with Rose.
Nora reviewed the estate’s security records.
One name appeared repeatedly near unexplained system interruptions.
Thomas Bell, Adrian’s new security coordinator.
He had been hired after the mine rescue.
Daniel investigated his background.
The records were flawless.
Too flawless.
His previous employers existed only on paper.
His identity had been created five years earlier.
Nora followed Thomas through the estate one evening.
He entered the old kitchen and stood before the concealed steel door.
The chamber had been permanently opened after Lily’s rescue.
Adrian planned to remove it entirely.
Thomas knelt beside the hidden lock.
He inserted a different key.
A second compartment opened beneath the floor.
Inside was a satellite phone.
Nora stepped from the pantry.
“Who are you calling?”
Thomas turned with a gun in his hand.
“Someone who should have inherited the Vale fortune.”
He forced Nora into the chamber.
“You found Lily here once.”
“No one will find you.”
Nora looked at the open doorway.
“You forgot to close it.”
Thomas reached for the steel handle.
Adrian appeared behind him.
He struck Thomas’s wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Daniel entered from the back corridor.
Thomas was arrested before he could reach the satellite phone.
Under questioning, he revealed the name of Victor’s final partner.
Eleanor Vale.
Adrian’s older half sister.
Adrian had believed Eleanor died as an infant.
Rose confessed that Eleanor survived.
She had been raised secretly by Victor after their father denied paternity.
Victor promised Eleanor that she would inherit the family empire.
She had financed the kidnappings, arranged Marcus’s escape, and placed Thomas inside the estate.
“She believes everything belongs to her,” Rose said.
Adrian opened the satellite phone.
A message had arrived minutes earlier.
“Bring Lily to the original house.”
Nora looked at Rose.
“What original house?”
Rose’s face turned pale.
“The mansion where Adrian was born.”
Adrian stared at his mother.
“That mansion burned down.”
May you like
“No,” Rose whispered.
“Victor only made you believe it did.”
