Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO OWNED THE KEYS|
The first thing Dante did was lock the bedroom door.
The second was place his phone in Maren's hand.
"If anything happens, call Nico."
She looked at him in disbelief.
"You promised you wouldn't leave me alone."
"I'm not leaving the house."
"That's not what I meant."
He stopped.
For years, Dante had survived by making decisions faster than other men could react.
But his wife had discovered the one thing he had never learned how to handle.
She expected him to keep his promises.
He sat beside her.
"You're right."
Maren's shoulders relaxed slightly.
Dante dialed Nico again.
"Bring Pike to the east drawing room."
"We're still looking for him."
"Then find him."
Dante looked at Maren.
"And double the security outside my wife's door."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Our door."
He looked at the bed they had shared for six short weeks.
Then he nodded.
"Our door."
A knock sounded almost immediately.
Nico entered with two security officers.
"Boss, we've got a problem."
"What now?"
"Mr. Pike didn't use the front entrance."
Dante frowned.
"Then how did he get inside?"
"The old service tunnel."
The words pulled a memory from Dante's childhood.
His grandfather had built the passage decades earlier, connecting the chapel to the main house.
It had been intended as an emergency escape route during the years when the family received frequent threats.
Dante believed it had been sealed.
"Who reopened it?"
"We don't know."
Maren sat very still.
"The chapel?"
Nico nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
She looked at Dante.
"That's how someone could watch me."
The realization made her shiver.
For months, she had entered the chapel believing herself alone.
Someone might have been standing only a few feet away, concealed behind a wall she never knew could open.
Dante turned to Nico.
"Bring the architectural plans."
"Already requested."
"And find Pike before he reaches the grounds."
Nico nodded.
Then Maren spoke.
"Wait."
Every man in the room looked at her.
She had rarely interrupted a conversation about security.
Now her voice was steady.
"If he's been using the passage, he might know something about the photograph."
Dante nodded.
"Exactly."
"Then don't frighten him into silence."
Nico glanced at Dante.
The advice was remarkably unlike anything his employer normally received.
Dante considered it.
"She has a point."
Maren continued.
"If he thinks he's trapped, he might destroy whatever evidence he has."
Nico looked impressed despite himself.
"Mrs. Caruso, did you work in criminal investigations before you became a nurse?"
"No."
She gave a small, tired smile.
"I worked in an emergency department."
"Same kind of chaos," Nico muttered.
For the first time that night, Dante almost smiled.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The mansion went dark.
Maren flinched.
Nico immediately raised his radio.
"Control, report."
Static answered.
Dante reached for the emergency flashlight inside the bedside cabinet.
The backup generator should have activated automatically.
It didn't.
Someone had disabled it.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Nico moved toward the door.
"Stay here."
Dante caught his arm.
"Bring the guards inside."
"Boss—"
"Now."
The door opened.
Two security officers entered just as something struck the wall outside.
A sharp metallic crash followed.
Then silence.
Nico stepped into the corridor with his weapon drawn.
Dante remained beside Maren.
She watched him carefully.
His breathing was controlled.
His eyes were alert.
Yet beneath the calm, she could see pain moving through his shoulder.
"Sit down," she whispered.
"Maren—"
"Your stitches."
He looked at her.
Even now, she was thinking about his injury.
A strange ache spread through his chest.
"I'm all right."
She gave him a look.
"That phrase is banned in this bedroom."
He lowered himself onto the mattress.
A moment later, Nico returned.
"Someone threw a metal tool against the security door."
"Distraction?"
"Looks like it."
"What about Pike?"
"We found his car in the underground garage."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"He's still inside."
Nico hesitated.
"There's something else."
"Say it."
"The car's engine was cold."
Dante frowned.
"How long?"
"At least several hours."
Maren looked toward the clock.
"Then he didn't arrive twenty minutes ago."
"No," Nico said.
"Somebody wanted us to believe he did."
Silence fell.
Dante understood what that meant.
Someone had deliberately sent security chasing a man who might never have moved from his hiding place.
Someone who knew the layout of the house.
Someone who understood his routines.
Someone with access to the family's oldest secrets.
"Search the records room," Dante ordered.
Nico left immediately.
The lights returned ten minutes later.
Maren leaned against the pillows, exhausted.
Dante brought her a glass of water.
She accepted it with both hands.
"You look different," she said.
"How?"
"You're listening."
He sat beside her.
"I should have started years ago."
"We've only been married fourteen months."
"Then fourteen months ago."
She smiled faintly.
He touched her hand.
"Maren, I need to ask you about Pike."
Her smile disappeared.
"All right."
"When he visited after the fire, was he alone?"
She thought carefully.
"No."
Dante's expression sharpened.
"Who was with him?"
"A woman."
"What woman?"
"I never learned her name."
"Describe her."
"Blonde hair, probably in her thirties."
Maren frowned.
"She wore a cream-colored suit and had a very expensive handbag."
Dante felt his stomach tighten.
"Did she speak?"
"Only once."
"What did she say?"
Maren's eyes became distant.
"She asked whether I had been spending much time in the chapel."
Dante stopped moving.
"The chapel?"
Maren nodded.
"I thought it was a strange question."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I went there to pray."
He struggled to remain calm.
"And?"
"She smiled."
Maren shivered.
"Then she told me that devotion was admirable, but dangerous when it became a habit."
Dante stared at her.
He knew the woman.
He knew her voice.
He knew the way she smiled when she believed she possessed information other people desperately needed.
Her name was Evelyn Vale.
She was the daughter of a wealthy Chicago financier.
She had once been expected to marry Dante.
And she had never forgiven him for choosing someone else.
Dante stood.
Maren caught his hand.
"Who is she?"
He hesitated.
"Someone from my past."
Maren waited.
He forced himself to continue.
"Someone who wanted to be my wife."
The words seemed to drain the warmth from the room.
Maren looked down.
"Oh."
Dante sat beside her immediately.
"No."
She raised her eyes.
"She isn't the reason I stayed away."
"I didn't say she was."
"You thought it."
Maren gave him a sad smile.
"I have spent a year wondering why you didn't want to come home."
Dante touched her cheek.
"I wanted to come home."
"Then why didn't you?"
He searched for an answer.
The truth was ugly.
He had been afraid of tenderness.
Afraid of needing her.
Afraid that loving his wife would give his enemies another weapon.
And so he had become the very person who hurt her most.
"Because I was a coward where you were concerned."
Maren stared at him.
"Dante Caruso?"
"Yes."
He swallowed.
"I could face a room full of armed enemies, but I couldn't face the possibility of losing you."
She began to cry again.
This time, he didn't ask her to stop.
He drew her carefully against his uninjured side.
She rested her head on his chest.
For several minutes, the mansion was quiet.
Then a security radio crackled outside.
Nico's voice came through.
"Boss, we've located Pike."
Dante straightened.
"Where?"
"The records room."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"But he's not alone."
Dante felt Maren's hand tighten around his.
Nico continued.
"There's a woman with him."
Dante already knew the answer.
Still, he asked.
"Who?"
"Evelyn Vale."
Maren closed her eyes.
May you like
And Nico delivered one final piece of news.
"She's claiming she has proof that your marriage was never supposed to happen."
