Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO TRIED TO RUN
Julian turned toward the service corridor.
The sound came again.
Fast footsteps.
A metal tray crashed somewhere beyond the double doors.
The federal agents moved immediately.
Two rushed toward the corridor.
The lead agent remained beside Arthur.
“Everyone stay where you are.”
Guests began reaching for their phones.
Another agent raised his voice.
“Devices on the tables.”
“Now.”
A few people obeyed.
Others hesitated.
Vivian stepped toward Julian.
“What is happening?”
Julian did not look at her.
“Nothing.”
His voice cracked.
Celeste noticed.
Arthur noticed too.
“Julian.”
Arthur’s tone carried a warning.
Julian glanced at his father.
For the first time that evening, his confidence was gone.
“I need to speak with you privately.”
“You will speak here,” the lead agent said.
Julian turned toward him.
“I’m an attorney.”
“Then you understand the meaning of a federal warrant.”
Julian looked around the ballroom.
The guests who had once admired him now watched with open suspicion.
Only minutes earlier, he had smiled while Celeste stood exposed.
Now sweat gathered at his temples.
The service doors burst open.
A young man in a waiter’s uniform stumbled into the ballroom.
One agent held his arm.
Another carried a black laptop bag.
The waiter’s face was pale.
Julian stopped breathing.
Celeste recognized him.
His name was Evan Price.
He had served champagne at the Warren estate for years.
Vivian pointed at him.
“What did he steal?”
Evan looked toward Julian.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
The agent placed the laptop bag on a table.
“We found him trying to leave through the loading dock.”
Julian recovered slightly.
“He works here.”
“He was carrying three encrypted hard drives.”
Evan shook his head rapidly.
“They aren’t mine.”
The lead agent opened the bag.
Inside were several drives, a laptop, and a stack of sealed envelopes.
One envelope carried the Warren Foundation’s gold crest.
Another carried the logo of a federal disaster relief program.
Arthur’s expression did not change.
His eyes did.
Celeste saw the calculation happening behind them.
He was already deciding who to sacrifice.
Evan looked at Julian.
“You told me to take them.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“I have never spoken to you.”
Evan stared at him.
“You called me ten minutes ago.”
“That is a lie.”
“You said to use the kitchen exit.”
Julian stepped forward.
“I don’t even know this man.”
Evan laughed nervously.
“You paid my sister’s medical bills.”
Julian went still.
“So I would do whatever you asked.”
Vivian looked at her son.
“Julian?”
He faced her.
“He is confused.”
The lead agent held out his hand.
“Your phone.”
Julian did not move.
“Mr. Warren.”
Arthur spoke before Julian could answer.
“My son will cooperate.”
Julian stared at him.
Arthur extended his hand.
“Give him the phone.”
The words sounded supportive.
The look in Arthur’s eyes was not.
Julian slowly placed the phone in the agent’s hand.
The agent passed it to a technician.
Celeste watched Arthur.
He remained composed.
Too composed.
Admiral Reed leaned closer to her.
“You see it.”
She nodded.
“He expected the raid.”
“Or something close to it.”
“Then why hold the gala?”
“To move something under cover of the crowd.”
Celeste glanced toward the laptop bag.
“Those drives are a distraction.”
Reed looked at her.
“You’re certain?”
“Arthur never lets important evidence leave in someone else’s hands.”
Across the room, Vivian noticed Celeste speaking quietly to Reed.
Her anger returned.
She marched toward them.
“You did this.”
Celeste looked at her.
Vivian stopped inches away.
“You walked into our gala with federal agents waiting outside.”
“No.”
“You planned this humiliation.”
Celeste’s expression remained controlled.
“You ripped my dress open.”
Vivian ignored that.
“You wanted these people to see us destroyed.”
Celeste looked past her toward Arthur.
“I wanted to know why the foundation’s veterans’ rehabilitation fund was empty.”
Vivian blinked.
“What?”
“The fund contained forty-eight million dollars last year.”
“That money was distributed.”
“To whom?”
Vivian opened her mouth.
No answer came.
Celeste continued.
“The rehabilitation center in Maryland received nothing.”
“The trauma clinic in Virginia received nothing.”
“The families listed as beneficiaries received letters saying funding had been delayed.”
Vivian looked toward Arthur.
He avoided her eyes.
Celeste’s voice hardened.
“Meanwhile, the foundation purchased three shell companies registered in Julian’s name.”
Julian turned toward her.
“That is false.”
“I have the filings.”
“You accessed confidential records.”
“I reviewed a charity that used my military service in its fundraising campaign.”
Several guests reacted.
Celeste looked around the room.
“My photograph appeared in twelve donor presentations.”
“I was identified only as an anonymous wounded officer.”
“The foundation raised millions using my scars.”
Vivian’s face tightened.
“That campaign was Arthur’s idea.”
Arthur finally looked at her.
“Be quiet.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You told me the woman in those photographs had died.”
Celeste’s expression changed.
The ballroom went silent again.
Arthur spoke slowly.
“You are mistaken.”
“No.”
Vivian’s voice rose.
“You said she had no surviving family.”
Arthur’s face became dangerous.
“Vivian.”
“You told me the images were government approved.”
Celeste stared at her father.
The old pain inside her shifted into something colder.
“You used photographs from my hospital file?”
Arthur turned toward the lead agent.
“My daughter is emotionally unstable.”
The agent ignored him.
Celeste took a slow breath.
“Answer me.”
Arthur’s gaze returned to her.
“This is not the place.”
“You sold my injuries to donors.”
“We raised money for wounded veterans.”
“You raised money.”
Celeste stepped closer.
“Where did it go?”
Arthur looked toward Reed.
“This conversation ends now.”
Reed’s expression remained calm.
“You do not control the room anymore.”
Arthur smiled faintly.
“You think a uniform changes that?”
The lead agent moved between them.
“Mr. Warren, you need to step away.”
Arthur did not.
Celeste watched his right hand.
It rested near his jacket pocket.
Not reaching for a weapon.
Checking something.
A small rectangular shape.
A second phone.
Celeste’s eyes narrowed.
Arthur saw that she had noticed.
For the first time, fear entered his face.
He turned suddenly.
“Arthur,” Celeste said.
He moved toward the honor table.
An agent blocked him.
Arthur stopped.
“I need my medication.”
The agent gestured toward the table.
“Tell us where it is.”
“My jacket.”
Celeste looked at the suit jacket draped across Arthur’s chair.
His hand had already been inside his own pocket.
He was lying.
The ballroom lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then everything went dark.
Guests screamed.
Glass shattered.
Someone knocked over a table.
Celeste immediately dropped low.
Admiral Reed moved beside her.
“Stay down.”
Emergency lights glowed faintly along the walls.
Celeste saw shadows rushing in different directions.
A man moved toward the honor table.
Another figure crossed near the stage.
Then she saw Arthur.
He was heading toward the side exit.
Celeste stood.
“Arthur!”
The emergency lights went out too.
Total darkness swallowed the ballroom.
A hand grabbed Celeste’s wrist.
She twisted free.
The person cursed.
It was a man’s voice.
Celeste drove her elbow backward.
The man grunted and released her.
Admiral Reed called her name from several feet away.
“Celeste!”
“I’m here.”
A sharp electrical pop came from the ceiling.
Then the ballroom lights returned.
Guests stood frozen among overturned chairs and broken glasses.
Arthur was gone.
The side exit remained open.
Julian was gone too.
Vivian stared toward the doorway.
“Arthur?”
Federal agents rushed after them.
Celeste turned toward the honor table.
Arthur’s jacket remained on the chair.
She crossed the room quickly.
Reed followed.
She searched the pockets.
Empty.
Then she looked beneath the table.
A small black phone lay near the chair leg.
She picked it up.
The screen was unlocked.
One message remained open.
It had been sent less than a minute earlier.
BURN THE HOUSE.
Celeste stared at the words.
Reed read over her shoulder.
“Which house?”
Celeste’s face lost all color.
“My house.”
She reached for her own phone.
Before she could call anyone, an incoming video appeared.
The sender was unknown.
Celeste answered.
A live image filled the screen.
Her secluded house outside the city stood in darkness.
A figure in black walked across the front porch.
Then another appeared carrying a red fuel container.
The camera angle shifted.
Someone was watching from inside the house.
Celeste’s breathing stopped.
A child’s frightened voice whispered through the phone.
“Aunt Celeste?”
Her hand began to shake.
Reed looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Celeste stared at the screen.
“My goddaughter.”
May you like
The child whispered again.
“They’re inside.”
