Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN THEY BLAMED
Elena was carrying a cardboard box out of the employee entrance when Adrian’s car stopped beside the curb.
She looked at the black sedan.
Then kept walking.
Adrian lowered the window.
“Elena.”
“Not interested.”
“I didn’t ask anything.”
“You’re about to.”
She kept walking.
Adrian opened the door and stepped out.
Pain shot down his hip.
He ignored it.
“Elena.”
She spun around.
“You want to know what I saw?”
Adrian stopped.
“So you did see something.”
“I saw rich people protect rich people.”
“That isn’t what happened.”
“Really?”
She shoved the box into his hands.
Inside were two uniforms, a pair of work shoes, a framed photograph of an older woman, and a stack of envelopes.
One envelope had FINAL NOTICE printed across the front.
“They searched my locker,” Elena said.
“They found a bracelet I’ve never seen in my life.”
“I believe you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“How generous.”
“I’m trying to help.”
“No. You’re trying to buy information.”
Adrian’s temper flashed.
“You think I came down here because I’m bored?”
“I think men like you always believe there’s a price that turns no into yes.”
That shut him up.
Elena took the box back.
“Go home, Mr. Cole.”
“Grant Ellis.”
Her face changed again.
Adrian saw it clearly this time.
“What about him?”
She stared at the sidewalk.
Four months earlier, the Whitmore Hotel had hosted a private dinner for Cole Meridian executives.
Adrian remembered that night.
He remembered leaving angry after fighting with Grant over a series of questionable accounts.
He remembered driving through heavy rain.
He remembered hitting the brakes on Lexington Avenue.
Nothing happened.
Then came glass.
Steel.
A spinning streetlight.
Pain.
Elena spoke quietly.
“I was working that dinner too.”
Adrian barely breathed.
“What did you see?”
“Grant went downstairs before you left.”
“To the garage?”
“Yes.”
“That proves nothing.”
“I know.”
“Did you see him near my car?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s heartbeat changed.
“What was he doing?”
“I don’t know.”
“Elena.”
“He was crouched beside the front driver-side wheel.”
Adrian felt cold despite the summer heat.
“What time?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes before you left.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“Because I didn’t know your brakes were the reason you crashed.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Who told you that?”
“Nobody.”
“Then how do you know?”
“I heard Grant tonight.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“What did he say?”
Elena glanced toward the hotel door.
“He was arguing with Claire behind the service corridor.”
Adrian waited.
Elena lowered her voice.
“Claire said, ‘We almost lost everything when he survived the first time.’”
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
Then headlights swept across the curb.
A dark SUV pulled from the garage.
Elena looked at it.
Her eyes widened.
“That car.”
“What about it?”
“It’s been sitting behind the employee entrance for twenty minutes.”
May you like
The SUV accelerated.
Straight toward them.
