Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN MARCUS UNDERESTIMATED
Adrian reached the apartment in seven minutes.
The front door hung open.
A lamp had shattered across the hallway.
The portable crib was empty.
His heart stopped.
“Grace!”
Nothing.
“Lily!”
Thomas checked the bedrooms.
Elias moved toward the kitchen.
Then a small voice came from inside the pantry.
“Mr. Adrian?”
He opened the door.
Emma sat beneath the lowest shelf.
Her gray rabbit was pressed against her chest.
Grace crouched beside her.
Lily slept against Grace’s shoulder.
Adrian stared.
Grace whispered, “Don’t make noise.”
Footsteps moved in the hallway outside.
Adrian turned.
Two men entered.
Thomas stepped from behind the kitchen wall.
Elias blocked the opposite exit.
Within seconds, both intruders were on the floor.
Grace finally stood.
Adrian looked at her.
“How?”
She pointed toward the fire escape.
“I heard someone at the lock.”
“I took the girls down one floor, crossed through the laundry room, then came back after they searched the apartment.”
Thomas almost smiled.
“You came back?”
“They expected us to run.”
Grace looked at Adrian.
“So I didn’t.”
Adrian stared at her for a moment.
“You’re either very smart or completely insane.”
“Eight months with two babies changes a person.”
Elias searched the intruders.
One carried a burner phone.
A message remained open.
TAKE GRACE ALIVE.
DO NOT TOUCH THE CHILD UNTIL I ARRIVE.
Adrian’s face hardened.
Marcus wanted Grace.
Why?
Thomas read the message.
“She knows something he thinks she hasn’t told you.”
Grace shook her head.
“I told you everything.”
Thomas looked at Emma’s gray rabbit.
Then froze.
“Where did she get that?”
Grace glanced down.
“That?”
“Thomas?”
“I bought it after the crash.”
“Where?”
Grace frowned.
“I didn’t.”
“You gave it to her.”
Thomas slowly approached Emma.
“I gave you a bag before I left your cousin’s house.”
“Yes.”
“That rabbit was inside.”
Grace looked confused.
Thomas knelt beside Emma.
“Can I see your bunny?”
Emma hugged it tighter.
“No.”
Thomas looked at Adrian.
“I hid something.”
Adrian crouched.
“Emma.”
She looked up.
“Your bunny is very brave.”
Emma nodded seriously.
“He sleeps with one eye open.”
“Can Thomas check his tummy?”
“No.”
Adrian considered.
“What if I promise he gets him back?”
Emma narrowed her eyes.
“Promise promise?”
“Promise promise.”
She reluctantly handed over the rabbit.
Thomas found a seam along its back.
He opened it.
Inside was a tiny plastic capsule.
Grace stared.
“You hid that in a child’s toy?”
“I hid it in something no armed man would search twice.”
Thomas opened the capsule.
Inside was a second memory card.
“What is it?” Adrian asked.
Thomas shook his head.
“I never watched it.”
“I didn’t have the password.”
“What password?”
“Evelyn created it.”
Adrian took the card.
A single word was written on the case.
WINTER.
They inserted it into the laptop.
A password box appeared.
Adrian typed LILY.
Incorrect.
He typed EVELYN.
Incorrect.
Grace whispered, “Something beautiful that survived winter.”
Adrian looked at her.
Then he remembered.
The painting.
The one from the charity auction where he met Evelyn.
A child’s painting of Lake Michigan.
In the bottom corner, the child had painted five white lilies growing through snow.
Adrian typed FIVEWHITEFLOWERS.
Incorrect.
Thomas sighed.
Then Emma looked at the screen.
“Baby Lily.”
Adrian stared at her.
He typed SURVIVEDWINTER.
The folder opened.
Inside were financial records.
Copies of Marcus’s transfers.
Names of police officers Marcus had paid.
Names of guards he controlled.
And one video.
Evelyn appeared on screen.
She was pregnant.
She sat alone in Adrian’s art room.
Her eyes were red.
But her voice was steady.
“Adrian, if you’re seeing this, then I was right to be afraid.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“I found evidence Marcus has been using your companies to build something behind your back.”
“I don’t know how far it goes.”
“I don’t know who he owns.”
“And I don’t know whether I’ll get the chance to tell you myself.”
She touched her stomach.
“Before you get angry, listen to me.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Even dead, Evelyn knew him.
“Do not turn this into revenge.”
“That is what men like Marcus understand.”
“They understand fear.”
“Territory.”
“Blood.”
“You have spent your whole life becoming better at the rules they gave you.”
“Break the rules.”
Grace quietly began crying.
Evelyn continued.
“If Lily is born safely, give her something you never had.”
“A father she does not have to fear.”
“A home where locked doors are just doors.”
“And a name that does not come with enemies.”
Adrian looked toward his daughter.
Lily had awakened.
She stared at the screen.
At her mother.
Evelyn smiled through the recording.
“I love you.”
“I love our daughter.”
“And if I’m wrong about Marcus, you can laugh at me for the rest of our lives.”
The screen went black.
No one spoke.
Then the burner phone taken from Marcus’s men rang.
Adrian answered.
Marcus’s voice came through.
“You should’ve stayed at the memorial.”
Adrian looked at Evelyn’s frozen image.
“No.”
May you like
His voice was calm.
“You should’ve stayed my friend.”
