Chapter 9 - THE RED ROOM
Richard summoned security.
Maria insisted Matteo remain upstairs with Evelyn.
Then she followed Richard downstairs.
“Maria.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I was going to tell you to stay back.”
“I know this house better than you do.”
Richard almost smiled.
“Fair point.”
They reached the grand staircase.
Behind it was paneled oak.
No door.
Maria ran her fingers along the trim.
“There used to be a maintenance closet here.”
Richard looked at her.
“When?”
“Before the renovation three years ago.”
He remembered.
Diane had supervised it.
Maria pressed one panel.
Nothing.
Another.
A click.
Both of them froze.
The wall shifted inward.
Richard stared.
“You knew that?”
“No.”
He pulled the panel open.
A narrow staircase descended underground.
Red emergency lights glowed along the walls.
The red room.
They went down with Detective Monroe and two officers.
At the bottom stood a steel door.
Locked.
Richard entered his master security code.
Denied.
Maria laughed without humor.
“Your house really doesn’t like you.”
He glanced at her.
“Apparently not.”
An officer forced the lock.
Inside were computers.
Document boxes.
Hard drives.
A second safe.
Detective Monroe whispered, “Jesus.”
Richard walked to a desk.
On it lay copies of passports.
Bank statements.
Corporate seals.
His signature.
Maria’s personnel file.
And photographs.
Dozens.
Maria entering work.
Maria picking Matteo up from daycare.
Maria shopping.
Maria walking into her apartment.
She went cold.
“They were watching us.”
Richard’s face hardened.
Monroe picked up one photograph.
“You were targeted before the bracelet disappeared.”
Maria looked at the date.
Three weeks earlier.
“Why?”
Richard opened a drawer.
Inside was an envelope.
MARIA DELGADO.
He handed it to her.
Her fingers shook.
Inside was a printed email.
FROM: THOMAS VALE.
IF DELGADO FINDS THE ACCOUNTING BACKUP, REMOVE HER PERMANENTLY.
Maria stopped breathing.
Richard read over her shoulder.
“Permanently.”
Detective Monroe turned to the officers.
“Bag everything.”
Maria backed away.
Richard caught her elbow.
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t tell me what I am.”
He released her immediately.
“You’re right.”
Maria looked at the email again.
“Why was there an accounting backup?”
Richard searched the room.
Then saw a server tower.
He powered it on.
Password prompt.
Maria stared at it.
“What would Diane use?”
Richard tried birthdays.
Names.
Failed.
Maria looked at the desk.
A framed photograph showed Diane with her late mother.
Maria remembered something.
“Try ‘Margaret1971.’”
Richard looked at her.
“How do you know that?”
“She used it for the flower supplier account.”
He typed it.
Access granted.
Richard shook his head.
“I pay a cybersecurity team seven figures a year.”
Maria shrugged.
“Maybe hire housekeepers.”
They opened the folders.
Accounts.
Transfers.
Videos.
Audio recordings.
Then one folder caught Richard’s attention.
PROJECT CAROLINE.
His ex-wife’s name.
Richard clicked.
A recording began.
Thomas’s voice filled the room.
“Once Caroline signs the settlement, move the assets through Zurich.”
Another voice answered.
Richard went completely still.
Maria looked at him.
The voice belonged to someone Richard trusted even more than Thomas.
May you like
His younger brother.
Daniel Whitfield.
