Chapter 2 - The Smile That Didn’t Reach His Eyes
Nathan had not entered the mansion gardens since the ambush.
Lily changed that on a Wednesday afternoon.
“Faster.”
Nathan pushed his wheelchair along the stone path.
“This chair weighs sixty pounds.”
“You’re slow.”
“I’m paralyzed.”
“That sounds like an excuse.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Nathan stared at Lily.
“Your daughter insults me constantly.”
“You keep inviting her back.”
“Poor judgment.”
Lily ran toward an abandoned rose bed.
Nathan followed.
For the first time in two years, sunlight touched his face without passing through a window.
That afternoon changed his routine.
Soon Nathan resumed in-person business meetings.
He began physical therapy again.
He stopped letting Grant handle every decision.
And questions followed.
One evening, Nathan sat with Grant in the library.
Grant poured bourbon.
“You’re suddenly interested in everything again.”
“It’s my organization.”
“You trusted me to manage it.”
“I still do.”
Grant handed him a glass.
“Then why are you reopening old accounts?”
Nathan looked at him.
“Why does that bother you?”
“It doesn’t.”
Grant smiled.
That same empty smile.
Nathan set the bourbon down untouched.
“Grant.”
“Yes?”
“Were you ever angry that I survived?”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one.”
“I sat beside your hospital bed for eleven weeks.”
“I remember.”
“I held your organization together.”
“I remember that too.”
“Then don’t insult me.”
Grant left shortly afterward.
Nathan watched him go.
The next morning, Lily brought Nathan another drawing.
This one showed three men beside a black car.
“What’s this?”
“Rain.”
She scribbled blue lines across the paper.
“And that?”
“The smile man.”
Nathan looked up.
“Grant?”
Lily nodded.
Claire entered carrying towels.
“Lily, breakfast.”
Nathan pointed at the drawing.
“When did you see Grant near a black car?”
Lily shrugged.
“Yesterday.”
“Where?”
“Garage.”
Claire frowned.
“Mr. Holloway uses the garage sometimes.”
Nathan looked at the picture again.
Something bothered him.
He couldn’t explain what.
Three days later, Nathan’s security chief, Marcus Reed, entered his office.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Five thousand dollars is missing from the household operations safe.”
Nathan frowned.
“Who accessed it?”
“Three people had authorized access.”
“Names.”
“Me, Mrs. Alvarez, and Mr. Holloway.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed.
“Claire?”
“No access.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Because the money was found in her locker.”
Nathan became still.
“Who found it?”
“Grant.”
Nathan looked toward the door.
“Bring Claire.”
Minutes later, Claire entered surrounded by security.
Her face was white.
Grant followed carrying a blue envelope.
He placed it on Nathan’s desk.
“Five thousand.”
Claire shook her head.
“I didn’t take it.”
Grant sighed.
“Claire—”
“Don’t.”
She looked directly at Nathan.
“I have never stolen anything from you.”
Nathan studied her.
“Who has access to your locker?”
“Only me.”
“Was it locked?”
“Yes.”
Grant stepped forward.
“Nathan, this is unfortunate, but the evidence—”
“What evidence?”
Grant paused.
“The money was in her locker.”
“That proves where the money was found. Not who put it there.”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
Claire stared at Nathan.
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t cleared you.”
“I understand.”
Nathan picked up the envelope.
“When was the cash taken?”
“Yesterday afternoon,” Marcus said.
“What time?”
“Between three and five.”
Nathan looked at Claire.
“Where were you?”
“With Lily in the garden.”
“Anyone see you?”
“You did.”
Nathan remembered.
Claire and Lily had been with him until nearly five.
Grant spoke.
“She could have taken it earlier.”
Nathan examined the envelope.
Blue paper.
A silver adhesive seal.
He had seen envelopes like this before.
Grant used them for private cash payments.
Nathan looked up.
“Interesting choice of envelope.”
Grant’s expression didn’t move.
“They’re common.”
Then a tiny voice came from the doorway.
“The smile man had that yesterday.”
Everyone turned.
Lily stood holding her stuffed rabbit.
Claire rushed toward her.
“Lily, sweetheart, go with Mrs. Alvarez.”
But Lily pointed.
At Grant.
“He had the blue thing.”
Grant smiled carefully.
“She’s three.”
Nathan watched him.
“What did you see, Lily?”
Grant interrupted.
“Nathan, seriously?”
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“I asked her.”
Lily walked toward the desk.
“The smile man opened Mommy’s little door.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Nathan slowly turned toward Grant.
Grant’s smile disappeared.
“When?”
Lily pointed toward the hallway.
“When Mommy was outside.”
Four words echoed through Nathan’s mind.
Opened Mommy’s little door.
Her locker.
Grant stepped backward.
“She’s confused.”
Nathan looked at Marcus.
“Check the security cameras.”
Marcus hesitated.
“We already did.”
“And?”
“The camera covering the staff lockers malfunctioned yesterday.”
Nathan’s gaze remained on Grant.
“What a coincidence.”
Grant’s face hardened.
“You’re accusing me because of something a three-year-old said?”
“No.”
Nathan placed the blue envelope on the desk.
“I’m wondering why the man I trusted for fifteen years suddenly looks nervous.”
Grant leaned forward.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Maybe.”
He looked at Marcus.
“Claire stays employed. Nobody touches her locker. Nobody destroys anything.”
Then Nathan turned to Grant.
“And until I understand what happened, you’re done handling household security.”
Grant stared at him.
“This child is getting inside your head.”
Nathan looked toward Lily.
“No.”
His eyes returned to Grant.
“She may have just cleared it.”
That night, Nathan waited until the mansion was quiet.
Then he unlocked a cabinet he had not opened in nearly two years.
Inside was the investigation file from the ambush.
He placed it across his desk.
Photographs.
Ballistics reports.
Vehicle records.
Phone logs.
He began reading.
At 2:16 a.m., Nathan reached the communications section.
Page 41.
Page 42.
Page 44.
Nathan stopped.
Page 43 was gone.
Only two people had ever possessed keys to that cabinet.
May you like
Nathan Caldwell.
And Grant Holloway.
