Chapter 2 - The Maid Who Came Looking for Proof
I locked the living-room doors.
Maria immediately moved Sofia behind her.
I noticed.
“You think I'm going to hurt her?”
“I don't know what you're going to do.”
“Neither do I.”
I picked up my phone.
Maria flinched.
“Please don't call Vincent.”
My thumb stopped.
“You think Vincent still works for me?”
Her expression changed.
“You know?”
“I know he betrayed me.”
Maria stared.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
She slowly sat down.
Sofia climbed beside her.
I remained standing.
“Start talking.”
Maria looked toward Sofia.
“Not in front of her.”
I called the housekeeper.
“Mrs. Campbell.”
“Yes, Mr. Hale?”
“Take Sofia to the kitchen. Hot chocolate. Anything she wants.”
Sofia frowned.
“I want Mommy.”
Maria kissed her forehead.
“Ten minutes, sweetheart.”
Sofia looked at me suspiciously.
“Don't yell at her.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
“I'll try.”
She pointed at me.
“Promise.”
“Sofia.”
“Promise.”
I stared at the four-year-old negotiating with a man federal prosecutors couldn't intimidate.
“I promise.”
Only after Sofia left did Maria speak.
“Gabriel discovered money disappearing from Hale Construction.”
“How much?”
“Almost two million.”
“Vincent blamed him.”
“Because Vincent was taking it.”
I walked toward the windows.
“Why didn't Gabriel come to me?”
“He tried.”
I turned.
Maria continued.
“Three times.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I would've remembered.”
“You never received the messages.”
That stopped me.
“Vincent controlled access to you.”
Maria nodded.
“Gabriel became frightened. He copied records and hid them.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
I laughed without humor.
“So that's why you're here.”
“Yes.”
“You lied on your application.”
“Yes.”
“You entered my private office twice.”
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“You searched my house.”
“Yes.”
“You understand men have disappeared for less?”
Maria looked straight at me.
“Gabriel disappeared for telling the truth.”
That shut me up.
She placed the brass key on the table.
“He left this with me the night before he died.”
“What does it open?”
“I've spent four years trying to find out.”
I picked it up.
An engraved number was barely visible.
317.
My phone buzzed.
A security message.
Motion detected.
East corridor.
I opened the camera feed.
A man wearing a black jacket was moving toward my private office.
Maria saw my expression.
“What?”
“Stay here.”
“Daniel—”
“Lock the door behind me.”
I moved into the corridor.
My security chief, Marcus Cole, appeared from the opposite staircase.
“Boss?”
I showed him the screen.
“Someone's inside.”
Marcus reached for his radio.
“Seal the estate.”
We reached the office.
The door was open.
A drawer had been pulled out.
My safe stood untouched.
But something was missing from my desk.
A photograph.
Vincent and me, taken eleven years earlier.
Marcus frowned.
“Why steal a photograph?”
I looked at the empty space.
“They didn't.”
“What?”
“They wanted me to notice.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello, Daniel.”
Vincent.
Maria appeared at the end of the corridor despite my order.
Vincent continued.
“I hear you've been asking questions about Gabriel Torres.”
My eyes met Maria's.
“How do you know?”
He laughed.
“Because your house isn't as secure as you think.”
The line went dead.
Marcus looked at me.
“Boss?”
I stared down the corridor.
Someone inside my own estate was still working for Vincent.
And now they knew Maria had found me.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Lock every gate.”
I turned toward Maria.
May you like
“And nobody leaves.”
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