Chapter 2 - Forty-Seven Seconds in the Dark
The first scream came from the woman seated beside Julian.
The second came from somewhere near the entrance.
Then somebody grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
"Give me the phone."
It was a man's voice.
Not Julian's.
Not Marcus Bell's.
I twisted away.
A chair toppled.
Glass shattered.
And in the darkness, I heard Victoria say two words.
"Get it."
Someone slammed into my shoulder.
I fell against the serving station.
My phone slipped from Julian's hand and struck the floor.
For one horrifying second, I heard shoes scraping over the marble.
Then a flashlight snapped on.
"Everybody stay where you are!"
Marcus Bell's voice thundered through the room.
Another beam swept across the guests.
Julian stood beside the table.
His glass was still untouched.
Victoria had vanished.
"The west hallway!" I shouted.
"She went toward the west hallway!"
Marcus grabbed his radio.
"Lock down the service exits."
"Find Mrs. Ashford."
The emergency lights flickered on.
Red light washed across the dining room.
The guests looked like figures in an old crime photograph.
Julian crouched beside me.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
"Where's the phone?"
I looked toward the floor.
It was gone.
My blood turned cold.
"Someone took it."
Julian stood immediately.
"Marcus."
"I heard, sir."
"Find that phone."
A police siren sounded beyond the gates.
I closed my eyes.
Eleven months of careful planning had just disappeared into somebody's pocket.
And I knew exactly what Victoria would say next.
No original video.
No independent witness.
Just a maid accusing a wealthy woman of attempted murder.
Julian touched my shoulder.
"Elena."
I looked up.
"Tell me the truth."
"Did you come here because of your father?"
I stared at him.
"My father was Daniel Morales."
Something changed in his face.
His hand dropped.
"Daniel Morales?"
"Yes."
Julian backed away.
For the first time all evening, I saw something in him that looked like genuine fear.
"Your father worked for Ashford Holdings."
"He was the senior financial controller."
"Until he was accused of stealing fourteen million dollars."
Julian swallowed.
"I know who he was."
"Then you know what happened to him."
He said nothing.
I felt anger rising through my chest.
"My father spent three years trying to clear his name."
"Nobody would listen."
"He lost his career."
"We lost our house."
"And six weeks after he told me he'd found the documents that would prove everything, his car went off a bridge."
Julian lowered his eyes.
"The police ruled it an accident."
"Yes."
"That's what everyone told me."
A police officer entered the dining room with two other officers behind him.
Marcus approached them immediately.
Julian's gaze remained fixed on me.
"Why didn't you tell me who you were?"
"Would you have hired me?"
He hesitated.
That was answer enough.
"I didn't come here to hurt you, Mr. Ashford."
"I came here because my father left me a letter."
"What letter?"
"One he told me not to open until I was absolutely sure somebody inside this house was lying."
Julian stared.
"What did it say?"
I looked toward the west hallway.
"That your father's death wasn't natural."
Before Julian could respond, a terrible crash echoed from the upstairs corridor.
Marcus shouted into his radio.
Two officers ran toward the staircase.
A woman screamed.
"She's on the balcony!"
Julian rushed out of the dining room.
I followed him.
We reached the grand staircase just as Victoria appeared on the second-floor balcony.
She held my phone over the open space.
Her emerald gown glittered beneath the emergency lights.
"Everybody stop!"
Marcus raised both hands.
"Mrs. Ashford, put the phone down."
Victoria ignored him.
Her eyes were fixed on Julian.
"You want proof?"
She smiled.
"Let's see what happens when the proof disappears."
She dropped the phone.
It struck the marble floor and shattered.
I stood frozen.
Victoria began laughing.
Then Julian said something that made her stop.
"That wasn't the only copy."
Victoria's smile vanished.
Julian looked at me.
I had not told him about a backup.
Because there wasn't one I knew of.
Then Marcus approached with a tablet.
"Sir, there's something you need to see."
He turned the screen toward Julian.
The security system had captured someone entering the pantry at 5:31 that afternoon.
Sixteen minutes before Victoria appeared.
The person was carrying the same crystal decanter.
Julian leaned closer.
And whispered a name.
May you like
"Richard?"
His younger brother had supposedly been dead for seven years.
