Chapter 10 - THE BETRAYAL DOWNSTAIRS
“Stay here!”
Orson rushed toward the hallway.
Raina followed.
“Raina!”
“I'm not staying alone in the dark!”
Emergency lights flickered on near the stairs.
Security flooded the lower level.
Another scream.
Then silence.
Raina held the railing as she descended.
Her stomach tightened.
Not a contraction.
Fear.
In the kitchen, they found Maria sitting on the floor.
Blood covered her sleeve.
One bodyguard pressed a towel against her upper arm.
The shot had grazed her.
The back door stood open.
“Who did this?” Orson demanded.
Maria shook her head.
“I couldn't see.”
Raina crouched carefully.
“Maria.”
The housekeeper looked at her.
And immediately started crying.
Raina knew.
Before Maria said anything.
She knew.
“You helped him.”
Maria covered her face.
“I'm sorry.”
The words hurt more than denial would have.
“Why?”
“He paid me.”
“How much?”
“Raina—”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Raina stared at her.
“For fifty thousand dollars, you helped my husband build a case to take my baby?”
“No!”
Maria reached toward her.
Raina pulled back.
“I didn't know about the baby.”
“You were listed as a witness.”
“He told me it was about financial control.”
“What did you tell him?”
Maria sobbed.
“That you cried. That you weren't sleeping. That you forgot appointments.”
“I was pregnant.”
“I know.”
“That wasn't instability.”
“I know!”
Maria broke down.
Raina stood slowly.
Orson looked ready to throw Maria out himself.
But Elaine arrived with police behind her.
“What happened?”
One of the guards answered.
“Power cut from exterior panel. Intruder entered through kitchen.”
Elaine looked around.
“Anything stolen?”
Orson froze.
“The closet.”
They hurried upstairs.
The hidden compartment was open.
The laptop was gone.
So were the burner phones.
The boxes remained.
Elaine cursed under her breath.
“Someone knew we found it.”
Raina turned to Maria.
“Who knew about the compartment?”
Maria wiped her face.
“Damon.”
“Lacey?”
“I don't know.”
“Who cut the power?”
“I swear I don't know.”
Raina stepped closer.
“Maria. Look at me.”
The housekeeper did.
“Damon is in jail. Lacey is with police. Somebody else came into this house tonight.”
Maria's face went pale.
Raina lowered her voice.
“Who else was working with them?”
Maria shook her head.
Then she stopped.
“There was a man.”
“What man?”
“I never knew his name.”
“Describe him.”
“Older. Maybe sixty. Gray beard. He came twice.”
Orson's expression changed.
“What?”
Maria noticed.
“You know him?”
Orson didn't answer.
Elaine did.
“Could it be Peter Cole?”
Damon's father.
Maria looked uncertain.
“I saw a picture once. Maybe.”
Raina stared at her father.
“I thought Peter disappeared after the embezzlement case.”
“He did.”
Elaine was already searching her tablet.
“Official records show he died nine years ago.”
Raina laughed bitterly.
“Of course he did.”
Elaine looked up.
“No body was recovered.”
“What?”
“Boating accident.”
Orson's jaw tightened.
Maria suddenly whispered, “Wait.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The man said something.”
“What?”
“He was angry with Damon. He said Damon was getting careless.”
Raina felt cold.
“Anything else?”
Maria nodded slowly.
“He said if Damon couldn't control his wife before the baby came…”
She stopped.
Raina's hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
“Finish it.”
Maria began crying again.
“He said he'd do it himself.”
The room went silent.
A security guard entered.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Orson turned.
“We found something at the back gate.”
He held out a small envelope.
Raina's name was written on it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Raina leaving the hospital earlier that day.
Taken from across the street.
On the back, four words were written:
May you like
THE BABY BELONGS TO US.
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