Chapter 3 - The Notebook in Her Apartment Revealed the Name Ronan Had Spent Fourteen Years Hunting
Tessa's apartment was twelve minutes from Beaumont House.
It took them twenty-eight.
Ronan drove one-handed.
His injured shoulder was bleeding through his shirt.
Tessa kept staring at it.
"You should be in a hospital."
"You've said that."
"You keep ignoring me."
"I'm good at ignoring people."
"Clearly."
He glanced at her.
"You always argue with armed men?"
"Only when they're being stupid."
He almost laughed.
Almost.
They parked behind her building.
Ronan's security team had already arrived.
Tessa looked at the men.
"Do you always have this many people?"
"Usually more."
"That's comforting."
Inside her apartment, everything was ordinary.
A secondhand sofa.
A tiny kitchen.
A broken lamp.
Books stacked beside the bed.
A photograph of Tessa's father on the refrigerator.
Ronan noticed it.
"Your father?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"Home."
"Call him."
"He'll worry."
"He should."
Tessa frowned.
"You sound like Eda."
Ronan stopped.
"What did you say?"
"Eda used to say that."
Ronan stared at her.
Then Tessa went to her bedroom.
She returned with the leather notebook.
Ronan took it carefully.
The cover was cracked.
He opened it.
Most pages contained recipes.
Gumbo.
Cornbread.
Etouffee.
Stewed chicken.
But toward the back, the handwriting changed.
The words were rushed.
Uneven.
Fearful.
Ronan read silently.
Then his face hardened.
"What?"
Tessa leaned closer.
He showed her the page.
There was only one sentence.
Margaret was right.
It was not an accident.
Ronan's breathing stopped.
"Turn the page."
Tessa did.
Another sentence.
If anything happens to me, the boy must never trust Daniel Vale.
Ronan stared.
Tessa whispered, "Who is Daniel Vale?"
Ronan closed the notebook.
Nobody spoke.
Finally he said, "My father's closest friend."
"Was?"
"Is."
Tessa looked at him.
"He's alive?"
"Very."
"Then why didn't you suspect him?"
"I did."
"Then why—"
"Because fourteen years ago, every piece of evidence pointed somewhere else."
Ronan stood.
"And because Daniel Vale saved my life."
Tessa felt cold.
"That sounds complicated."
"It is."
He looked at the notebook.
"Until tonight."
A sound came from outside.
Footsteps.
Ronan immediately raised his gun.
His security team moved.
Then Tessa's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
"You shouldn't have cooked that dish."
Tessa froze.
Ronan stepped closer.
The voice continued.
"Eda kept secrets because she was afraid."
Tessa whispered, "Who are you?"
"You should have stayed a waitress."
The call ended.
Ronan took the phone.
"Trace it."
His man nodded.
Tessa looked at him.
"What does he want?"
Ronan stared at the notebook.
"Whatever my mother died trying to protect."
Then someone knocked on the apartment door.
Tessa's heart jumped.
Ronan signaled his men.
The door opened.
A woman stood outside.
She was in her fifties.
Elegant.
Composed.
Holding an umbrella.
Ronan's expression changed.
"Clara."
Tessa looked between them.
"Who is she?"
Clara smiled.
"I'm Ronan's aunt."
Ronan didn't smile.
"What are you doing here?"
"I heard about the attack."
"How?"
"I have friends."
Ronan stared.
Clara looked at Tessa.
"So this is the waitress."
Tessa frowned.
"The waitress?"
Clara's smile disappeared.
"You really don't know, do you?"
Ronan stepped between them.
"Know what?"
Clara looked at him.
Then at the notebook.
"You've found it."
Ronan's voice became deadly.
"Found what?"
"The reason your mother was killed."
Silence.
Tessa's blood went cold.
Clara looked toward the hallway.
"We don't have much time."
Ronan raised his weapon.
"Start talking."
Clara swallowed.
"Your mother didn't die because of your father's business."
"Then why?"
"She discovered that someone inside the Callahan family was selling information."
"Who?"
Clara looked at Tessa.
"Someone who knew about this recipe."
Ronan's face tightened.
"My mother's recipe?"
Clara nodded.
"Margaret used that dish to identify people she trusted."
Tessa stared.
"What does that mean?"
Clara whispered.
"Every person who knew the exact recipe was connected to her."
Ronan looked at Tessa.
"Which means Eda knew my mother."
Clara nodded.
"And Eda wasn't just her cook."
She paused.
"She was her closest witness."
A crash came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Clara whispered.
"They found you."
Ronan grabbed Tessa's hand.
"Run."
They escaped through the fire stairs.
But before Clara left, she handed Tessa a photograph.
"Look at the man standing behind your teacher."
Tessa looked.
The photograph showed Margaret Callahan.
Eda.
A teenage Ronan.
And behind them, smiling at the camera, was Daniel Vale.
Tessa turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
Three days before Margaret's death.
May you like
And beneath it were five words.
He already knew she was going to die.
Related Stories
