Chapter 12 - The Enemy Who Wasn’t the Enemy
Mateo DeLuca arrived at the meeting carrying no weapon.
At least none anyone found.
He was fifty-three, silver-haired, broad-shouldered, and dressed like a businessman attending an expensive funeral.
He looked at Audrey.
“You brought the nurse.”
“I’m not a nurse,” Audrey said automatically.
Mateo smiled.
“I like her.”
Dorian did not.
“You were asked here for information.”
“Your invitations have gotten less charming.”
Dorian placed photographs on the table.
Victor Shaw.
Mercer Maritime.
The motorcycle.
Mateo studied them.
“Victor is alive?”
“You tell me.”
Mateo leaned back.
“I thought he died.”
“He worked for you.”
“Six months.”
“Why?”
“To irritate your father.”
Dorian’s expression hardened.
“At least you’re honest.”
“I’m too old to maintain unnecessary lies.”
Mateo glanced at Audrey.
“Necessary lies, however, remain extremely useful.”
Audrey folded her arms.
“Did Victor kill Elena?”
Mateo’s amusement disappeared.
“No.”
“You sound certain.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor came to me three days after her death.”
Dorian went still.
“What?”
“He wanted money.”
“For?”
“Information.”
“What information?”
Mateo looked at Dorian.
“Your wife discovered somebody stealing from you.”
“We know.”
“Did you know the amount?”
“No.”
“Eighty-four million dollars.”
Silence.
Mateo continued.
“Over seven years.”
Audrey stared.
“Who?”
“I didn’t know then.”
“And now?” Dorian asked.
Mateo smiled without humor.
“Now I believe I do.”
He removed a flash drive.
“Your brother visited me three months ago.”
Dorian’s eyes turned deadly.
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“He was investigating Elena’s death.”
Audrey leaned forward.
“He never told Dorian.”
“Apparently he believed your house leaked secrets faster than the roof of an abandoned church.”
Dorian didn’t deny it.
Mateo placed the drive down.
“Adrian suspected Martin Bell.”
The attorney.
“He found transfers through Bellway Holdings,” Mateo said. “But Martin wasn’t stealing the money.”
“Then who?”
“Martin was hiding it.”
“For someone.”
“Yes.”
“Name.”
Mateo paused.
“Nolan Pierce.”
Audrey stopped breathing.
Dorian stared at him.
“My security chief?”
“The man currently controlling every camera, every guard, every vehicle, every investigation around your son.”
Dorian did not move.
Mateo continued.
“Nolan joined your company three years after Elena died, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Under that name.”
The room became silent.
“What does that mean?”
Mateo pushed another photograph forward.
A younger man.
Different haircut.
Different beard.
Same eyes.
“He was previously Nathan Mercer.”
Audrey thought of Mercer Maritime.
Dorian picked up the photograph.
“Who is Nathan Mercer?”
“Victor Shaw’s nephew.”
Everything suddenly shifted.
The convenient discoveries.
The failed searches.
The manipulated cameras.
The security failures that always seemed sophisticated.
Nolan Pierce controlled the very system investigating itself.
“He helped fake Victor’s death,” Audrey whispered.
Mateo nodded.
“Likely.”
“Why Elena?”
“I don’t know.”
Dorian stood.
He called the estate.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
His face changed.
“Caleb.”
Audrey’s blood went cold.
They ran.
The drive back took eighteen minutes.
It felt like hours.
When they reached the estate, the front gate stood open.
Two guards were unconscious.
Security monitors were black.
Dorian ran upstairs.
“Caleb!”
Empty bedroom.
Audrey’s room.
Empty.
They searched.
Then a housekeeper appeared.
“He’s in the greenhouse!”
They found Caleb hiding beneath a table.
Alive.
Audrey dropped to her knees and hugged him.
“Where’s Nolan?”
Dorian asked.
The boy trembled.
“He came looking for me.”
“Why did you hide?”
Caleb looked at Audrey.
“Because she said if I’m scared, trust the feeling.”
Audrey almost cried.
Dorian crouched.
“Did Nolan take you to the bridge?”
Caleb’s face changed.
“No.”
“Do you know him?”
“Yes.”
“Was he there?”
Caleb’s breathing increased.
Audrey touched Dorian’s arm.
“Slow.”
Dorian closed his eyes.
Then nodded.
Caleb whispered, “Nolan was the mask man.”
“The second person?”
A nod.
Dorian’s face became stone.
“Who was the first?”
Caleb began crying.
“I can’t.”
Audrey pulled him close.
Dorian stood.
His phone rang.
Nolan.
Dorian answered.
“You made a mistake.”
Nolan laughed softly.
“No, you did.”
“Where is Adrian?”
“Alive.”
“For now?”
“For now.”
“You touched my son.”
“I followed instructions.”
“Whose?”
Nolan paused.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Explain.”
“This was never about Caleb.”
Audrey looked at Dorian.
“Then what?”
“You.”
Dorian went still.
Nolan continued.
“Caleb was leverage. Elena was leverage. Adrian is leverage.”
“Against me?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“To make you destroy everything your father built.”
Dorian’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because your father destroyed my family first.”
The call ended.
Audrey stared.
Revenge.
But something still didn’t fit.
If Nolan wanted revenge, why had Caleb repeatedly refused to name the first person?
Why did the child insist Adrian was innocent?
Why had Nolan described himself as following instructions?
Audrey looked at Caleb.
“Nolan wasn’t the person who took you from your room, was he?”
Caleb shook his head.
“No.”
“Was Nolan the person who threatened me?”
Another shake.
Dorian crouched again.
“Son.”
Caleb looked at him.
“I need one thing.”
The boy trembled.
“The person you followed through the blue door…”
Dorian’s voice broke.
“Did you love him?”
Caleb began sobbing.
That was answer enough.
Dorian closed his eyes.
The enemy wasn’t a stranger.
Wasn’t Nolan.
Wasn’t Victor.
Wasn’t Mateo.
May you like
The person who had walked Caleb out of his bedroom was someone the boy loved enough to follow into the dark.
And feared enough to protect even after they tried to kill him.
