Chapter 2 - Six Weeks Stolen
The door opened three inches.
Victor stood behind it with his pistol raised.
Paul entered first.
He was forty-two, broad-shouldered, silver beginning to show at his temples, dressed as immaculately as he always was.
For eleven years, Paul Mercer had been one of Victor's most trusted men.
He had negotiated deals.
Handled security.
Buried problems before Victor ever heard about them.
That trust was the only reason Paul was still breathing after saying Liam's name like a threat.
Paul stepped inside.
His eyes immediately went to the sofa.
Empty.
Confusion flashed across his face.
Victor pressed the pistol against the back of Paul's neck.
"Don't."
Paul froze.
Behind him, another man stopped in the doorway.
Mason Reed.
Victor's second security coordinator.
Victor smiled without warmth.
"Interesting."
Mason raised his hands.
"Boss."
"Inside."
Mason obeyed.
Victor kicked the door closed.
Paul slowly turned.
His eyes moved from Victor to Lily.
Something unreadable passed through them.
Relief?
Annoyance?
Victor noticed both.
"You should be lying down," Paul said.
"And you should be explaining why my maid thinks her brother owes me money."
Paul's face barely changed.
"That can wait."
"No."
Victor's voice hardened.
"It can't."
Paul glanced at Lily.
"There must be a misunderstanding."
Lily's shoulders drew inward.
Victor noticed.
"Look at me," Victor said.
Paul did.
"Not her."
Paul nodded.
Victor continued.
"Liam Carter's account was closed six weeks ago."
"I'm aware."
Lily inhaled sharply.
Victor did not look away from Paul.
"Then explain why she worked eighteen hours yesterday."
Paul sighed.
"Victor, you were shot three hours ago."
"And somehow you're the one bleeding."
Paul frowned.
Victor pointed to Lily's hands.
Paul finally looked.
For the first time, his composure slipped.
Victor saw it.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
"Who authorized her overtime?"
Paul answered carefully.
"We've been short staffed."
"Who authorized the payments against a closed debt?"
"No one."
Lily stepped forward.
"You did."
Paul looked at her.
"Lily, you're exhausted."
"You gave me the papers."
"I gave you payroll forms."
"You said they reduced Liam's balance."
Paul shook his head.
Victor watched the performance.
Smooth.
Patient.
Concerned.
If Victor had not already known the truth, he might have believed him.
Lily's voice became smaller.
"You told me if I stopped working, Liam would disappear."
Paul's expression sharpened.
"I never said that."
"You did."
"When?"
"Three weeks ago. In the laundry corridor."
Mason suddenly looked at Paul.
Victor saw that too.
Interesting.
Paul spread his hands.
"She is frightened and confused."
Victor lowered his gun slightly.
Paul relaxed.
That was his mistake.
Victor struck him across the face.
Paul staggered sideways.
Lily gasped.
Victor caught Paul's jacket and shoved him against the bookshelf.
"I dislike being lied to in my own house."
"Victor—"
"Where is Liam?"
"I don't know."
Victor's hand tightened.
"Wrong answer."
Paul's lip was bleeding.
"I haven't seen him."
"Better."
Victor released him.
Mason remained motionless near the door.
Victor looked at him.
"And you?"
"I know nothing about this."
Paul gave him a quick glance.
Victor noticed.
Again.
Too many glances.
Too much silent communication.
Victor's phone still had no signal.
"Mason."
"Yes?"
"Why are the repeaters down?"
Mason hesitated.
"Storm interference."
Victor looked toward the window.
Rain.
No lightning.
"No."
Mason swallowed.
Victor's voice became softer.
"Try again."
"The system was being serviced."
"At one in the morning?"
"No."
Victor waited.
Mason looked at Paul.
Paul's eyes hardened.
There it was.
Victor finally knew who was more frightened of whom.
"Mason."
Mason exhaled.
"Paul ordered them shut down."
Lily stared at Paul.
Paul's expression went cold.
"Idiot."
Victor almost smiled.
"Thank you."
Paul turned toward Mason.
"You have no idea what you've just done."
Victor raised the pistol.
Paul stopped.
"Neither do you," Victor said.
For several seconds, the only sound was the fire.
Then Victor asked the question that mattered.
"Why was Lily sent into this room?"
Paul said nothing.
Victor stepped closer.
"You believed I was unconscious."
Silence.
"You ordered her inside."
Nothing.
"You locked the door."
Paul finally answered.
"For her safety."
Victor laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"My safety team locks an unarmed twenty-three-year-old woman in a room with an unconscious armed man?"
Paul's jaw tightened.
Victor turned to Lily.
"What happened after you entered?"
"I cleaned the glass."
"Anything else?"
"No."
"Did you touch the decanter?"
"No."
"Drink anything?"
"No."
Paul's eyes flickered.
Victor caught it.
He moved to the side table.
Three glasses.
One broken.
Two intact.
He lifted the decanter and smelled it.
Whiskey.
Then he noticed powder around the inner rim of one glass.
Not much.
Barely visible.
Victor placed it down carefully.
"Nobody touches this."
Paul's face had gone pale.
Victor looked at him.
"What was in the glass?"
"I don't know."
Victor pointed the gun at Paul's chest.
"Consider that answer."
Paul stared at him.
Then Lily spoke.
"It wasn't there earlier."
Everyone turned.
Victor frowned.
"What?"
"The third glass."
She pointed.
"When I came in, there were two glasses on the table and one broken on the floor."
Victor looked at the three intact places around the decanter again.
Paul had entered first.
Close to the table.
Close enough to put down another glass while Victor was watching Mason.
Victor understood.
"Paul."
Paul moved.
Fast.
Not toward Victor.
Toward Lily.
His hand went inside his jacket.
Victor reacted instantly.
Mason slammed into Paul from the side.
Both men crashed into the table.
The decanter fell and shattered.
Lily jumped backward.
Victor crossed the room and kicked Paul's weapon away.
Mason pinned him.
Paul struggled.
"Get off me!"
Victor crouched beside him.
"You threatened the wrong person."
Paul glared up.
"You think this is about the maid?"
Victor's expression did not change.
Paul laughed.
"You have no idea what's happening."
"Then educate me."
Paul's smile disappeared.
"You were supposed to die tonight."
The room became silent.
Lily stared at him.
Victor already suspected it.
Hearing it confirmed changed something.
"Who arranged the ambush?"
Paul said nothing.
Victor grabbed the front of his shirt.
"Who?"
Paul leaned closer.
"I didn't."
"Who did?"
"You really believe I'm the biggest problem in this house?"
Victor stared.
Paul looked toward the door.
"Check your cameras."
Mason spoke quietly.
"They're offline."
Victor turned.
"Since when?"
"Forty minutes before the attack."
Paul smiled.
Victor's stomach tightened.
Somebody had disabled the cameras.
Somebody had turned off the repeaters.
Somebody had known Victor's route home.
Somebody had falsified Liam's debt.
Those were not separate problems anymore.
They were pieces of the same machine.
Victor stood.
"Mason, take Paul downstairs."
Paul laughed.
"You can't trust him."
Mason stiffened.
Victor looked between them.
Paul continued.
"You can't trust anyone."
"Perhaps."
Victor's gaze shifted to Lily.
"But I know who hasn't lied to me tonight."
Paul followed his eyes.
Something ugly crossed his face.
Lily saw it.
Victor saw it too.
He stepped between them.
"Do not look at her."
Paul smiled faintly.
"You're making a mistake."
"No."
Victor's voice was ice.
"You did."
Mason pulled Paul toward the door.
Before crossing the threshold, Paul stopped.
He looked back.
Not at Victor.
At Lily.
"Ask her brother what he stole."
Lily froze.
"What?"
Paul smiled.
"Ask Liam why your debt kept growing."
Mason dragged him out.
The door closed.
Lily stared after him.
Victor watched her face.
"You didn't know."
It wasn't a question.
She shook her head.
"Liam told me he gambled."
"He did."
"What could he have stolen?"
Victor didn't answer.
Because six weeks earlier, when Liam Carter made his final payment, something else had disappeared from Victor's organization.
A small black accounting ledger.
Not money.
Not drugs.
Not weapons.
Names.
Payments.
Accounts.
Enough information to destroy several powerful people.
Victor had assumed the ledger had been misplaced during an office relocation.
Now Paul had just connected Liam Carter to it.
Victor went to the study safe.
He entered the code.
Opened it.
Moved several folders.
Then stopped.
One envelope was missing.
Victor slowly turned.
Lily stood by the sofa.
"What is it?"
Victor looked at the empty shelf.
"A copy."
"Of what?"
"The ledger Paul says your brother stole."
Lily's face went white.
Victor closed the safe.
"Your brother's debt was not the reason they kept you working here."
"Then why?"
Victor looked at the cracked skin on her hands.
At the woman who had worked herself nearly unconscious because she believed she was protecting her brother.
And for the first time, he understood Paul's real objective.
"They were waiting for Liam to contact you."
Lily whispered, "Why?"
"Because they think he has something."
"Does he?"
Victor did not soften the answer.
"I don't know."
Footsteps hurried down the hall.
Mason appeared again.
His face was pale.
Victor immediately reached for his gun.
"What happened?"
Mason's chest rose sharply.
"Paul's gone."
Victor stared at him.
"What?"
"The downstairs corridor lights went out. Two men hit the escort team."
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Victor stepped forward.
"How many people knew where he was being taken?"
Mason didn't answer.
Victor understood.
Too many.
The betrayal was larger than Paul.
Then Lily's phone vibrated.
Everyone looked at her.
She slowly pulled it from her cardigan pocket.
Unknown number.
One message.
She opened it.
Her entire face changed.
Victor reached for the phone.
"Lily?"
She handed it to him.
A photograph filled the screen.
Liam.
Alive.
Sitting in a dark room.
His hands bound.
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
Bring us Victor's missing ledger, or your brother dies before sunrise.
Victor read it twice.
Then another message appeared.
Come alone, Lily.
And beneath that:
Do not tell Victor Hayes.
Victor lifted his eyes.
Lily was staring at her brother's photograph.
Her hands had begun shaking again.
May you like
But this time exhaustion had nothing to do with it.
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