Chapter 6 - The Man Who Vanished in the Snow
They reached the mansion at 12:26 a.m.
Emmett entered first.
Delaney followed so closely she nearly stepped on his heel.
The foyer was silent.
Too silent.
No crying.
No shouting.
No signs of struggle.
One security guard stood near the staircase.
"Where's Lily?"
"Bedroom."
"Bell?"
"Kitchen."
Emmett moved toward the kitchen.
Delaney grabbed his sleeve.
"Wait."
He stopped.
"What if that's what she wants?"
"What?"
"You charging in."
Emmett looked almost offended by the suggestion that someone else might predict him.
Delaney lowered her voice.
"Mrs. Bell worked here how long?"
"Four years."
"So she knows you."
"Yes."
"She knows how you react when Lily is threatened."
His face tightened.
"Then maybe Lily isn't the target."
"What is?"
Delaney looked toward the study.
"The card."
Emmett immediately checked his pocket.
Still there.
Delaney shook her head.
"Maybe not the physical card. Maybe whatever you copied."
His eyes shifted.
The isolated laptop remained in the secure office.
He turned toward the staircase.
Before they moved, a woman's voice came from behind them.
"Mr. Ror?"
Mrs. Bell stood in the kitchen doorway.
She looked exhausted.
Her coat was torn.
One cheek bruised.
"Lily?" she asked.
"Safe."
Mrs. Bell exhaled in apparent relief.
"I tried to call."
Emmett's expression gave nothing away.
"What happened?"
"A man was waiting near the north garden. He forced me into my car."
"Why would he let Lily go?"
"I didn't take Lily."
Delaney stared.
"Lily said you told her Emmett was outside."
Mrs. Bell looked confused.
"I never saw Lily this morning."
Emmett and Delaney exchanged a glance.
Then someone had impersonated her instructions.
Or Lily was mistaken.
Mrs. Bell stepped forward.
"They wanted to know about the new maid."
Delaney's pulse jumped.
"What about me?"
"Whether you'd arrived with personal belongings."
"Gus."
Mrs. Bell frowned.
"The feather duster?"
"You took it from the library."
"No."
Lily had said she had.
Delaney didn't know whom to believe.
Mrs. Bell reached into her pocket.
Emmett's hand moved toward his weapon.
She froze.
"It's only this."
Slowly she removed a folded piece of paper.
"They gave me a message."
Emmett took it.
Three words.
VALE OWNS CROSS.
Delaney felt nausea rise.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
Nolan's mentor.
The kind, patient professor who had called Delaney every Sunday after Nolan disappeared.
The man who had sat at her kitchen table drinking weak coffee and promising they would find him.
The man who had introduced Nolan to high-level forensic accounting jobs.
The man who had told Delaney, very casually, that wealthy households often hired private domestic staff.
The man who helped her rewrite her résumé.
"Oh my God."
Emmett watched her.
"You trust Vale."
"I did."
"How long has Nolan known him?"
"Since college."
"Family?"
"No."
"Close?"
"He was practically a father to Nolan."
Mrs. Bell looked between them.
"I don't understand."
Neither did Delaney.
Not yet.
Emmett ordered security to escort Mrs. Bell to a guest room under guard.
"You think she's lying?" Delaney asked after Bell left.
"I think everyone lies."
"Healthy worldview."
"It keeps me alive."
"Seems lonely."
He looked at her.
The comment hit deeper than she intended.
Delaney rubbed her arms.
"Call Vale."
"No."
"If he's involved—"
"Then warning him helps nothing."
"If he isn't involved?"
"Then we apologize later."
"Do Mafia bosses apologize?"
"Rarely."
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
They entered the secure office.
The laptop was still there.
The copied files were intact.
Emmett began searching Vale's name.
Results appeared.
Invoices.
Consulting contracts.
Academic grants funded through Ror foundations.
Then—
A payment ledger.
Victor Dane to Vale Consulting.
Monthly transfers.
For seven years.
Delaney lowered herself into a chair.
"No."
Emmett scrolled.
"He's been on Victor's payroll."
"No."
"Delaney."
"He helped Nolan."
"He placed Nolan inside my company."
"Because Nolan was good."
"Because Victor needed someone credible enough to discover selected information."
She looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
"Nolan may have been used."
"To expose you?"
"To expose parts of my organization Victor wanted removed."
"Why?"
"So Victor could take control."
Delaney remembered Nolan coming home late.
Talking about missing invoices.
Saying his client was "more complicated than expected."
He had seemed excited at first.
Then worried.
Then frightened.
Three days before disappearing, he had asked Delaney whether she would ever consider moving away from Boston.
She had laughed.
"Where?"
"Anywhere warm."
She'd told him she'd follow him to Nebraska if there was decent coffee.
Now the memory hurt.
"He figured Vale out."
Emmett nodded.
"Probably."
"That's why he hid the card."
"Yes."
"And why he disappeared."
"Yes."
Delaney pressed her knuckles against her mouth.
Then another file opened.
Audio.
A recording date from the night Nolan disappeared.
Emmett clicked play.
Nolan's voice.
Clear.
Tense.
"Professor, I know what you did."
Vale answered.
"You know what you think I did."
"You sent me after Emmett."
"I gave you an opportunity."
"You wanted me to find Victor's records."
"I wanted truth exposed."
"No. You wanted a war."
Delaney stopped breathing.
Nolan continued.
"Victor is moving weapons through Ror routes. Emmett's trying to shut them down. You knew."
Vale's voice became colder.
"You have always been painfully idealistic."
"People are dying."
"People always die when power changes hands."
A scraping sound.
Nolan again.
"I'm taking this to Emmett."
Vale laughed quietly.
"You won't reach him."
The recording ended.
Delaney's hands shook.
No uncertainty remained.
Vale had betrayed Nolan.
A man he loved like family.
Emmett leaned back.
"Now we know."
"No."
Delaney wiped her tears angrily.
"Now we know who started it. We don't know where Nolan is."
Her phone buzzed.
An incoming video call.
Unknown number.
Emmett motioned for silence.
Delaney answered.
The screen showed darkness.
Then a light turned on.
Nolan sat against a wall.
His face bruised.
But alive.
Delaney made a sound between a laugh and a sob.
"Nolan."
His eyes widened.
"Del?"
A figure stepped into frame.
Gray hair.
Brown glasses.
A face Delaney knew better than she wanted to.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
"Hello, Delaney."
She could barely speak.
"Why?"
Vale smiled sadly.
"You were always too perceptive for your own good."
"Let him go."
"I would like to."
"Liar."
Vale sighed.
"Still fiery."
"Where are you?"
He ignored her.
"Emmett is with you?"
Emmett stepped into view.
Vale smiled.
"Mr. Ror."
"Adrian."
"Still cleaning up your father's sins?"
"Still hiding behind other people's?"
Vale's smile disappeared.
Then he looked at Delaney.
"Midnight tomorrow. You'll receive instructions."
"Why wait?"
"Because, my dear, I need something Emmett hasn't realized is missing yet."
Emmett's eyes narrowed.
Vale continued.
"The memory card was only half of Nolan's insurance."
Nolan suddenly shouted.
"Delaney, don't—"
Someone struck him off-camera.
She screamed.
The feed shook.
Vale returned.
"The other half is inside your apartment."
Delaney's heart stopped.
"What?"
"You have until tomorrow night to find it."
"And if I don't?"
Vale looked toward Nolan.
Then back at her.
"Your baby will grow up knowing its father only from photographs."
The call ended.
Delaney stared at the dark screen.
Emmett spoke softly.
"What did Nolan leave at your apartment?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she remembered the yellow baby socks.
The box she had prepared for Nolan.
The box she had never opened again.
Weeks after Nolan disappeared, she had found something beneath it.
A sealed envelope.
She had assumed it was an old bill.
She had placed it in a drawer without reading it.
Delaney looked at Emmett.
"I think I know where the second half is."
May you like
And somewhere across Boston, Adrian Vale was betting that she would lead him directly to it.
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