Chapter 2 - The Envelope in the Blood
Alexander wanted to open the envelope in his private office. Lena refused to let him take it from her.
“It has my name on it,” she said. “I’ll open it.”
“Someone just fired at you.”
“And you’ve spent fourteen years knowing more about my mother than I do. You can wait.”
His security chief, Marcus Hale, watched them from the doorway. He was a broad man with a close-cropped beard and a scar that ran from his ear to his collar. “We have a second problem. The shooter got out through the east service corridor.”
Alexander’s expression hardened. “Lock the estate down.”
Lena tore the envelope open. Inside was a photograph of Margaret standing outside a dance studio. She looked younger than Lena remembered, her dark hair pinned up, her smile bright. On the back was a date: October 18, 2012.
Beneath it, someone had written: SHE IS ALIVE. ASK ABOUT ROOM 19.
Lena’s fingers shook. “Where is Room 19?”
Alexander went still.
Marcus glanced at him. “Boss?”
“An old property,” Alexander said. “A hotel my father owned before he died.”
“Then take me there.”
“Not tonight.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
He lowered his voice. “The hotel was closed after a fire. If this note is real, someone wants us to go there. That makes it a trap.”
Lena held up the photograph. “Maybe it’s the first honest thing anyone has given me in fourteen years.”
Alexander’s phone vibrated. He read the message and swore under his breath.
“What?”
“Your father is at the gate.”
Lena’s stomach tightened. Richard Carter had not visited her since she was twenty-one. He had sent money twice, both times with a note telling her to stop asking questions.
He entered the office in a gray coat, rain shining on his shoulders. His eyes went straight to the photograph.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
Richard reached for it. Lena stepped back.
Alexander moved between them. “You’re not touching her.”
Richard looked at him with old hatred. “You should have stayed out of this, Blake.”
“You should have told your daughter the truth.”
Richard’s face twisted. “I kept her alive.”
“By telling her that her mother was dead?”
“By keeping her away from men like you.”
Lena’s voice broke. “Did you know she was alive?”
Richard didn’t answer quickly enough.
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the office.
Richard’s eyes filled with something that might have been shame. “I was told she died in the fire.”
“Who told you?”
He looked at Alexander. “His father.”
Alexander’s expression turned cold. “My father died believing Margaret had taken the ledger.”
“What ledger?” Lena demanded.
Richard swallowed. “The one that proves the Blake family bought judges, police commanders, and half the city council. Your mother copied it before she disappeared.”
Marcus closed the office door.
Alexander looked at Lena. “Now you understand why someone wants you dead.”
Lena stared at the photograph. Her mother had not vanished because she had abandoned her. She had vanished because she knew something powerful men wanted buried.
Richard reached into his coat and placed a brass key on the desk.
“Room 19,” he said. “Your mother left this with me. I was supposed to destroy it.”
Lena picked it up.
May you like
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I couldn’t destroy the last thing she trusted me with.”
