Chapter 14 - The Wedding Was a Trap
Celeste agreed to meet me in the mansion ballroom.
No police.
No father.
No Victor.
That was her condition.
I ignored half of it.
Brooks listened from a van outside.
Celeste stood beneath the chandelier in the same olive-green gown she had worn when she dragged Noah across the floor.
“You changed the locks,” she said.
“Yes.”
“My clothes are inside.”
“I’ll burn them.”
She almost smiled.
“That sounds more like you.”
“I don’t think you ever knew me.”
“No. I knew exactly who you were. That’s why this worked.”
“What worked?”
“The engagement.”
She walked toward the piano.
“The wedding was never about marriage.”
“Then what?”
“The Cole Family Trust.”
I remembered the paperwork.
My father had insisted on restructuring ownership before the wedding for tax reasons.
Celeste would have become a beneficiary.
“You wanted the company.”
“I wanted access.”
“To the Harbor files?”
“To the original authorization logs.”
I frowned.
“Those are at corporate headquarters.”
“No. Richard moved them years ago.”
“Where?”
She looked up at the chandelier.
I followed her gaze.
“You’re joking.”
She reached behind the piano and pressed a switch.
The center chandelier lowered six inches.
A hidden compartment opened in the ceiling.
Inside was a small fireproof box.
I stared.
“You knew?”
“Emily found it first.”
I took the box down.
Inside were original ledgers signed by Victor Ward.
And dozens of photographs.
Judges.
Executives.
Police chiefs.
Senators.
My father.
Victor.
Diane.
Emily.
Celeste said, “My father kept everyone tied together with secrets. Your father helped him until he couldn’t get out.”
“So Emily tried to expose it.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I wanted proof he killed my mother.”
“Did you find it?”
Celeste’s eyes filled for the first time.
“No.”
A slow clap came from the balcony above.
Victor stepped into view.
Two armed men beside him.
“I told you she was emotional,” he said.
Celeste looked up.
“Dad.”
He smiled.
“Not anymore.”
The ballroom doors locked behind me.
Victor pointed a gun downward.
“Put the box on the floor, Ethan.”
I didn’t move.
May you like
He aimed at Celeste instead.
“Or I shoot my daughter.”
