Chapter 1 - The Gun at the Gala
The man with the gun smiled like he already knew who would die.
“Move away from her, Adrian.”
Adrian Cross didn't move. He put one arm in front of Mara Vale and stared straight down the pistol's barrel. Around them, the ballroom at the Halcyon Hotel went silent. Five hundred people in designer clothes stood frozen beneath a chandelier that cost more than Mara's apartment building.
“Victor,” Adrian said, voice low. “You don't want to do this.”
Victor Sloane, the hotel security director, shrugged. “I stopped caring what I want about ten minutes ago.”
Mara's fist tightened around Adrian's jacket. She had come to the gala wearing a borrowed silk blouse and a fake catering badge. Her plan was simple: find the records that would clear her father's name, then leave before anyone noticed her. So far, the plan had gone spectacularly wrong.
Behind the bar, an enormous television flickered. The woman's face on it was pale, lined, and terrifyingly familiar to Adrian.
“Mom?” he whispered.
Evelyn Cross had been dead for eight years. Adrian had identified her body himself.
On-screen, Evelyn leaned toward a camera. “Adrian, listen carefully. The fire wasn't an accident. And if that girl is standing beside you, they're going to kill her.”
The ballroom erupted. People screamed and surged toward the exits. Both doors slammed shut with an electronic thud.
“Give me the necklace,” Victor ordered Mara.
Her fingers flew to the silver pendant around her neck. The one her father had slipped into her hand through the prison visitation glass three days before he died.
“It's just jewelry,” she lied.
Victor's smile vanished. “Last chance.”
Adrian shifted his weight. Mara felt the change before she saw it. He was about to move, and whatever he had in mind was going to be violent.
“Don't,” she breathed.
“Trust me,” he said.
“That would be easier if I knew you.”
“You know enough.”
He grabbed a champagne bucket and hurled it at Victor's face. The gun cracked. Glass exploded behind Mara's head. Adrian shoved her beneath a table, rolled over the marble floor, and drove his shoulder into Victor's knees.
A second shot split the air.
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Then Adrian looked down at the dark blood spreading across his white shirt—and Mara heard Evelyn scream from the screen.
“Adrian! That's not Victor's gun!”
