Chapter 8 - The Guesthouse

Adrian, Grant, and two officers crossed the lawn without turning on exterior lights.

Maria stayed in the main house with the blue box locked in Adrian's study safe.

The guesthouse door was unlocked.

Inside, the kitchen was empty, but a laptop glowed on the dining table. The screen showed the mansion's nursery feed, hospital updates, and scanned copies of Adrian's legal documents.

Grant whispered, "Don't touch anything."

A floorboard creaked upstairs.

Adrian started up.

The first bedroom was empty.

The second contained suitcases, men's clothing, and a wall covered in photographs.

Claire leaving a restaurant.

Adrian driving to work.

Maria grocery shopping with Oliver.

Vanessa entering a law office.

This wasn't improvisation.

It was surveillance.

Years of it.

A bathroom window slammed.

Grant ran to the back.

A man sprinted across the garden.

Adrian recognized Marcus by his stride.

"Marcus!"

Marcus vaulted the low stone wall and disappeared into trees bordering the property.

Police searched for him, but he was gone.

In the guesthouse desk, Grant found a burner phone containing dozens of messages with Vanessa.

Most were coded.

One wasn't.

VANESSA: HE TRUSTS ME NOW. ONCE WE'RE MARRIED, THE REST IS EASY.

MARCUS: CLAIRE TRUSTED HIM TOO. DON'T MAKE HER MISTAKE.

Adrian read the sentence until his vision blurred.

Then another message loaded.

VANESSA: MARIA FOUND THE BLUE KEY.

MARCUS: THEN REMOVE THE PROBLEM BEFORE SHE OPENS THE LOCKER.

Adrian's stomach turned.

Vanessa had not snapped on the balcony.

She had planned it because Maria knew too much.

But why use Oliver?

Grant scrolled farther.

A message from the previous night answered him.

MARCUS: IF THE NANNY DIES TRYING TO SAVE HIM, IT LOOKS LIKE AN ACCIDENT. IF THE BABY DIES TOO, THE TRUST RESETS.

Adrian gripped the table so hard his knuckles whitened.

Then Maria called from the main house.

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Adrian, Vanessa is here."

He spun toward the window.

"Lock the study."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

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Maria inhaled shakily.

"Because she's standing behind me."