Chapter 1 - The Fall

Maria heard the baby scream before she saw Vanessa lift him over the glass railing.

For one impossible second, the entire grand hall seemed to stop breathing.

"NO! Please, don't!" Maria shouted.

Eight-month-old Oliver kicked inside his cream onesie, his little fists opening and closing in panic. Above him, Vanessa Sterling stood on the second-floor balcony in a burgundy evening dress, one hand beneath his back, the other supporting his shoulders. Her face was calm. Too calm.

"You should have kept your mouth shut," Vanessa said.

Then she opened her hands.

Maria moved before her mind caught up. She sprinted across the marble, nearly losing one shoe, and threw both arms upward. Oliver hit her chest hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. She stumbled backward, twisted, and landed on her side, curling around him.

The baby wailed.

"I've got you," Maria gasped. "I've got you, sweetheart. You're okay."

The front doors burst open.

Adrian Cole stepped inside carrying a black leather briefcase. He froze.

His briefcase struck the floor.

"What the hell happened?"

Maria looked up. "Adrian—"

"Maria dropped him!" Vanessa shouted from the balcony.

Maria's head snapped back. "She's lying! I caught him!"

Adrian rushed to the floor, kneeling beside his son. His hands shook as he touched Oliver's cheek, then Maria's shoulder.

"Is he hurt?"

"I don't think so. But call a doctor. Now."

Vanessa hurried down the staircase, one hand gripping the banister. "She was carrying him upstairs. She slipped. I saw the whole thing."

Maria stared at her in disbelief.

Then Maria remembered the tiny black dome near the balcony arch.

"Check the security cameras."

Vanessa stopped halfway down.

It lasted less than a second, but Adrian saw it.

The color left her face.

She turned sharply toward the west hallway.

Adrian stood.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He caught her wrist before she passed him.

"Let go of me!"

Maria held Oliver tighter and pointed upward.

"Your fiancée forgot there was a camera facing that balcony."

Everyone looked at the little black lens.

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A red indicator light blinked once.

Then it went dark.