Chapter 3 - The Service Elevator

Halfway to the elevator, Rosa lay on the floor with blood at her hairline.

"Rosa!"

She seized my wrist. "Ellie. The loading dock. Two men."

I called 911 and ran past the kitchen, scattering a stack of clean pans. Through the dock window I saw a black SUV and one security guard wrestling with a little girl in a green dress.

"Let go of her!"

The guard spun around. It was Mason Pike, one of the men Cole had hired for our engagement party. His grip tightened on Ellie's wrist.

"Mr. Vale, this is a family matter. Mr. Voss said -"

I hit the emergency-release bar on the fire door and slammed through it shoulder-first. Mason stumbled backward. Ellie pulled free and ran into my arms.

"He said my mom was waiting in his car," she sobbed. "He lied."

"Get inside, Ellie."

Mason reached for me. I shoved him against the SUV and took his security badge. "You lay one more finger on that child, and I'll make sure a judge knows your name."

He laughed nervously. "You don't know what you're interrupting."

"Then explain it to the police."

Sirens sounded two streets away. The SUV's driver peeled away, leaving Mason stranded. I carried Ellie back through the kitchen, where a sous-chef pulled a chair beside Rosa and pressed a clean towel to her forehead.

Rosa insisted she could stand. The paramedics insisted she couldn't. Before they took her away, she touched my hand.

"Aaron Bennett didn't die because of an accident, Daniel."

The words landed harder than a punch.

"What?"

"He found something in your father's accounts. Nora found the rest. They tried to tell you." Rosa winced. "Your office sent every letter back."

"My office?"

"Cole controlled your mail after the funeral."

Ellie was shaking. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I still have the note," she said. "Mommy said not to show anyone unless you came yourself."

She unfolded the blood-specked paper. In block letters, someone had written:

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DANIEL - THE BABY ISN'T THE ONLY THING THEY INVENTED. LOOK AT THE NORTH PIER ACCOUNTS. DO NOT TRUST THE AMBULANCE.

At that exact moment, the paramedic wheeling Rosa toward the exit glanced at his phone and turned the stretcher toward a door marked STAFF ONLY.