Chapter 4 - Blood in the SUV
The ballroom broke into whispers.
Richard went pale, but only for a moment.
Then the executive came back.
“Detective, Vale Security owns more than forty vehicles. You cannot imply—”
“I didn’t imply anything,” Ortiz said. “I stated what my officer found.”
Victoria gripped the back of a chair.
Nathan stared at me. “Were you inside the SUV?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I would remember being put in a car.”
He looked at the scratches on my arms. “You hit your head.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to rewrite my night.”
His face tightened.
The detective asked if I needed an ambulance. I said no until I tried to take another step and my knee almost gave out.
Nathan caught me by instinct.
For one awful second, I let him.
His hand was warm. Familiar. He smelled like cedar and expensive soap. The same smell that had been on my pillow for two years.
Then I remembered his voice on the recording.
Mom, hurry.
I pulled away.
A paramedic checked me in a side room while police spread through the mansion. Guests were asked to stay until statements could be taken.
Nathan paced outside the door.
“I need five minutes with her,” he told the officer.
“You don’t get five minutes,” I said.
He stopped.
The paramedic taped a small bandage over my shoulder. “You should get imaging done. Possible concussion.”
“I will.”
Nathan lowered his voice. “Emma, please look at me.”
I did.
His eyes were wet.
“I didn’t push you.”
“Did you send the text?”
“No.”
“Were you outside?”
“No.”
“Did you say, ‘Mom, hurry’?”
He hesitated.
That was the problem with liars. Sometimes the lie was the delay.
“I don’t know,” he said.
My stomach turned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I said something like that earlier. My mother was pressuring me about the announcement.”
“What announcement?”
He looked toward the hallway.
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
He sat down, elbows on his knees.
“My father wanted us to announce tonight that your company was joining Vale Capital after the wedding.”
I stared at him.
“My company is not joining anything.”
“I know.”
“Does Richard?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
I stood too fast. Pain shot through my knee.
“You told them I would merge my company into theirs?”
“I told them we were discussing options.”
“We weren’t.”
“I was trying to buy time.”
“For what?”
He whispered, “To get us out.”
Before I could ask what that meant, Ortiz appeared in the doorway.
“We found something else in the SUV.”
She held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a silver bracelet.
May you like
Mine.
I had been wearing it when I arrived at the gala.
