Chapter 16 - The Woman Who Ran
Celeste had disappeared before the police could reach her apartment. Her driver was found tied up in a service garage, and the private plane she had chartered was preparing to leave a regional airport under a different name.
Grace tracked the booking through a payment company connected to one of Celeste's shell businesses. Mason gathered a small security team, while the district attorney arranged for state police to meet them at the airport.
"She knows where Theo lives," Adrian said. "She knows every door in that house."
"And that's why you stay with your son," the prosecutor replied. "Let the people trained for this do their jobs."
He returned to the penthouse, where Theo was building a tower out of wooden blocks. Elena sat across from him, helping him balance the top pieces. When Adrian came in, Theo looked up at once.
"If it falls, you can build it again," he said. "Lena told me that."
At the airport, police found Celeste's abandoned car and a suitcase containing passports, cash, and a copy of the original ledger. She had planned to flee, but the flight crew reported that she had changed her mind and left through a service gate. A camera caught her heading toward an industrial road near the old estate.
Grace called Adrian with the update. "She may be going back to the mansion. There's something she hasn't recovered."
Elena understood before Grace finished. "The original key. Nora kept it in the oak tree box."
The key opened a small safe beneath the floor of Nora's former study. If Celeste knew about it, she might believe there was still evidence inside that could destroy her.
Adrian looked at Theo, then at Elena. "I'm not leaving him."
"You don't have to," Elena said. "I'll go with Mason and Grace. You stay here and keep your promise."
At the estate, Elena entered the study with a police officer at each door. The safe was open. Inside lay only a blank envelope and a child's drawing of a house beneath a tree.
On the back, Nora had written a sentence: The truth is not what you hide. It is what you are willing to say when everyone is listening.
A floorboard creaked behind them.
May you like
Celeste stepped from the dark, holding a small pistol pointed at the floor.
"You should have stayed gone, Elena."
