Chapter 16 - No More Secret Deals
Adrian read the message twice. Every instinct told him to run to Sofia, but he remembered what Harris had said about traps.
He forwarded everything to the investigators and called Nora. “I'm not going alone.”
“Good,” she said. “Because you're not a movie hero.”
She sounded almost angry enough to cry.
Investigators examined the photograph and background details. A maintenance sticker on a metal door matched an old Blackthorn distribution building outside Mill Creek. Company property records confirmed Keene still held keys through a dissolved subsidiary.
Celeste was brought in for a separate interview. When shown the image, she recognized the chair.
“Martin keeps a private office in the old records depot,” she said. “He told me no one could trace it to us.”
“Us?” Harris asked.
Celeste looked at Adrian. “I signed documents I didn't understand because I liked what the money bought me. I told myself that made me innocent.”
It was the closest thing to an apology he had heard from her. It wasn't enough. It was a start.
Adrian issued a public statement acknowledging the disputed property transfers and promising independent review. Investors immediately called. His company's board demanded an emergency meeting. One director warned that the business could lose a major contract.
“Then we'll lose it,” Adrian said. “We don't bury a missing woman to save a quarterly report.”
As law enforcement prepared to approach the depot, another message arrived on Adrian's phone.
YOU HAVE ONE HOUR. BRING THE ORIGINAL TAPE TOO.
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Then a third message appeared from a different number.
THIS IS SOFIA. DON'T BELIEVE THE PHOTO. I'M NOT AT THE DEPOT.
