Chapter 4 - The Empty Safe
Emma froze.
Lauren grabbed her arm.
"Don't open it."
Emma pulled away. "My mother called you?"
"Later."
"No. Now."
Another sound came from the study.
Metal scraping stone.
Not a gunshot, Emma realized.
A champagne bottle had exploded against something hard.
She shoved the door open.
The room smelled like alcohol and gun oil.
Adrian stood near the desk with one of his security guards. A shattered bottle lay on the floor. The wall safe was open.
Empty.
Adrian turned. "You."
Vivian was nowhere in sight.
Emma looked at the safe.
"What was inside?"
Adrian laughed once, but there was no humor in it. "You break into my house, trigger my alarm, and ask me questions?"
"I didn't trigger it."
"Then who did?"
The guard raised his tablet. "The safe opened with a valid master code at 9:42."
Adrian frowned. "I changed that code last month."
Emma looked at Lauren.
Lauren looked away.
"Who knew it?" Emma asked.
Adrian's face hardened. "Me. Vivian. My attorney."
"And your attorney is?"
"Thomas Bell."
Emma's stomach dropped.
She knew that name.
Thomas Bell had notarized Nora's final employment agreement.
He had also signed two of the shell-company filings.
Emma stepped closer to the desk. "What was in the safe?"
Adrian hesitated.
"Family records. Old trust documents. My father's private journals."
"A blue ledger?"
His eyes sharpened.
"How do you know about that?"
Emma did not answer.
The guard suddenly touched his earpiece.
"Sir. East gate camera just went offline."
Adrian cursed and ran from the room.
Emma followed.
Lauren caught her at the door. "Wait."
"You can explain while we move."
"Your mother called me because she thought Vivian was stealing from the trust."
Emma stopped again.
"You knew?"
"I knew she was scared. I didn't know why."
"What did she say?"
Lauren's face tightened.
"She said if anything happened to her, I should give you something."
"What?"
Lauren reached into the lining of her burgundy clutch.
She pulled out a tiny brass key.
Emma stared at it.
A number was engraved on the side.
7714.
May you like
Then the villa lights went out.
Adrian's family crest was carved into the safe door. Emma stared at it and wondered how many secrets could hide behind a symbol people called respectable.
