Chapter 3
The cold night air struck my face as I stepped outside.
My wedding veil whipped behind me.
The hotel driveway glittered beneath rows of white lights.
Luxury cars waited at the curb.
Valets stood frozen, watching the chaos through the ballroom windows.
I scanned every vehicle.
A black SUV sat near the end of the drive with its engine running.
The rear windows were dark.
My phone vibrated.
Come closer.
I took one step.
Then another.
The ballroom doors opened behind me.
"Grace!"
My mother's voice.
I turned.
She stood beneath the gold hotel awning, clutching her leather purse.
Agent Cole appeared beside her.
His expression was hard.
"I told you to stay inside."
"They have Daniel."
My mother's face collapsed.
"What?"
I showed Marcus the photograph.
He studied it for less than two seconds.
Then he spoke into the microphone hidden at his wrist.
"Possible hostage situation. Black SUV, east drive."
The vehicle moved immediately.
Its tires screamed against the pavement.
"Daniel!" my mother cried.
Two federal vehicles shot from the underground garage.
The SUV accelerated toward the street.
Marcus grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a stone column.
A second vehicle appeared from the opposite direction.
It blocked the exit.
The black SUV swerved.
It struck a row of decorative planters and stopped at an angle.
Agents surrounded it.
Weapons raised.
Doors opened.
A man in a gray suit stepped out with both hands visible.
The back seat was empty.
My stomach dropped.
Marcus searched the vehicle himself.
He returned holding a tablet.
The photograph of Daniel was still open on the screen.
"It was staged," he said.
"No."
"The image may be real, but he was never in this vehicle."
My mother pressed both hands over her mouth.
I called Daniel.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Voicemail.
The man in the gray suit was forced to his knees.
I recognized him.
He had stood behind Blake during the rehearsal dinner.
His name was Owen Price.
Blake had introduced him as a corporate risk consultant.
Marcus crouched in front of him.
"Where is Daniel Cruz?"
Owen smiled.
"I want a lawyer."
My mother moved faster than I expected.
She crossed the pavement and slapped him.
The sound cracked through the night.
"Where is my son?"
Agents pulled her back.
Owen's smile widened.
"Mrs. Cruz, your children have a habit of placing themselves in dangerous situations."
Marcus stood.
"Take him."
As agents dragged Owen away, the ballroom doors opened again.
Blake walked outside without handcuffs.
A federal attorney walked beside him.
He had removed his jacket.
His tie was loose.
He looked like a concerned groom whose wedding had been ruined by a misunderstanding.
My mother tried to reach him.
Marcus stopped her.
Blake studied the damaged SUV.
Then he looked at me.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"You know where Daniel is."
"I have not seen your brother in months."
"You sent the message."
"Can you prove that?"
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I lifted my chin.
"You are standing outside your wedding while your father is arrested and your company collapses. Why are you smiling?"
"Because this is not over."
The federal attorney beside him cleared her throat.
"Mr. Harrington has agreed to appear voluntarily for questioning tomorrow morning. At this time, he is not under arrest."
Marcus looked furious.
"His personal security contractor just fled from federal agents."
"And Mr. Harrington denies instructing him to do so."
Blake held out his hands.
"I want Daniel found too."
My mother made a sound of disgust.
Blake turned toward her.
"Elena, I know we have had our differences, but Grace is emotional. She may have misunderstood what she found."
"You threw money on the floor for me."
"A tasteless joke."
"You tried to steal my company."
"A legal agreement."
"You kidnapped my son."
His face softened with fake sympathy.
"If Daniel is missing, perhaps you should ask why he had been borrowing money from dangerous people."
I stared at him.
"What are you talking about?"
Blake reached into his pocket.
Marcus immediately stepped closer.
Blake slowly removed his phone.
He opened a message thread and held it toward me.
Daniel's name appeared at the top.
There were dozens of messages.
Requests for money.
Promises to repay debts.
One message mentioned a poker game.
Another mentioned $75,000.
My mother shook her head.
"Daniel does not gamble."
Blake shrugged.
"Then someone used his phone."
I snatched the device from his hand.
The messages looked real.
Too real.
The language sounded like Daniel.
Short sentences.
Bad spelling.
The same joke he always used when he asked me for a favor.
My chest tightened.
"When did he send these?"
"Over the last four months."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he begged me not to."
Blake's performance was perfect.
He placed a hand over his heart.
"I paid his debts twice. I did it for you."
"Liar."
"Call the casino."
He named a private club downtown.
I had heard of it.
Wealthy men went there to lose money where cameras were forbidden and names never appeared in public records.
Marcus took the phone.
"We will verify everything."
Blake nodded.
"Please do."
He walked toward a waiting sedan.
I stepped in front of him.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Your father was just arrested."
"My mother needs me."
"Your mother called our marriage a charity project."
"And your mother secretly owns my family's company. It seems everyone had surprises tonight."
He leaned closer.
"I warned you that numbers do not tell the whole story."
"No. People like you use that excuse when the numbers expose them."
His expression hardened.
"You think your mother is a hero?"
"She is."
"Ask her what happened to your father."
My breath caught.
My father had left when I was eight.
My mother said he had chosen another life.
No details.
No photographs.
No explanation that ever satisfied me.
Blake watched the question appear in my eyes.
"Ask her why Thomas Bennett disappeared two days after signing the original Harrington loan agreement."
My mother went pale.
Blake smiled.
Then he stepped around me and entered the sedan.
I turned toward her.
"Mom?"
She stared at the ground.
The sedan pulled away.
"Mom, what is he talking about?"
Marcus was still beside us.
Several reporters had moved outside.
Their cameras pointed in our direction.
My mother took my hand.
"Not here."
"Is my father connected to the Harringtons?"
"Grace, we need to find Daniel."
"Answer me."
Tears filled her eyes.
That frightened me more than silence.
"Your father did not abandon us," she whispered.
The world seemed to tilt.
"What?"
"He tried to protect us."
"From whom?"
She looked toward the road where Blake's car had disappeared.
"From William Harrington."
Before I could ask anything else, Marcus's radio crackled.
An agent's voice came through.
"We located Daniel's phone."
My mother gripped my hand.
"Where?"
There was a pause.
"Inside the Harrington corporate headquarters."
Blake's sedan was already heading in that direction.
Marcus ordered vehicles brought around.
My mother and I climbed into the back of an unmarked car.
The city blurred past the windows.
My wedding dress filled half the seat.
The diamond Blake had given me felt like a chain around my finger.
I pulled it off.
I placed it in the cup holder.
My mother watched me.
"I should have told you about your father years ago."
"Yes."
"I was afraid."
"Of William?"
"Of what the truth would do to you."
"What truth?"
She looked at the agents in the front seat.
Then she lowered her voice.
"Thomas discovered that William was stealing from his first company. He collected records. He planned to go to the authorities."
"What happened?"
"He vanished."
"You said he protected us."
"He left a message. He said William had threatened you. He promised he would return when it was safe."
"Did he?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"No."
The car turned sharply.
Harrington headquarters appeared ahead.
Forty stories of glass and steel.
Several lights glowed on the top floor.
Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"What do you mean the building was cleared?"
He listened.
Then he looked at me.
"Blake used an emergency executive order ten minutes ago. He dismissed the night staff and disabled the internal cameras."
The car stopped.
Agents moved toward the entrance.
A security guard lay unconscious beside the revolving doors.
My mother cried out.
A red light flashed near the roof.
Smoke curled behind the top-floor windows.
"The records," I whispered.
Blake was burning the evidence.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel's name appeared on the screen.
I answered immediately.
"Daniel?"
I heard breathing.
Then Blake's voice.
"Come to the forty-second floor, Grace."
My entire body went cold.
"Let me speak to him."
A muffled cry sounded in the background.
Blake lowered his voice.
"You have ten minutes before the fire reaches the room where your brother is tied."
The call ended.
I looked up at the tower.
The smoke was getting thicker.
Marcus blocked the entrance.
"No one enters until the fire department clears it."
"My brother is inside."
"We will get him out."
"He has ten minutes."
May you like
I gathered my dress in both hands.
Then I ran toward the doors.
