Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
Alexander did not shout.
That frightened Leah more than if he had.
He stood beside his mother’s empty wheelchair, reading the note again.
His hands were perfectly still.
His face wasn’t.
Something cold had entered his eyes.
“Close the palace.”
His security chief nodded.
“It’s already sealed.”
“Every door.”
“Yes.”
“Every tunnel.”
The man hesitated.
Alexander noticed.
“What?”
“There are two historical service tunnels beneath the east wing.”
“Seal them.”
“We don’t have keys.”
Alexander stared at him.
“Why not?”
“They’re controlled by estate operations.”
“Who runs estate operations?”
Silence.
Then the security chief answered.
“Richard Vale.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
Leah recognized the name.
Richard Vale was Bellgrave International’s chief operating officer.
He had stood beside Alexander during the opening ceremony.
He had also disappeared twenty minutes earlier.
Alexander pulled out his phone.
“Find Vale.”
His chief of staff hurried away.
Leah looked at the wheelchair.
“Your mother couldn’t have gone far.”
Alexander turned.
“You don’t know this building.”
“No.”
“But I know she uses a wheelchair.”
“She can walk short distances.”
Leah looked at him.
“That matters.”
“How?”
“If someone wanted to kidnap her quickly, carrying her would draw attention.”
Alexander understood immediately.
“So they might have forced her to walk.”
“Which means they’re moving slowly.”
He looked toward security.
“Search the east wing first.”
The team scattered.
Alexander started walking.
Leah followed.
He stopped.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“This isn’t your problem.”
“Your mother disappeared thirty seconds after calling my name.”
Alexander stared at her.
“That doesn’t make you responsible.”
“I know.”
“Then stay.”
Leah shook her head.
“She protected me after I protected her.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Leah.”
“I’m coming.”
For the first time, something almost resembling respect appeared in his expression.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered the east corridor.
The palace felt completely different without music.
Dark.
Ancient.
Threatening.
Portraits watched them from paneled walls.
Leah noticed something on the carpet.
A blue thread.
She crouched.
Alexander looked down.
“What?”
She picked it up.
“Your mother’s shawl.”
Alexander’s face tightened.
They followed the corridor.
Another thread appeared near a service door.
Then another.
Leah whispered.
“She’s leaving us a trail.”
Alexander touched the door.
Locked.
He stepped back.
Security forced it open.
Behind it was a narrow staircase descending underground.
Alexander looked at Leah.
“Stay upstairs.”
“No.”
He didn’t argue this time.
They descended.
The air grew colder.
At the bottom was a stone corridor.
Leah saw another piece of blue fabric.
Then a sound.
A cough.
Alexander froze.
“Mother?”
Silence.
Then another cough.
They ran.
The corridor opened into an old wine cellar.
Alexander stopped.
His mother sat against the wall.
Alive.
Her hands were tied.
Leah rushed toward her.
“Mrs. Bellgrave.”
“I’m fine.”
Alexander knelt.
“Who did this?”
His mother looked past him.
Her face changed.
“Alexander.”
He turned.
A man stood at the far end of the cellar.
Richard Vale.
He held no weapon.
He looked terrified.
Alexander stood.
“Richard.”
Vale raised both hands.
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
Alexander’s voice became deadly quiet.
“My eighty-one-year-old mother is tied to a chair.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“You’re standing beside her.”
“I found her.”
“Then untie her.”
“I was about to.”
Alexander moved toward him.
Vale backed away.
“Listen to me.”
“Start talking.”
“Vanessa is not the person you should be afraid of.”
Alexander stopped.
Vale’s eyes moved toward Leah.
“She’s a distraction.”
Leah’s stomach tightened.
“Then who?”
Vale swallowed.
“Someone who has access to everything.”
Alexander stared at him.
“Name.”
Vale opened his mouth.
A phone rang.
Not Alexander’s.
Not Leah’s.
Vale’s.
He looked at the screen.
His face drained.
“No.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“What?”
Vale showed him the message.
A photograph.
It showed Alexander standing in the cellar.
Taken seconds ago.
Someone was watching them.
Underneath the photograph was a sentence.
IF YOU SAY MY NAME, YOUR DAUGHTER DIES.
Alexander looked at Vale.
“You have a daughter?”
Vale nodded.
“Twelve.”
His voice broke.
“She disappeared from school this afternoon.”
Leah felt sick.
Vale looked at Alexander.
“I’ve been doing what they told me for six months.”
“What did they tell you to do?”
“Approve transfers.”
“Hide reports.”
“Yes.”
“Intercept messages from my mother?”
Vale closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Alexander’s fists tightened.
“Who?”
Vale shook his head.
“I can’t.”
Alexander grabbed his jacket.
“Fourteen million dollars disappeared.”
“I know.”
“My mother was attacked.”
“I know.”
“My company is compromised.”
“I KNOW!”
Vale’s shout echoed through the cellar.
Then he broke.
“I know because I helped them.”
Alexander released him.
Vale’s eyes filled with tears.
“But if I tell you who’s behind it, my daughter dies.”
Leah stepped closer.
“What if we find her first?”
Vale looked at her.
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s not in the city.”
“How do you know?”
“They sent me a video.”
Alexander held out his hand.
“Show me.”
Vale opened his phone.
The video showed a frightened young girl sitting inside a room.
Behind her was a window.
Leah leaned closer.
Something moved outside.
A flag.
Red and gold.
She recognized it.
Her heart stopped.
“I know where that is.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Alexander stared.
“How?”
Leah pointed at the window.
“That building belongs to Brightwell Events.”
Vale looked horrified.
Leah continued.
“It’s our private retreat outside the city.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“How far?”
“Forty minutes.”
Vale shook his head.
“No.”
Leah looked at him.
“What?”
His face had become completely white.
“They told me she was overseas.”
Alexander stared at the screen.
“They lied.”
Vale slowly sat down.
Then another realization hit Leah.
“If they lied about where your daughter is…”
She looked at Alexander.
“…they’re expecting us to find her.”
Alexander understood.
“It’s a trap.”
Then the cellar door slammed shut above them.
The lights went out.
And a mechanical click echoed through the darkness.
Vale whispered two words.
“Oh, God.”
Leah turned toward him.
“What?”
May you like
Vale’s answer came through the darkness.
“They locked us in.”
