Chapter 3 - THE NIGHT MARA TRIED TO COME HOME
Gideon did not look at Owen immediately.
That was deliberate.
A person who expects betrayal often moves too quickly.
Gideon had learned to wait.
Malcolm kept the pistol pointed toward the floor, but his finger rested close to the trigger.
“Ask him,” he repeated.
Owen’s face remained unreadable.
Gideon finally turned.
“What does he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Malcolm laughed.
“Of course.”
Owen stepped forward.
“Put the weapon down.”
“You always were loyal.”
Malcolm’s smile became cruel.
“Helena appreciated that.”
Something changed in Owen’s expression.
Small.
But Gideon saw it.
“You knew my mother.”
“I worked for her.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“You worked for her before you worked for Gideon.”
Gideon frowned.
Owen had joined Kessler security eleven years earlier.
One year after Helena died.
At least officially.
“Owen.”
The security chief exhaled.
“I was twenty-two.”
“What?”
“I did private work for your mother.”
“What kind?”
“Surveillance.”
Gideon felt his pulse rise.
“On who?”
“Malcolm.”
Malcolm smiled.
“There.”
Gideon ignored him.
“Why?”
Owen looked toward the nursery walls.
“Helena believed someone was accessing Ashcombe’s family trust without authorization.”
“Was she right?”
“Yes.”
“Malcolm?”
“Sometimes.”
Malcolm’s face hardened.
“Be careful.”
Owen continued.
“But not only Malcolm.”
Gideon’s anger sharpened.
“Who else?”
“I never proved it.”
“Stop giving me half answers.”
Owen looked at him.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Conrad Kessler.
Gideon’s father.
Dead eight years.
Gideon had spent his childhood believing his father was the harder parent and Helena the warmer one.
Conrad demanded excellence.
Helena demanded honesty.
They fought often.
But Gideon never believed the fighting involved criminal money.
“What was my father doing?”
“Moving assets.”
“For who?”
“Edgar.”
“My grandfather?”
“Yes.”
Malcolm interrupted.
“You see why none of this is simple?”
Gideon stared at him.
“It became simple when you targeted my daughter.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“I was trying to confirm whether she carried Helena’s locket.”
“By humiliating her in front of two hundred people?”
“That woman was not supposed to do that.”
Celeste had said the same thing.
For once, Gideon believed them.
Not because it excused anything.
Because cruelty had apparently been improvised.
The locket mattered more.
Gideon asked:
“Why does Sage threaten you?”
Malcolm looked toward the records.
“Because Mara is a Rowan beneficiary.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ask your mother’s letter.”
Gideon stepped closer.
“She’s dead.”
“Then read faster.”
A guard’s voice suddenly echoed from the hallway.
“Mr. Kessler?”
Owen raised his radio.
“Hold position.”
Malcolm looked at the doorway.
Then at Gideon.
“I came here because there are things worse than losing money.”
“Such as?”
“Finding out why Mara disappeared.”
Gideon’s stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
Malcolm lowered the gun slightly.
“Seven years ago, Mara came to Ashcombe.”
Gideon froze.
“That’s impossible.”
“You were in London.”
He remembered.
A three-week acquisition negotiation.
Mara stopped returning his calls during that trip.
When he returned, her apartment was empty.
A short email waited.
I can’t do this anymore.
Don’t look for me.
He had looked anyway.
For almost a year.
Then stopped.
Malcolm continued.
“She was pregnant.”
Gideon could barely speak.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“She asked us not to.”
“Us?”
Malcolm looked toward Owen.
Again.
Gideon turned.
Owen’s face had gone gray.
“You saw her.”
Owen nodded once.
Rage struck Gideon harder than he expected.
“You knew I had a child.”
“No.”
“But you knew Mara was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And never told me.”
“She made me promise.”
“For seven years?”
“She said if you knew, you would come after her.”
“I would have.”
“That was what she was afraid of.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
Owen looked toward Malcolm.
“Of whoever would follow you.”
Gideon stopped.
Owen continued.
“Mara came to Ashcombe because Helena had left instructions with my predecessor.”
“What instructions?”
“If Mara ever appeared asking about Catherine Rowan, give her access to the east nursery.”
Gideon stared.
“Mara knew her mother was part of this family?”
“Not until that night.”
“She opened the nursery?”
“Yes.”
“What did she find?”
“Enough.”
Malcolm whispered:
“The real will.”
Gideon looked at him.
“Where is it?”
“Gone.”
“Mara took it?”
Owen nodded.
“She also took copies of corporate transfers, trust documents, and Helena’s journal.”
“Why?”
“Because someone had been draining the Rowan trust.”
Gideon understood.
Money intended for Catherine and her descendants.
For Mara.
Potentially for Sage.
“How much?”
Owen hesitated.
“Adjusted value?”
“Yes.”
“Nearly ninety million.”
Gideon’s face hardened.
Malcolm said:
“Before you look at me, I didn’t take it.”
“Your record isn’t inspiring confidence.”
“I borrowed against trust assets.”
“Borrowed?”
“I repaid most of it.”
“That sentence belongs in prison.”
Malcolm ignored him.
“The missing ninety million started before I had signing authority.”
Gideon looked at Owen.
“Who did?”
“Edgar.”
“My grandfather stole from his adopted daughter?”
“No.”
Owen looked uncomfortable.
“Your father administered the account.”
Conrad.
Again.
Gideon’s world tightened.
“My father stole Mara’s inheritance.”
“We never proved it.”
“What did Mara believe?”
“That Conrad knew where the money went.”
“Did she confront him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Owen said nothing.
Malcolm answered.
“Because Conrad was already dead.”
Eight years ago.
A private plane crash off the coast.
No survivors.
Gideon’s anger turned colder.
“So who did she confront?”
Malcolm looked at him.
“Me.”
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Helena had suspected Conrad before she died.”
Gideon looked toward Owen.
“Did my mother die in an accident?”
Owen’s silence destroyed the question.
Gideon whispered:
“No.”
Owen closed his eyes.
“The official report said brake failure.”
“I know what the official report said.”
“I never believed it.”
“Why?”
“Helena called me that afternoon.”
Gideon stopped breathing.
“What did she say?”
“She said she had finally found proof.”
“Of my father stealing?”
“No.”
Owen looked directly at him.
“She said Conrad wasn’t stealing the Rowan money.”
“Then who was?”
“I don’t know.”
“What proof?”
“She told me it was inside the second will.”
“And?”
“She died before I reached her.”
Gideon stared at him.
“You kept this from me for eleven years.”
Owen’s eyes filled with something that looked almost like shame.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Helena’s final instruction was to protect you until the Rowan heir returned.”
Gideon laughed without humor.
“Everyone keeps protecting me by making me stupid.”
Owen flinched.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“It was the result.”
A small voice came from the doorway.
“Daddy?”
Every adult froze.
Sage stood in the hall wearing pajamas.
Dr. Brooks was behind her.
“I’m sorry,” the doctor said. “She woke up and insisted she heard voices.”
Gideon immediately moved toward his daughter.
But Sage was looking past him.
At Malcolm.
Her face changed.
She stepped backward.
“No.”
Gideon crouched.
“What’s wrong?”
Sage pointed.
“Him.”
Malcolm looked confused.
Gideon’s voice hardened.
“What about him?”
Sage’s breathing quickened.
“He came to our apartment.”
Malcolm went white.
“When?” Gideon asked.
“Before Mama went away.”
Silence.
Malcolm shook his head.
“She’s mistaken.”
Sage stared at his right hand.
Malcolm wore a heavy silver signet ring.
The Kessler crest.
Sage began crying.
“He had that.”
Gideon looked at Malcolm.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Sage whispered:
“Mama was screaming.”
Malcolm backed away.
“No.”
Sage continued.
“He said she had to give him the papers.”
Gideon’s hands curled into fists.
“Where is Mara?”
Malcolm stared at Sage.
Then at Gideon.
His shoulders finally dropped.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear.”
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did you threaten her?”
“Yes.”
The admission cracked through the room.
Gideon rose.
Malcolm continued quickly.
“I needed the will.”
“So you went to a pregnant woman’s apartment.”
“Yes.”
“Threatened her.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“She ran.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did Sage end up in foster care?”
Malcolm’s face changed.
“I never knew the baby was born.”
Sage clutched Gideon’s jacket.
Owen’s radio suddenly crackled.
“Chief.”
“What?”
“We found the east-wing access record.”
Owen listened.
Then went completely still.
“Repeat that.”
A pause.
“No.”
Gideon stared.
“What happened?”
Owen lowered the radio.
“The code used to enter Sage’s room was created seven years ago.”
“By who?”
Owen looked at him.
“Mara Rowan.”
Gideon frowned.
“Mara had an Ashcombe security code?”
“Yes.”
“Was it ever disabled?”
“It should have expired.”
“But?”
“It was used four times in the last forty-eight hours.”
Gideon stopped breathing.
Sage looked up.
“Daddy?”
He barely heard her.
If Mara’s private code had been used after Sage arrived…
May you like
Either someone had stolen it years ago.
Or the woman everyone believed had vanished was much closer to Ashcombe than Gideon imagined.
