Chapter 4 - THE FILE HE WANTED ME TO FIND
The Romano papers were stored in the basement of the Chicago Historical Society.
I knew exactly where.
Climate-controlled archive room four.
Cabinet twelve.
Collection 1987-B.
I'd spent months cataloging those documents.
Letters.
Photographs.
Donation records.
Old financial ledgers.
At the time, they seemed ordinary.
Now I wondered whether I'd spent three years sleeping beside a man who wanted access to them.
I looked at Victor.
"Trent used to ask about my work."
"What did he ask?"
"Whether the old financial records had been digitized."
Victor's expression changed.
"Anything else?"
"He asked whether anyone could access the original files."
My stomach twisted.
I'd thought he was trying to show interest in my career.
He was studying my access.
"Did you ever bring documents home?" Victor asked.
"No. That would violate our preservation policies."
He nodded.
"Good."
I frowned.
"What are you looking for?"
Victor hesitated.
"Elena left something behind."
"What?"
"A ledger."
I stared.
"Your wife's missing evidence?"
He nodded.
"The original was never recovered. But Whitaker believed Elena made a copy."
I thought about the archives.
Then something clicked.
Six months earlier, I'd found a sealed envelope tucked inside a donated book.
The envelope had no identifying label.
I'd registered it as an unprocessed item because the cataloging department was short-staffed.
My heart began racing.
"There might be something."
Victor looked up.
"What?"
"I found an envelope."
"Where is it?"
"At work."
He leaned forward.
"Do you remember what it looked like?"
"Yellow paper. Red wax seal."
Victor went completely still.
"What?"
His voice changed.
"Did the seal have a small rose pressed into it?"
I stared.
"Yes."
He closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he whispered, "Elena."
I felt a chill.
"Your wife?"
"She used to seal letters with a rose."
I sat back.
"Oh, my God."
Victor reached for his phone.
"We need to inform the detective handling the current threats and have the historical society preserve that envelope."
I nodded.
"Agreed."
Then my phone rang.
Sarah.
My closest friend.
The woman Trent hated because she refused to believe his charming lies.
I answered.
"Sarah?"
Her voice was breathless.
"Claraara, where are you?"
"I'm safe. What's wrong?"
"I went by your office."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Your supervisor called me because you weren't answering your work phone."
I looked at Victor.
Sarah continued.
"Someone broke into the archives last night."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"Cabinet twelve was opened."
I stopped breathing.
May you like
Then she said the words I'd been dreading.
"The entire Romano collection is missing."
