Chapter 5 - THE ROOM ZURI WASN’T SUPPOSED TO FIND
Victor left before Damon could stop him.
Not running.
That would have looked guilty.
He simply smiled, said he would contact his attorney, and walked out of the house.
Damon let him go because Theo whispered two words.
“Watch him.”
By midnight, Ashford security was tracking Victor’s corporate access and preserving every server he could touch.
Damon did not sleep.
Neither did Naomi.
At two in the morning, he found her sitting outside Zuri’s room.
“You should hate me,” he said.
Naomi looked up.
“For what?”
“For not knowing.”
“That’s not the same as causing it.”
“It feels close.”
Naomi understood grief well enough not to argue.
Damon sat beside her.
“Why did you really come here?”
“To find the drive.”
“Elena told you about it?”
“She told me there was evidence hidden behind something you would never throw away.”
“The ring.”
Naomi nodded.
“She said if she died before she could prove anything, I should wait.”
“Three years?”
“I was pregnant. Marcus had just died. Then Elena died. Two people connected to the same investigation disappeared within weeks.”
Damon looked toward Zuri’s bedroom.
“You were afraid.”
“I was terrified.”
“Then why come now?”
“Because someone found me.”
Damon turned sharply.
“Who?”
“An attorney I’d never heard of sent me a letter six months ago. He offered money if I surrendered any files Marcus left behind.”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand dollars.”
Damon stared.
“What did you do?”
“I moved. Changed childcare. Changed jobs twice.”
“And then applied here.”
Naomi nodded.
“I decided hiding wasn’t working.”
Before Damon could respond, a tiny figure appeared at the end of the hallway.
Zuri.
Barefoot.
Holding the gold lion.
Naomi stood.
“Baby, what are you doing?”
Zuri ignored her.
She walked toward the sealed east wing.
“The lady room.”
Damon felt his stomach drop.
“What lady room?”
Zuri pointed.
“Song room.”
The music room had been locked since Elena died.
No one used it.
Damon kept it exactly as she left it.
He unlocked the door.
Dustless piano.
Blue velvet bench.
Sheet music.
Elena’s cello in its stand.
Zuri walked inside as if she had been there before.
She crossed straight to the piano.
Then crawled underneath.
Naomi hurried after her.
“Zuri—”
The child touched a carved flower beneath the keyboard.
A hidden drawer opened.
Damon stared.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
ELENA ASHFORD.
A small key.
And a handwritten note.
Damon unfolded it.
If Marcus is dead, the car crash was not an accident.
Naomi made a broken sound.
Then Damon turned the note over.
May you like
There was one more line.
THE PERSON WHO KNOWS WHY IS STILL LIVING IN THIS HOUSE.
