Chapter 3 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE WALL
West Room Four did not appear on the current floor plans.
That was the first problem.
The second was that Salvatore remembered it.
Adrien walked the sealed West Wing just after two in the morning with Clara beside him and Luca ten feet behind.
Mia remained asleep downstairs.
Nobody had entered this corridor regularly in years.
Dust dulled the paintings.
Furniture sat beneath white sheets.
At the far end stood a paneled wall where Adrien remembered a linen closet.
Salvatore touched the molding.
“Your father closed it.”
“Why?”
The butler looked toward Clara.
“After Alessandra died.”
Adrien’s jaw tightened.
His younger sister had died eleven years earlier.
Officially from an accidental overdose.
Twenty-five years old.
Beautiful.
Reckless.
Loved by everyone who knew her before the Moretti name taught her fear.
Adrien had never believed the overdose was intentional.
He also never investigated far enough.
His father made sure of that.
The brass key fit a tiny hidden lock beneath the molding.
A panel released.
Behind it was a door.
Clara whispered:
“Your family really enjoys hiding things inside walls.”
Adrien almost smiled.
Then opened it.
The room smelled of dust and old perfume.
Not bedroom.
Office.
A drafting table.
Two filing cabinets.
A disconnected telephone.
A faded photograph of Alessandra taped to the wall.
She stood beside a man Adrien recognized after several seconds.
Daniel Harper.
Clara stopped beside him.
Her hand rose to her mouth.
“My husband.”
The photograph showed Daniel younger.
Alessandra beside him.
Not romantic.
Professional.
Both holding folders.
On the back:
A.M.C. + D.H. — PROJECT HARBORLIGHT.
“What is Harborlight?” Clara asked.
Adrien did not know.
That annoyed him.
They opened the filing cabinets.
Empty.
Every folder removed.
Except one sheet stuck behind a drawer.
A list of payments.
Children’s hospitals.
School programs.
Shelters.
Scholarships.
Millions distributed over several years.
At the bottom:
HARBORLIGHT TRUST.
Adrien frowned.
His sister had never controlled a trust.
At least, none he knew.
Clara pointed.
“Daniel’s initials.”
D.H. appeared beside every payment authorization.
He had administered it.
Then Luca found a safe beneath the desk.
The brass key did not fit.
Adrien examined the dial.
Four numbers.
Clara looked around.
“Maybe a date.”
Alessandra’s birthday failed.
Her death date failed.
Daniel’s birthday failed.
Then Clara whispered:
“Mia.”
Adrien looked at her.
“What?”
“Daniel used my due date for everything.”
Mia had been born early.
But her due date had been May 14.
The safe clicked.
Inside were no diamonds.
No cash.
Only a tape recorder and a sealed envelope.
Adrien played the recording.
Alessandra’s voice filled the room.
“Daniel, if Adrien finds this, then either I failed or you did.”
Adrien stopped breathing.
His sister continued.
“Harborlight was never Father’s charity.”
A pause.
“It was mine.”
Clara reached for the desk.
Alessandra said:
“I found where Carlo was moving money from it.”
Adrien looked toward Luca.
His uncle Carlo.
Still alive.
Still one of the six men who had sat at Adrien’s table earlier that night.
Then Alessandra’s voice became quieter.
“If anything happens to me, do not trust Uncle Carlo.”
The tape clicked.
May you like
Then resumed.
“And do not tell Adrien until you know which side he chose.”
