Chapter 4 - THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT
Security cameras showed Violet leaving through a service corridor.
No one had seen her.
No alarm had sounded.
Someone inside the penthouse had disabled the system.
Adrian became terrifyingly calm.
"Lock down every exit."
His men moved instantly.
Rosa grabbed her coat.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"She knows me."
Adrian looked at her.
"That's why you're staying."
"Adrian—"
"If Matthew has her, he'll use you."
"Then use me."
His eyes hardened.
"No."
"You don't understand."
"I understand perfectly."
"You need someone he won't expect."
Adrian stared at her.
Then his phone rang.
A video appeared.
Violet sat in a chair wearing a red coat.
Her face was pale.
A man's voice spoke.
"Bring me the ledger."
Adrian's hand tightened around the phone.
Rosa stepped closer.
"I'll go."
"No."
"I'll go."
"No."
"Adrian."
He finally looked at her.
"I won't trade you for her."
Rosa's voice softened.
"You don't have to."
She pointed toward the screen.
"Look at Violet."
Violet wasn't crying.
She was staring toward something off-camera.
Rosa recognized the expression.
"She's signaling."
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
"She's counting."
Violet moved her fingers.
Three.
One.
Two.
Three.
Rosa understood.
"She's telling us where she is."
Adrian stared.
"How?"
"Because she knows wood."
Rosa smiled faintly.
"Look at the chair."
The chair behind Violet had distinctive carved legs.
Rosa recognized the design.
"My father restored those."
Adrian's eyes widened.
"Where?"
"An old private club on Delaware Avenue."
They moved within minutes.
The rescue became chaos.
Gunfire erupted inside the abandoned building.
Adrian moved through the darkness like he had been born in it.
Rosa stayed behind cover.
Then she heard Violet scream.
She ran.
Adrian shouted her name.
Too late.
Rosa reached the room first.
A man grabbed her.
She fought wildly.
Her carpenter's hands were stronger than he expected.
She drove her elbow backward.
The man staggered.
Adrian appeared.
One movement.
The attacker hit the floor.
Violet ran into Rosa's arms.
Rosa hugged her.
"I'm here."
Violet buried her face against Rosa's shoulder.
Adrian stood nearby.
His weapon remained raised.
Then he saw the blood on Rosa's hand.
"You're hurt."
"It's nothing."
He took her wrist.
"You're bleeding."
"So are you."
He looked at her.
She realized his shirt was soaked with blood.
"Adrian."
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
He looked away.
Then Rosa saw something on the floor.
A photograph.
She picked it up.
It showed Samuel.
Standing beside Adrian's father.
And beside them—
Matthew Cole.
But the photograph had been taken twenty-three years earlier.
Rosa turned it over.
There was one sentence written on the back.
The daughter is the key.
Rosa stared at it.
"What daughter?"
Adrian looked at her.
May you like
"I don't know."
But Rosa knew he was lying.
