Chapter 6 - SOMEONE WAS INSIDE
Richard did not shout.
That frightened Emily more.
He became completely still.
Then every instinct that had made him one of the most formidable executives in Silicon Valley took over.
“Marcus.”
The security chief answered instantly.
“Sir?”
“Lock the house.”
“What happened?”
“Someone photographed the children from inside or immediately outside.”
Marcus did not waste time asking unnecessary questions.
“Take them to the secure interior room.”
Richard looked at Emily.
She was already moving.
“Boys.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
“Miss Emily?”
“We’re playing a quiet game.”
No panic.
No fear in her voice.
That was what made her extraordinary.
Emily could be terrified and still make children feel safe.
“Everybody bring one blanket.”
Noah rubbed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because the game requires blankets.”
They followed her.
The secure room was hidden behind a reinforced door beside the downstairs office.
Richard had insisted on installing one when he rented the property.
He had expected threats from Victoria’s associates.
He had not expected them within hours.
Emily settled the boys inside.
Richard handed her his phone.
“Do not open this door for anyone except me or Marcus.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“You come back.”
He understood the command.
“I will.”
Richard locked them inside.
Marcus arrived with six security personnel.
They searched the house room by room.
Closets.
Attic.
Garage.
Basement.
Nothing.
Then one guard found the kitchen window unlocked.
Richard stared.
“I checked that.”
“When?”
“Before we slept.”
Marcus examined the frame.
No damage.
Whoever opened it either had access or found it already vulnerable.
Then they reviewed cameras.
At 8:47 a.m., a landscaping van had parked two properties away.
A man wearing a cap walked along the side path.
His face was hidden.
He remained outside camera range for six minutes.
Then left.
The photograph arrived at 9:12.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“Can you identify the van?”
“Plates are obscured.”
“Find it.”
Marcus nodded.
Police were called again.
Detective Ortiz arrived in twenty minutes, looking as tired as everyone else.
She examined the message.
“Catherine knew there were three of us.”
Richard nodded.
“We assumed Daniel, Samantha, and Michael.”
Ortiz shook her head.
“Michael died four years ago.”
“So?”
“The sender uses present tense.”
Emily, who had joined them after the house was cleared, said quietly,
“Maybe Michael isn’t dead.”
Everyone turned.
Ortiz frowned.
“His death certificate exists.”
“Victoria Lane had a death certificate too.”
Silence.
That was an excellent point.
Ortiz immediately ordered verification of Michael Vale’s death.
The original accident had occurred on a mountain road near Lake Tahoe.
Vehicle burned.
Body identified through dental records.
Apparently definitive.
But in a conspiracy involving stolen identities, forged documents and murder, definitive meant very little.
Richard turned to Marcus.
“Who knew this address?”
“Your legal counsel. My team. Detective Ortiz’s unit. Rental management.”
“And Emily.”
Emily looked at him.
His expression changed.
“I’m not accusing you.”
“Good.”
“I learned that lesson.”
Ortiz watched the exchange.
“Someone may have followed you from the hospital.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We changed vehicles twice.”
“Then someone had advance knowledge.”
That was worse.
Someone inside Richard’s circle was still compromised.
His lawyers?
Security?
Police?
Rental company?
For the first time, money and influence were liabilities.
Richard had too many people around him.
Too many access points.
Emily spoke.
“Take the boys somewhere ordinary.”
Richard frowned.
“What?”
“You keep choosing places someone expects Richard Hawthorne to choose.”
“A cheap motel?”
“No.”
She thought.
“My aunt’s house.”
Richard stared.
“You have family nearby?”
“Forty-five minutes south.”
“Is it secure?”
“No.”
“Then absolutely not.”
Emily crossed her arms.
“You asked what someone wouldn’t expect.”
“I’m not taking my children to an unprotected house.”
“Then protect it discreetly.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“She has a point.”
Richard looked betrayed.
“You too?”
“Sir, every corporate property, hotel and rental connected to you can be identified.”
Ortiz agreed.
“A private residence not associated with the Hawthorne name could reduce predictability.”
Richard hated it.
Which usually meant he should consider it.
“Your aunt knows the boys?”
Emily smiled faintly.
“They think she makes the best pancakes in California.”
Richard stared.
“My children have been to your aunt’s house?”
Emily froze.
Oops.
“When?”
“Twice.”
“You took them without telling me?”
“You were in Singapore.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“Victoria had disappeared for a spa weekend and you told me to keep them entertained.”
“So you took them to a private residence?”
“Yes.”
“Without security?”
“Marcus’s team knew.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
Marcus coughed.
“Sir.”
“You knew?”
“They had two vehicles.”
Richard rubbed his forehead.
Apparently everyone had parented his children except him.
“Fine.”
An hour later, they moved.
No convoy.
No black SUVs.
Emily drove an old Honda Marcus borrowed from a staff member.
Richard sat in the passenger seat wearing jeans, a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Ethan stared from the back.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“You look weird.”
“Thank you.”
Noah giggled.
Emily turned onto a quiet residential street in San Mateo.
A modest green house sat beneath an enormous oak tree.
Wind chimes hung near the porch.
Richard looked at it.
“This is where your aunt lives?”
“Yes.”
“It has no gate.”
“No.”
“No cameras.”
“One doorbell camera.”
“No guardhouse.”
“Most people survive.”
Richard gave her a look.
She smiled.
Aunt Rosa opened the door before they reached the porch.
A sixty-two-year-old woman with silver-streaked hair and flour on her shirt.
She hugged Emily.
Then all three boys.
“My babies!”
Richard stood awkwardly behind them.
Rosa looked him up and down.
“You.”
Richard blinked.
“Me?”
“You fired Emily.”
News traveled fast.
He glanced at Emily.
“I called her from the hospital.”
Rosa crossed her arms.
“You have bad judgment.”
Richard almost laughed.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. At least we agree.”
Emily hid a smile.
Rosa stepped aside.
“Come in before the neighbors realize a billionaire is blocking my begonias.”
For the first time in years, Richard entered a home where nobody cared about his money.
The living room furniture did not match.
Children’s drawings covered the refrigerator.
Family photographs filled the walls.
The boys immediately relaxed.
Noah ran toward a basket of toys.
Liam asked for pancakes despite having eaten twenty minutes earlier.
Ethan climbed onto a kitchen stool.
Richard stood in the center of the room.
He suddenly understood what Emily had given his sons.
Normalcy.
Not luxury.
Belonging.
There was a difference.
Rosa handed Richard a bowl.
“Whisk.”
He stared.
“What?”
“Eggs.”
“I don’t cook.”
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
Emily burst out laughing.
Richard looked at her.
The sound warmed something inside him despite the nightmare surrounding them.
He took the whisk.
Thirty minutes later, his first pancake resembled a burned map of Texas.
Ethan ate it anyway.
“It’s crunchy.”
“That is not a compliment,” Emily said.
Richard smiled.
Then Marcus entered through the back door.
The smile disappeared.
“What?”
“We verified Michael Vale’s death.”
“And?”
“Dental records were fraudulent.”
Richard set down the spatula.
“So he may be alive.”
“Yes.”
Marcus placed an old employee photo on the counter.
Michael Vale.
Dark hair.
Thirty at the time.
Richard studied him.
Then Rosa made a sound.
Everyone turned.
“What?”
She pointed at the photograph.
“I know him.”
Emily froze.
“How?”
Rosa took the picture.
“He came here.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Richard’s heart pounded.
“How many years?”
Rosa looked at Emily.
“The first year you started working for the Hawthornes.”
Emily went pale.
“What?”
“He said he was doing a background check.”
Richard stared.
“A background check on Emily?”
Rosa nodded.
“He said the family wanted information because she worked around children.”
Emily shook her head.
“No one told me.”
Richard’s blood ran cold.
“Describe what he asked.”
“About her parents. Her jobs. Whether she had debts.”
Rosa frowned.
“And whether she could be persuaded to leave California.”
Emily’s face changed.
“Why would he ask that?”
Richard understood before anyone said it.
Because Emily was the unexpected variable.
The caretaker who loved the boys.
The employee who noticed things.
The woman Victoria eventually needed removed.
Michael had investigated her three years ago.
Which meant Victoria’s campaign against Emily had not begun with the Rolex.
It had begun almost as soon as Emily entered the house.
Rosa continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“He came back.”
Emily stared.
“When?”
“Last month.”
The room went silent.
“What did he want?”
“He asked whether Emily still stayed here sometimes.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
Marcus was already calling police.
Emily’s face drained.
“He was looking for me.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“He asked about the boys.”
Richard’s chest tightened.
“What exactly did he ask?”
Rosa swallowed.
“He wanted to know whether they ever came here without security.”
Everyone stopped breathing.
Then Ethan spoke from the kitchen table.
“I saw him.”
Richard turned.
“What?”
The child pointed at Michael’s photograph.
“I saw that man.”
Emily crouched.
“Where, sweetheart?”
“At home.”
“When?”
“Lots.”
Richard stared at his son.
“Inside the mansion?”
Ethan nodded.
“He came through the wall.”
Marcus frowned.
“What wall?”
“The library.”
Richard’s blood chilled.
There was no secret door in the library.
At least none that Richard knew about.
But the mansion had been built a century ago.
And Victoria had spent two years renovating sections of it.
Richard turned to Marcus.
“Search every architectural plan for the estate.”
Marcus nodded.
Ethan tugged Richard’s sleeve.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“The man said something.”
“What?”
“He told Victoria the room was almost ready.”
Richard’s mouth went dry.
“What room?”
May you like
Ethan whispered,
“The room for us.”
