Chapter 4 - The Woman Kendrick Buried
By sunrise, the eighty-eighth floor had become a fortress.
No staff member left without being questioned.
Security footage from the ballroom was copied.
Phone access was restricted.
Three guards Kendrick personally trusted were positioned outside Penny's rooms.
Barrett hated every second of it.
Willa could tell.
He concealed his anger behind clipped instructions and polite expressions, but men who survived through control reacted badly when someone else began closing doors.
Kendrick closed every door.
Except Willa's.
He had moved her into a guest room across from Penny's suite.
"No locks?" Willa asked.
"The lock works."
"From both sides?"
His gaze flicked toward her.
"You're not a prisoner."
"That's generous."
"Don't confuse generosity with strategy."
"I wasn't."
He handed her a phone.
Only three numbers were programmed.
Kendrick.
Security.
Penny's nanny.
"No police?" Willa asked.
"If you want police, I'll call them."
She studied him carefully.
"You'd let me?"
"I said you're not a prisoner."
"And if I tell them who I am?"
"Tell them."
"And what your organization did?"
His jaw tightened.
"Tell them that too."
Willa didn't know what to do with that answer.
Kendrick walked toward the door.
"Breakfast in twenty minutes."
"I'm not hungry."
"Neither am I."
"Then why are we eating?"
"Because people make stupid decisions when they're exhausted and starving."
Willa folded her arms.
"You sound experienced."
"I manage criminals for a living."
He left.
Despite herself, Willa almost smiled.
It vanished when she looked into the mirror.
Willow Bennett stared back.
Not Willa Reed.
Not the woman who carried trays and counted tips.
Willow Bennett.
Daughter of Adrian and Marianne Bennett.
Sister of Caleb Bennett.
Last known survivor of a family erased in one night.
She touched the silver key.
For six years she had believed hiding kept her alive.
Now she wondered whether hiding had only protected the people who wanted her dead.
At breakfast, Kendrick placed Celeste's photograph between them.
Penny sat three chairs away eating strawberries.
Titan occupied the floor beside Willa instead of his usual place near Kendrick.
Kendrick noticed.
"So that's permanent now?"
Willa looked down.
Titan's head rested on her shoe.
"I think you've been replaced."
Penny smiled.
It was so sudden Kendrick forgot to breathe.
Willa saw it.
The ruthless syndicate leader became a father again.
Penny dipped a strawberry into whipped cream.
Then she pointed at Titan.
"Traitor."
Kendrick stared.
Penny had spoken.
One word.
Clearly.
She seemed surprised by herself.
Willa kept her reaction gentle.
"He's definitely a traitor."
Penny nodded solemnly.
Titan sighed.
Kendrick looked away quickly, but not before Willa saw moisture gather in his eyes.
Three years.
That was how long this man had waited to hear ordinary words from his daughter.
The discovery softened something Willa didn't want softened.
She reminded herself of the burning house.
The signature.
Her father's body.
Kendrick cleared his throat.
"We need to talk about Celeste."
Penny's smile vanished.
He immediately regretted saying the name.
Willa reached across the table.
"Maybe later."
Penny's fingers slid into hers.
Kendrick watched.
Then nodded.
After Penny left with her nanny, his expression hardened again.
"Tell me everything."
Willa took a breath.
"The woman I knew as Celia contacted me four months before the crash."
"How?"
"An envelope under my apartment door."
"What was inside?"
"A photograph of my father."
"Anything else?"
"Three words."
Kendrick waited.
Willa looked at him.
"He was innocent."
Kendrick's jaw tightened.
"That brought you to the diner?"
"No. I ignored it."
"Why?"
"Because survival makes you suspicious."
"What changed?"
"She sent another photograph."
Willa swallowed.
"It was Caleb."
Kendrick leaned forward.
"Your brother?"
"Taken after the fire."
"How do you know?"
"He had a scar on his hand from breaking a window that night. He didn't have it before."
"Where was the photograph taken?"
"I couldn't identify it."
"What was behind him?"
"A concrete wall. Metal chair. Nothing else."
"Was he alive?"
"In the photograph, yes."
"Date?"
"At least two weeks after my family was declared dead."
Kendrick sat back.
"So someone had him."
"Yes."
"And Celeste discovered it."
"Yes."
"Did she tell you who?"
"No."
"Why?"
"She said she needed proof before she could trust anyone."
"Even me."
Willa looked at him.
"Especially you."
That hurt him.
He concealed it badly.
"Did she say why?"
"She asked whether you knew what happened to the Bennetts."
"What did you tell her?"
"The truth."
"Which version?"
Willa's voice cooled.
"That Kendrick Ashford signed the order."
Silence.
"How did she react?"
"She said, 'Then either I married a monster or someone wants me to believe I did.'"
Kendrick looked away.
Willa remembered Celeste's face when she'd said it.
She hadn't sounded afraid of her husband.
She had sounded afraid for him.
"She loved you," Willa said before she could stop herself.
Kendrick's gaze returned.
"You knew her four months."
"Long enough."
He looked at the photograph.
"She stopped sleeping near the end."
"I know."
"She checked the locks constantly."
"She thought somebody entered the penthouse while she was gone."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"Maybe she tried."
Kendrick's expression darkened.
"Barrett managed my security reports then."
Willa said nothing.
He understood.
The implications multiplied between them.
Kendrick stood.
"We're opening the key."
"We don't know what it opens."
"But Celeste said first key."
"I've spent three years trying to figure it out."
"Show me."
Willa removed the chain.
For the first time in years, the silver key left her neck.
Kendrick took it carefully.
It was tiny.
Old-fashioned.
An engraving ran along one side.
C-17.
Kendrick frowned.
"Celeste's private bank had numbered boxes."
Willa's heartbeat accelerated.
"Seventeen?"
"No."
He turned the key.
"Her box was thirty-two."
"Then what's C?"
Kendrick stared at it.
Then Penny screamed.
The sound came from the hallway.
Both adults moved instantly.
Kendrick reached the door first.
Penny's nanny stood outside the playroom holding the child's shoulders.
A serving cart had overturned.
Orange juice spread across the marble.
A young maid lay on the floor.
Unconscious.
Foam touched the corner of her mouth.
"What happened?" Kendrick demanded.
The nanny was shaking.
"She tasted Penny's juice."
Willa's blood froze.
"What?"
"She said it smelled strange. She tasted it before giving it to Penny."
Kendrick's face became terrifyingly still.
"Call the doctor."
Guards rushed forward.
Willa crouched beside the maid.
Her pulse fluttered weakly.
"She's breathing."
Kendrick lifted Penny into his arms.
The little girl buried her face against his chest.
Titan paced in tight circles, growling.
Then the mastiff stopped.
He sniffed the overturned cart.
The juice.
The glass.
And finally the black cloth draped across the lower shelf.
A waitress apron.
Willa recognized it immediately.
Her apron.
Her employee number was stitched along the inside edge.
Barrett appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered.
His gaze dropped to the apron.
Then rose to Willa.
The expression on his face was perfect.
Shock.
Disappointment.
Sadness.
Almost convincing.
"Oh, God."
Willa stood slowly.
"That's not mine."
Barrett looked at the embroidered number.
"It appears to be."
"It was taken from the staff changing room."
Barrett looked at Kendrick.
"We searched her locker last night. Perhaps we weren't thorough enough."
Willa's anger rose.
"You planted it."
Barrett's brows lifted.
"That's a serious accusation."
"So is poisoning a five-year-old."
Kendrick turned toward the guards.
"Nobody leaves this floor."
Barrett stepped closer.
"Kendrick, surely—"
"Nobody."
The word cracked through the hallway.
Penny lifted her head.
Her face was white.
Then she saw Barrett.
Her entire body stiffened.
Willa noticed first.
"Penny?"
The little girl stared at him.
Barrett offered a gentle smile.
"You're safe, sweetheart."
Penny began trembling.
Kendrick felt it.
"What's wrong?"
She tried to speak.
Nothing came.
Willa approached slowly.
"Penny, look at me."
The child did.
"You're safe."
Penny's breathing steadied.
"Did you see something?"
Barrett's gaze snapped toward Willa.
Kendrick noticed.
Penny swallowed.
Her tiny hand rose.
One finger pointed.
Directly at Barrett.
Everyone froze.
Barrett laughed softly.
"Children become confused when they're frightened."
Penny's finger remained raised.
Then the little girl forced words through trembling lips.
"Uncle Barrett..."
Her voice broke.
Kendrick's face went blank.
Penny tried again.
"Mommy's car."
Barrett stopped breathing.
Willa felt the room change.
Kendrick lowered his daughter carefully to the floor.
He crouched.
"What about Mommy's car?"
Penny looked terrified.
Barrett took one step forward.
"She was two years old, Kendrick. Whatever she thinks she remembers—"
Titan growled.
Barrett stopped.
Kendrick never looked away from Penny.
"What did you see?"
Tears filled her gray eyes.
"Uncle Barrett."
A sob escaped.
"Mommy said go away."
The words ripped through Kendrick.
His hand tightened against the floor.
Willa knelt beside Penny.
"It's okay."
Penny clung to her.
"Then what happened?"
Willa whispered.
The little girl buried her face against Willa's neck.
For a moment, Willa thought that was all they would get.
Then Penny whispered:
"He opened the car."
Silence.
Kendrick rose.
Very slowly.
Barrett's face had turned pale.
"Kendrick, listen to me."
Kendrick finally looked at him.
Willa had seen dangerous men before.
She had never seen anything as frightening as Kendrick Ashford when his fury became completely silent.
"Search Barrett."
Barrett's expression changed.
"You can't be serious."
"Search him."
Two guards hesitated.
Barrett stared at them.
"I helped raise him."
Nobody moved.
Kendrick's voice dropped.
"Search. Him."
This time they obeyed.
Barrett spread his arms.
His smile returned.
"Of course."
A guard checked his jacket.
His waistband.
His pockets.
Nothing.
Then Titan moved.
The mastiff crossed toward Barrett and pressed his nose against the older man's right sleeve.
One sniff.
Two.
A growl.
Willa noticed a tiny wet mark near Barrett's cuff.
The same pale orange color as Penny's poisoned juice.
Kendrick saw it too.
Barrett looked down.
May you like
For the first time, genuine panic flashed across his face.
And before anyone could react, the lights went out.
