Chapter 2
Elena read the note twice.
Her grandfather, Augustus, had died eight months earlier after falling from the balcony of his penthouse suite.
Police called it an accident.
Daniel called it a tragedy.
Elena had never believed either explanation.
She folded the message before the nearest officer could see it.
Detective Marcus Reed approached her.
He had investigated Augustus’s death.
“You need medical attention,” he said.
“I need access to the security archive.”
“This is an active investigation.”
“It is also my property.”
Reed’s expression tightened.
“You activated the trustee protocol. That does not make you a detective.”
“No. It makes me the woman your department failed to protect.”
Vanessa shouted from across the lobby.
“Elena staged the crash!”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Stop talking.”
That was the first honest thing he had said.
Paramedics treated Elena in the manager’s office. Her left foot required stitches. Her ribs were badly bruised but not broken.
While they worked, her younger brother, Adrian, rushed inside.
He dropped to his knees beside her.
“We thought you were dead.”
Elena studied his face.
Adrian had cried at Augustus’s funeral.
He had organized searches after Elena vanished.
But she no longer knew which emotions were real.
“Who declared me dead?” she asked.
“No one. Daniel petitioned the trust to recognize you as missing and transfer your voting rights temporarily.”
“How temporarily?”
Adrian looked away.
“He scheduled a permanent control hearing for tomorrow.”
That explained the timing.
If Elena had remained missing one more day, Daniel would have taken control of the Somor trust.
Vanessa’s stolen badge would have given them access to financial records before the hearing.
“Where is Sofia Lane?” Elena asked.
Sofia was the compliance director whose badge Vanessa had worn.
“No one has seen her since Friday,” Adrian replied.
Detective Reed entered.
“We found blood in Ms. Lane’s office.”
Elena remembered Grandfather’s warning.
Do not trust the police.
She watched Reed carefully.
“Whose blood?”
“The laboratory is working on it.”
“Your department has a rapid-response unit downstairs.”
Reed stared at her.
“How do you know that?”
“Because my trust donated the equipment.”
He stepped closer.
“Daniel tried to kill you. Let us handle him.”
“You handled my grandfather’s death too.”
Reed’s face became cold.
Then his phone rang.
He turned away to answer.
Elena used the moment to send Adrian a message.
DO NOT LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HIM.
Adrian read it, then nodded slightly.
The police transported Daniel and Vanessa to the station.
Elena refused to go with them.
Instead, she accessed the resort’s private archive from Augustus’s penthouse.
Most footage from the night of his death had been deleted.
But the master system saved short emergency backups.
At 11:47 p.m., Augustus entered the elevator with Detective Reed.
At 12:06 a.m., Reed left alone.
The official report claimed Reed arrived after midnight in response to the fall.
He had lied.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“We need to send this to federal investigators.”
The power went out.
Emergency lights flashed.
A figure moved through the open doorway.
Adrian shoved Elena behind the desk as a bullet struck the wall.
The gunman fired again.
Then he ran toward the service stairs.
Adrian chased him.
Elena grabbed Augustus’s walking stick and followed despite the pain in her foot.
They reached the roof.
The gunman was gone.
A length of rope hung over the edge.
On the ground lay a police identification card.
Detective Marcus Reed.
Then Elena’s phone received a video.
Sofia Lane sat tied inside a dark room.
May you like
A masked man stood behind her.
“Release Daniel by midnight,” he said, “or Sofia falls from the same balcony as your grandfather.”
