Chapter 2 - The Man Behind the Smile
The alarm was not part of the lockdown.
I knew that immediately.
Marcus touched the radio clipped beneath his jacket.
“Control room, report.”
Static answered.
Then nothing.
The ballroom guests began whispering.
Fear moved through the crowd faster than any announcement could control.
Harrison Crowe remained perfectly still.
That was how I knew he had expected something like this.
“Marcus.”
I kept my eyes on Harrison.
“Someone cut communications.”
Marcus nodded.
“Looks that way.”
Gavin suddenly found his courage again.
“You don’t control anything.”
He pointed toward the dark screens.
“You trapped yourself in here with us.”
I turned toward him.
“No.”
“I trapped whoever is trying to erase the evidence.”
His smile disappeared.
Security officers began collecting phones from Crowe family staff members who had access to the estate systems.
Several protested.
One tried to slip toward the kitchen.
Marcus stopped him.
Harrison sighed dramatically.
“This has gone far enough.”
He looked at me with the patient expression a father might use on an unreasonable child.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.”
“That sentence would sound more threatening if your son hadn’t already put his hands on me.”
Harrison stepped closer.
“You came here looking for trouble.”
“I came here because your foundation invited me.”
Something flickered across his face.
That invitation had bothered me from the beginning.
Three weeks earlier, the Crowe Foundation had sent a personal request for me to attend its annual fundraising gala.
I almost declined.
Then I saw the name of the foundation’s newest redevelopment project.
Harbor House.
My mother had investigated Harbor House seventeen years earlier.
Three days after she submitted her findings, she died in what police called a highway accident.
I had been sixteen.
My father never believed it was an accident.
Neither did I.
Harrison studied my expression.
“You’re thinking about your mother.”
The ballroom seemed to disappear around me.
I heard nothing except those four words.
Marcus shifted beside me.
Gavin looked confused.
“What does her mother have to do with anything?”
Harrison ignored him.
I moved one step toward the older man.
“You knew her.”
Harrison smiled.
It was not a pleasant smile.
“Everybody knew Caroline Mercer.”
My mother’s name sounded wrong coming from his mouth.
Too familiar.
Too easy.
“She was persistent.”
My hands became cold.
“Persistent about what?”
“You already know.”
Before I could answer, the service elevator behind the orchestra chimed.
Every security officer turned toward it.
The doors opened.
A young woman stumbled into the ballroom.
Her silver evening dress was torn near the shoulder.
She was barefoot.
There was blood on one knee.
Marcus rushed forward.
She raised both hands.
“Please.”
Her eyes found mine.
“They’re destroying the files upstairs.”
The crowd erupted.
Harrison finally lost his calm.
“Get her out of here.”
I stared at him.
Then at the terrified woman.
“Who are you?”
She swallowed.
“My name is Anna Bell.”
May you like
Her eyes filled with tears.
“And Gavin Crowe ruined my life three years ago.”
