Chapter 4 - The Invitation
Adrian stood at the top of the aircraft stairs.
Daniel Reed waited below.
Snow from an earlier storm covered the edges of the private terminal, though the night sky itself was clear.
“You diverted the plane?”
Daniel placed both hands into the pockets of his coat.
“I arranged a safer landing.”
“Safer than Aspen?”
“Under the circumstances.”
“What circumstances?”
Daniel glanced toward the cabin.
“Perhaps we shouldn’t discuss family matters where the children can hear.”
Adrian descended two steps.
“You stopped earning the right to decide what my family hears a long time ago.”
Daniel’s expression barely changed.
Elena appeared behind Adrian.
Daniel looked at her.
“Ms. Hart.”
“Don’t call me that like we’re old colleagues.”
“I understand you’re upset.”
“You lied to me.”
Daniel sighed.
“That depends on how you define the word.”
Adrian took another step.
“I define it traditionally.”
Daniel glanced toward the men near the SUVs.
“They’re security.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“No, but Mrs. Mercer did.”
“My mother doesn’t control my security.”
Daniel looked amused.
“Vivian believes tonight is exceptional.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
His mother’s name appeared.
He stared at it.
Elena saw.
“Answer.”
He did.
“Mother.”
Vivian Mercer’s voice came through calm and polished.
“Adrian.”
“Did you divert this aircraft?”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you were about to take a deeply complicated situation into Aspen without counsel, security, or any understanding of what you discovered.”
“I discovered that you apparently knew Elena was pregnant.”
Silence.
That silence answered more than words could have.
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“How long?”
Vivian responded carefully.
“This conversation should happen privately.”
“How long?”
“Adrian.”
“How long did you know I had children?”
Elena watched him.
Vivian sighed.
“I did not know they had been born.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I knew Elena claimed to be pregnant.”
“Claimed?”
The single word contained enough anger to make Daniel glance toward him.
Vivian continued.
“At the time, there were reasons to doubt—”
“She was carrying my children.”
“We did not know that.”
“You made sure I never knew anything.”
Vivian’s tone sharpened.
“I protected you from a situation you were too emotionally involved to understand.”
Adrian laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You forged documents?”
“No.”
“Daniel gave Elena documents with my signature.”
“I authorized Daniel to communicate legal options.”
“Did you forge my name?”
“No.”
Adrian looked at Daniel.
Daniel’s face revealed nothing.
“Then who did?”
Vivian paused.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to come home.”
“Home?”
“The estate.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
Her expression said absolutely not.
“No.”
Vivian’s voice softened.
“Adrian, if those children are yours, then their existence has serious implications.”
He went very still.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The first thing you think about is implication.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Not whether they’re happy.”
“Adrian—”
“Not whether they’re healthy.”
“I’m trying to—”
“Not whether Elena spent four years raising them alone because someone convinced her I had abandoned them.”
Vivian became quiet.
Adrian continued.
“The first thing you think about is what their existence does to the family.”
Vivian’s tone hardened.
“You are not the only person affected.”
“They are my children.”
“If confirmed.”
Elena flinched.
Adrian saw it.
He ended the call.
Daniel looked disappointed.
“That was unnecessary.”
Adrian stepped down until they were face-to-face.
“Here’s what happens next.”
Daniel remained silent.
“Elena chooses where she goes.”
“Of course.”
“The children stay with her.”
“Naturally.”
“And no one from my family goes anywhere near them without permission.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“You’re speaking like a man who has authority over a situation he discovered two hours ago.”
Adrian moved closer.
“I’m speaking like someone who knows you lied to the woman carrying his children.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“I followed instructions.”
“Whose?”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
She felt the question before Adrian repeated it.
“Whose instructions?”
Daniel did not answer.
A new SUV entered the private terminal lot.
It stopped near the plane.
A woman in her late thirties stepped out.
Adrian relaxed slightly.
“Mara.”
Mara Quinn, Adrian’s longtime attorney and closest friend, approached quickly.
She nodded toward Elena.
“Ms. Hart.”
“Mara.”
The women had met only twice years earlier.
Mara turned to Adrian.
“Your message sounded like the beginning of a lawsuit and the end of Christmas.”
“Both are possible.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Why are you here?”
“Mrs. Mercer requested—”
“I wasn’t asking you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Mara handed Adrian a tablet.
“I ran the ownership records.”
Adrian scanned the screen.
“North Peak Charter is controlled by the family trust.”
“Yes.”
“Who has operational authority?”
Mara hesitated.
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
She tapped the screen.
“Until three months ago, Vivian.”
“And now?”
“Julian.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
Adrian looked toward Daniel.
“Did Julian order the diversion?”
Daniel remained silent.
Mara continued.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“Grantwell Development.”
Elena looked at her.
Mara handed over another document.
“Grantwell’s majority shareholder is a Cayman holding company called Armitage Capital.”
Elena had never heard the name.
Mara swiped down.
“Armitage Capital is controlled by another trust.”
Adrian read the name.
His expression changed.
THE JULIAN MERCER CHILDREN’S TRUST.
Elena stared at the screen.
“I’ve worked for Julian for three years?”
“Indirectly.”
“Why?”
No one answered.
Lucy appeared at the top of the aircraft stairs.
“Mommy?”
Elena immediately turned.
“I’m here.”
Lucy held Benny by one arm.
“Oliver says we’re kidnapped.”
Daniel actually looked startled.
Oliver appeared behind her.
“I said maybe kidnapped.”
Adrian climbed back toward them.
“No one is kidnapped.”
Oliver studied the men and vehicles.
“Then why are there bad-guy cars?”
Mara covered a smile.
Adrian crouched.
“They’re just cars.”
“They’re black.”
“Lots of cars are black.”
“Bad guys always have black cars.”
Adrian glanced toward Daniel.
“Sometimes four-year-olds make strong arguments.”
Lucy lifted Benny toward Adrian.
“He wants you to hold him.”
Adrian accepted the bear.
For the first time, he felt its familiar worn fabric in his hands.
He remembered sleeping with it as a child after his father left on long business trips.
Ava had stolen it from his room when she was nine.
He had never seen it again.
Adrian turned the toy.
His thumb brushed the repaired seam behind its ear.
Something hard pressed beneath the fabric.
He frowned.
Elena noticed.
“What?”
Adrian squeezed the spot again.
“There’s something inside.”
Lucy gasped.
“Benny ate something?”
Adrian looked at Elena.
“Did Ava ever tell you she put anything in this bear?”
Elena slowly shook her head.
Adrian examined the old blue stitching.
It had not been repaired by a manufacturer.
It had been hand sewn.
May you like
Ava had hidden something inside Benny.
And she had given the bear to Elena on the exact night Elena disappeared.
