Chapter 6 - October Fourteenth.
Marcus Hale remained in the doorway as though he had been invited to join them.
He was in his early sixties, silver-haired, neatly dressed, and calm in the practiced way of a man who had spent decades sitting across from angry people with money.
His eyes moved from the open compartment behind the grandfather clock to the letter in Elena's hand.
"I wondered when someone would find that."
Gabriel stepped between Hale and Elena.
"How did you get my office key?"
Hale lifted it between two fingers.
"You leave too much responsibility to other people."
"Give it to me."
"In a minute."
Elena looked at Gabriel.
"October fourteenth."
Gabriel did not turn around.
"Not now."
"Mara specifically wrote your name."
Hale's smile thinned.
"Then perhaps now is exactly the time."
Gabriel finally faced Elena.
"October fourteenth was the night my father had a stroke."
Elena stared at him.
"That's it?"
"No."
He took a breath.
"It was also the last night I saw your sister."
The library seemed to tilt.
"You told me you learned about her disappearance later."
"I did."
"You just said you saw her."
"I saw her leave."
"And then?"
"Then I flew to Madrid the next morning because my father sent me out of the country."
Elena laughed once, sharp and humorless.
"Of course he did."
Hale stepped into the room.
"Gabriel was young and obedient then."
Gabriel's eyes cut toward him.
"Careful."
"Why?"
Hale set the office key on the nearest table.
"We're finally discussing the part everyone has spent eight years avoiding."
Elena held Mara's letter tighter.
"What happened that night?"
Hale looked at Gabriel.
"Tell her."
Gabriel said nothing.
Hale answered for him.
"Mara discovered payments connected to a company called Northstar Civic Partners."
Elena frowned.
"What was it?"
"On paper, a public consulting firm."
Gabriel's voice was flat.
"In reality, it was a holding company used to move money between contractors."
"For what?"
"Bribes, probably."
Hale gave him a disapproving glance.
"Alleged bribes."
Gabriel ignored him.
"My father used Northstar to keep certain projects moving."
Elena looked at the old ledger in the hidden compartment.
"And Mara found the records."
"Yes."
"What did she do?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"She came to me."
That answer hurt more than Elena expected.
"She trusted you."
"I think she did."
"And what did you do?"
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"I told her I would handle it."
"Did you?"
He looked toward the frozen clock.
"No."
Hale's voice was almost gentle.
"His father collapsed before Gabriel could confront him."
"And Mara?"
Gabriel answered.
"She left the estate around eleven forty."
"Alone?"
"I thought so."
"You thought so?"
"I watched her walk through the front doors."
Elena stepped closer.
"Did she have a car?"
"A rideshare was supposed to pick her up at the lower gate."
"Supposed to?"
"The company says the ride was canceled from her phone."
Elena felt cold all over.
"Her phone was never found."
"I know."
"You said you didn't know which Mara disappeared."
Gabriel looked ashamed now.
"I didn't connect the investigation to her until months later."
"How is that possible?"
"Because Hale told me she had resigned and gone home."
Elena turned toward the lawyer.
Hale's expression did not change.
"That was what I was told."
"By who?"
"Your sister herself."
"That's a lie."
"Is it?"
Hale reached into his jacket slowly.
Gabriel shifted immediately.
"Easy."
Hale produced a folded document.
It was a resignation letter bearing Mara's signature.
Elena read the first line.
I am leaving Reyes Holdings effective immediately and request that no further contact be made with my family.
Her knees nearly gave out.
"She would never write this."
"Maybe you didn't know her as well as you think."
Gabriel took the page and studied it.
"This isn't in the personnel archive."
"Your father kept sensitive files privately."
"So did you."
Hale smiled faintly.
"That's why I'm still useful."
A movement at the doorway made all three turn.
Celeste stood there.
"Mr. Reyes, the north gate has been breached."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
"How many?"
"One vehicle."
Hale checked his watch.
"Then perhaps I should leave."
"You're not going anywhere," Gabriel said.
Hale's smile vanished.
"That sounded like a threat."
"It was a scheduling decision."
Elena looked down at Mara's letter again.
There was more writing near the bottom, almost hidden beneath the fold.
She lifted it toward the chandelier.
One final sentence had been written in tiny letters.
If Hale shows you a resignation letter, check the date.
Elena snatched the document from Gabriel.
The date was October 15.
One day after Mara disappeared.
She looked at Hale.
"How did she sign this after she vanished?"
For the first time, Marcus Hale had no immediate answer.
May you like
Then every light in the library turned off.
A second later, the mansion alarm began to scream.
