Chapter 1 - The Intruder in the Cellar
At 2:13 in the morning, Roman Vale walked into his kitchen for a glass of water and smelled blood before he saw it.
He stopped beneath the archway.
Across the white-marble kitchen, Claire Bennett stood at the sink with her left sleeve under running water. Her shoulders shook as she scrubbed desperately at a dark stain.
“Claire.”
The brush fell from her hand.
She spun around.
“Mr. Vale.”
Roman crossed the kitchen.
“Show me your arm.”
“I broke a glass.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I cut myself.”
“Show me.”
Claire hesitated before bringing her arm forward.
Roman caught her wrist gently.
She flinched.
His expression hardened.
There was bruising around her wrist.
But no cut.
He touched the stain.
“Human blood.”
Claire looked away.
“It isn’t mine.”
“Who touched you?”
“Please.”
“Who?”
Her eyes filled.
“Come downstairs.”
Minutes later, they entered the old pantry beneath the wine cellar.
A man dressed in black lay beside a collapsed shelf. Blood darkened the concrete near his neck. A compact pistol and utility blade rested several feet away.
Roman checked him.
Nothing.
Then he found the electronic device.
A security bypass tool.
“What happened?”
“I came for rosemary,” Claire said.
“At two in the morning?”
“Chef Daniel wanted breakfast prep finished before six.”
She pointed toward an open electrical cabinet.
“I heard something. I thought maintenance was working.”
“And then?”
“I opened the door.”
Claire wrapped her arms around herself.
“He was connecting that device to the security system.”
“What did he say?”
“He laughed.”
Roman waited.
Claire swallowed.
“He said, ‘You’re the maid. Walk away and you’ll live.’”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“I tried.”
“Tried?”
“He grabbed me.”
Claire showed him the bruises.
“He put the blade against my throat.”
Roman looked toward the dead intruder.
“How did he end up there?”
“I hit his arm with the rosemary jar. He dropped the knife. Then he came at me.”
Claire pointed toward the broken shelf.
“I shoved him.”
Roman studied the scene.
The shelf had collapsed.
“He fell?”
“He hit his neck on the metal bracket.”
“You checked him?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He wasn’t breathing.”
Claire's voice cracked.
“I killed him.”
Roman stepped closer.
“You defended yourself.”
“That doesn’t change what happened.”
“It changes everything.”
She stared at him.
Then Roman asked, “Did he say anything else?”
Claire froze.
That reaction told him enough.
“Claire.”
“He said a name.”
“What name?”
She hesitated.
“Please don't make me say it.”
Roman’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“What name?”
Claire whispered it.
“Julian Vale.”
Roman stopped breathing.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Claire frowned.
“Who is Julian?”
Roman stared at the body.
“My brother.”
Claire’s face went pale.
“I thought your brother was dead.”
“So did I.”
Roman pulled out his phone.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
“Wait.”
Roman looked down at her hand.
“He said something else,” she whispered.
“What?”
“He said, ‘Tell Julian the east gate is open.’”
Roman slowly looked toward the ceiling.
The east gate.
His private entrance.
Only six people knew the security code.
Roman called his head of security.
“Marcus.”
A sleepy voice answered.
“Boss?”
“Lock the house.”
“What?”
“Every gate. Every exterior door. Every garage entrance.”
Roman looked at Claire.
“And Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“Don't tell anyone why.”
Roman ended the call.
Claire stared at him.
“Are we in danger?”
Roman picked up the intruder’s pistol with a cloth.
“No.”
“You just locked us inside a mansion with someone who helped an armed man get through your security.”
Roman looked at her.
“You misunderstood me.”
“What did I misunderstand?”
“We're not locked in with them.”
May you like
His expression went cold.
“They're locked in with me.”
