Chapter 2 - THE CHRISTMAS EVE THAT TURNED INTO A CRIME SCENE
The ambulance arrived twenty-two minutes later, its red lights sweeping across the snow-covered pines.
Dr. Samuel Keene, the estate physician, had kept Mara lying flat, removed her wet clothing with the assistance of a female nurse, insulated her from further heat loss, and monitored her breathing and pulse while the emergency team was summoned. He warned everyone not to rub her frozen limbs or attempt aggressive external heating.
Gideon stood in the doorway, useless in a way he had not felt since his mother's funeral.
He was accustomed to solving problems by issuing orders.
There was no order that could make Mara wake.
“Her temperature is dangerously low,” Keene told the paramedics.
They transferred her onto a stretcher with extraordinary care.
Gideon followed them toward the entrance.
Celeste intercepted him.
“Darling, your guests are leaving. Surely you aren't going to abandon everyone over a maid.”
He stopped.
The paramedics continued past.
“Say that again.”
Celeste blinked.
“I only meant—”
“Over a maid?”
Her gaze darted toward the guests.
“Gideon, people are staring.”
“Good.”
He stepped closer.
“Let them.”
Then he removed the engagement ring from his pocket.
Celeste looked at it.
He had taken it from the velvet case in his study earlier that afternoon, intending to ask why his mother's jewelry inventory had been altered.
Now he placed the ring on a side table.
“Our engagement is over.”
A collective gasp moved through the ballroom.
Celeste's expression hardened.
“You cannot humiliate me like this.”
Gideon looked at the shattered terrace door.
“You watched a woman freeze to death.”
“She was only supposed to be outside for a minute!”
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Gideon said nothing.
He didn't need to.
Several guests turned toward her.
Eli, the waiter, began crying.
Mrs. Pike pressed a hand to her mouth.
Gideon looked toward Detective Adrian Bell, who had just entered with two uniformed officers.
“You heard that?”
Bell nodded.
“I did.”
At the hospital in Denver, Mara was admitted for treatment of severe hypothermia.
Gideon waited outside the intensive care unit.
His security chief, Nathan Cole, approached shortly after midnight.
“We secured the footage.”
“And?”
Nathan's expression was grim.
“Miss Harrow and Mrs. Pike locked the terrace door. The camera shows Mara trying to get back inside for nineteen minutes.”
Gideon's jaw tightened.
“Who else knew?”
“Several guests noticed.”
“And did nothing.”
Nathan nodded.
“I'm afraid so.”
Gideon stared at the floor.
Then Nathan added something worse.
“The footage shows Celeste returning to the door twice.”
Gideon looked up.
“Why?”
Nathan swallowed.
“She checked whether Mara was still moving.”
At 2:11 a.m., a physician came out.
“Mara is alive,” she said.
Gideon exhaled.
“But she remains in critical condition. We are treating severe hypothermia and monitoring for complications.”
“Can I see her?”
“Briefly.”
He entered the room.
Mara lay beneath hospital blankets, surrounded by equipment.
Her face looked impossibly young.
Twenty-six, according to her employment file.
He sat beside her.
“I should have seen what was happening.”
Her eyes remained closed.
“I should have known.”
He stayed until morning.
At 6:40, Mara stirred.
Her lips moved.
Gideon leaned forward.
“Mara?”
Her eyes opened.
Fear flashed through them.
She tried to pull away.
“Please don't send me outside.”
Gideon felt something inside him break.
“You're safe.”
She looked at his face.
Recognition came slowly.
“Mr. Vale?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“Did Celeste find it?”
“Find what?”
Mara stared at him.
May you like
Then whispered:
“The thing your mother left for my father.”
