Chapter 2 - THE RED DOOR
Jack reached Emma first.
He didn't touch her.
He simply stood beside her.
Noah came next, his eyes moving from Emma's cheek to Daniel's hand and then to Vanessa's bracelet.
Luke closed the ballroom doors behind him.
The quartet had stopped playing.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel recovered first.
“What are you three doing here?”
Luke smiled without warmth.
“We were invited.”
Daniel looked toward Emma.
“You invited them?”
Emma picked up her clutch.
“No.”
Jack's eyes stayed on Daniel.
“We invited ourselves.”
Daniel swallowed.
Noah stepped closer.
“Emma, do you need medical attention?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Noah nodded.
“Then let's leave.”
Daniel stepped in front of them.
“You're not taking my wife anywhere.”
Jack looked at him.
“She just told you she was leaving.”
“She is my wife.”
Emma's voice was quiet.
“Not for much longer.”
A murmur moved through the ballroom.
Daniel's face hardened.
“You're really going to do this here?”
Emma looked around at the guests.
“You did it here.”
That silenced him.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“This is ridiculous.”
Luke looked at the bracelet on her wrist.
“Nice bracelet.”
Vanessa instinctively covered it with her hand.
Luke's smile disappeared.
“You know where that came from?”
Daniel answered.
“It's none of your business.”
“No.”
Luke reached into his jacket.
“But this is.”
He placed a small silver memory card on the table beside the champagne bucket.
Daniel stared at it.
“What is that?”
Luke looked at Emma.
“You want me to tell him?”
Emma shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What did you bring?”
Noah answered.
“Insurance.”
Daniel laughed nervously.
“Against what?”
Noah looked directly at him.
“Whatever happens next.”
That sentence changed the atmosphere.
Daniel's attorney, who had been standing near the bar, approached.
“Mr. Hayes, if you have concerns, perhaps we should discuss them privately.”
Noah turned.
“And you are?”
“Richard Bell.”
“No.”
Noah shook his head.
“You're Daniel's corporate counsel.”
Richard's expression tightened.
“You know me?”
“I know everyone who represents a company involved in a lawsuit I spent eight months investigating.”
Daniel looked sharply at Noah.
“What lawsuit?”
Noah didn't answer.
Emma did.
“Not here.”
She walked toward the exit.
Daniel grabbed her wrist.
Jack moved instantly.
“Take your hand off her.”
Daniel released her.
Jack didn't raise his voice.
That somehow made the warning worse.
Emma stepped into the hallway.
Her brothers followed.
Daniel remained frozen for several seconds.
Then he went after them.
He caught Emma near the elevators.
“You've been planning this.”
Emma turned.
“I've been surviving it.”
“You're embarrassing me.”
She stared at him.
“You slapped me in front of two hundred people.”
“I lost my temper.”
“You defended another woman.”
Daniel looked toward Vanessa.
“She was being attacked.”
Emma almost smiled.
“By me?”
“Yes.”
“What did I do?”
Daniel had no answer.
Emma nodded.
“Exactly.”
The elevator doors opened.
Before she stepped inside, Daniel caught her eye.
“You don't know what you're doing.”
Emma pressed the button.
“I know exactly what I'm doing.”
The doors closed.
Inside the elevator, Emma leaned against the wall.
Jack watched her reflection.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Jack nodded.
She took a breath.
“But I'm going to be.”
Noah opened his briefcase.
Inside was a thick file.
“Then we need to talk about tonight.”
Luke looked at the memory card in his hand.
“Because this isn't just about Vanessa.”
Emma stared at him.
“What did you find?”
Luke's expression changed.
“Something I wasn't expecting.”
“What?”
He pulled out his laptop.
“I traced the payment for Vanessa's bracelet.”
Emma looked at the screen.
The purchase had been made eleven months earlier.
The account belonged to Mercer Holdings.
Daniel's company.
But the authorization wasn't Daniel's.
It had been approved by someone named Eleanor Hayes.
Emma went completely still.
“My mother?”
Noah looked at her.
“That's what the records say.”
Emma shook her head.
“My mother died nine years ago.”
Luke closed the laptop.
“Then someone is using her identity.”
The elevator reached the parking garage.
Emma stepped out.
Her brothers followed.
A black sedan waited near the entrance.
Inside was Emma's mother’s old driver.
He rolled down the window.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
Emma stared at him.
He handed her a cream-colored envelope.
“This was left at your mother's house.”
Emma opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Daniel and Vanessa entering a private club.
But on the back was handwriting Emma recognized immediately.
Her mother's handwriting.
Do not trust your husband.
Emma's hands began to shake.
Jack took the photograph.
Noah read the back.
Luke looked at Emma.
“There's more.”
He pointed to the lower corner.
A date was written there.
It was two weeks after Emma's mother had supposedly died.
Then Luke noticed something else.
A second person stood in the background of the photograph.
A man wearing Daniel's coat.
Emma stared at him.
“That isn't Daniel.”
Noah turned the photograph over again.
A final line had been written beneath the warning.
Ask your brothers what happened at the red door.
Emma looked at Jack.
Then Noah.
Then Luke.
All three brothers went silent.
Emma whispered, “You know what this means.”
Jack closed his eyes.
Noah lowered the photograph.
Luke stopped breathing for a second.
Emma looked from one brother to another.
“What happened at the red door?”
May you like
Jack finally answered.
“Something we promised Mom we'd never tell you.”
