Chapter 5 - THE UNCLE WHO TAUGHT DAMIAN HOW TO SURVIVE
Sebastian Vale was sixty-one years old, silver-haired, elegant, and publicly respectable enough to sit on museum boards.
He had also taught Damian how to spot a tail before Damian was old enough to drive.
When Damian’s father, Vincent Vale, died in what newspapers called a boating accident, Damian was seventeen.
His mother had already been gone six years.
Sebastian moved into the family townhouse.
He taught Damian the business.
Legitimate and otherwise.
Never deal drugs.
Never traffic weapons.
Never involve children.
Never make a threat you cannot enforce.
Never confuse fear with loyalty.
That last lesson was apparently one Sebastian had forgotten himself.
Damian stared at security image.
Roman said:
“He accessed your private office at 11:48 p.m.”
“How?”
“His old biometric authorization was never removed.”
Damian closed eyes.
His fault.
Trust treated as permanence.
“What did he take?”
“Ledger.”
“Anything else?”
“Unknown.”
“Where is he?”
“Vale House.”
The family mansion in Society Hill.
Damian stood.
Roman blocked path.
“No.”
Damian stared.
“You’ve never done that.”
“Today seems educational.”
“Move.”
“Think.”
“I am.”
“No. You’re seventeen.”
That stopped him.
Roman had known him since twenty-three.
Only person besides Sebastian who could say that.
“If Sebastian betrayed you,” Roman continued, “charging into Vale House gives him exactly the emotional Damian he expects.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Then what?”
“Ask why.”
“While he destroys evidence?”
“Nina is already freezing systems.”
Damian stared.
Roman smiled faintly.
“Sometimes I am good at my job.”
Meanwhile Harper returned to Bennett Blooms.
Police had cleared shop.
Nina removed device.
Harper tried arranging lilies.
Her hands kept shaking.
Lucy said:
“Go home.”
“This is home.”
“Upstairs is home. This is work.”
“Technicality.”
Then bell rang.
An older man entered.
Beautiful charcoal coat.
Silver hair.
He carried no umbrella though rain had resumed.
“Harper Bennett?”
She became still.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Sebastian Vale.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Damian’s uncle.”
“He mentioned me?”
“No.”
That seemed to amuse him.
“I’d like flowers.”
“Then you’ve come to right place.”
She would not show fear.
“For whom?”
“My sister.”
“What does she like?”
“She’s dead.”
Harper paused.
Memorial flowers.
“Do you want something for grave?”
“White roses.”
Harper moved behind counter.
Lucy watched from back.
Sebastian said:
“You’re brave.”
“No.”
“You kissed Damian in an alley.”
“That was bad judgment.”
“Same thing often.”
Harper looked up.
“What do you want?”
“Flowers.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The part of you he likes.”
Harper’s pulse increased.
“You don’t know what Damian likes.”
“I raised him.”
“Then you should know he doesn’t like people answering for him.”
Sebastian’s smile faded half inch.
Good.
He placed cash on counter.
Far too much.
Harper pushed some back.
“Roses are forty-eight dollars.”
“Keep rest.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to owe you.”
Now smile disappeared.
Interesting.
Sebastian said:
“Damian has enemies.”
“I gathered.”
“You should stay away.”
“Planning to.”
“He won’t.”
Harper’s heart skipped.
“Excuse me?”
“He gets interested rarely.”
“That sounds like his problem.”
“It becomes yours.”
Harper crossed arms.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.”
“Then stop speaking like a villain in a tailored coat.”
Lucy made a strangled laugh from back room.
Sebastian almost smiled.
Then became serious.
“Three men in alley were theater.”
Harper froze.
“What?”
“They were never going to hurt Damian.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I sent them.”
The shop became silent.
Harper’s pulse hammered.
“Why?”
“To see who was watching him.”
“What does that mean?”
“Damian has been investigating missing money. Someone inside family has been monitoring his movements. I needed them to react.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It did until you stepped in.”
Harper stared.
“You staged an attack on your nephew?”
“A confrontation.”
“Three men surrounded him.”
“They were instructed not to touch him.”
“How comforting.”
Sebastian’s gaze hardened.
“You were not supposed to be there.”
“Yet somehow that keeps happening in my own alley.”
Then:
“Did you send photograph?”
“No.”
“Bug?”
“No.”
“Did you steal ledger?”
Sebastian’s eyes changed.
Harper noticed.
“You did.”
“Damian told you?”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“You looked guilty.”
Sebastian laughed.
A real laugh.
“Very dangerous woman.”
“I sell tulips.”
“Apparently.”
Then he lowered voice.
“I took ledger because Damian is looking at wrong betrayal.”
“What betrayal?”
Sebastian glanced toward street.
“His father.”
Harper stared.
“His father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Sebastian leaned closer.
“Vincent Vale did not die in an accident.”
Harper felt cold.
“What happened?”
Sebastian straightened.
“That is Damian’s truth to hear.”
“Then tell him.”
“I tried twenty years ago.”
“What?”
“He was seventeen.”
“He deserved truth.”
“He deserved to live.”
Sebastian took roses.
Before leaving:
“Tell Damian I have the ledger.”
“You tell him.”
“He won’t answer.”
“Why?”
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That I entered his office.”
Harper’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why are you here?”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Because if he comes to me angry, one of us says something we cannot take back.”
“And you think sending me into middle is better?”
“No.”
He opened door.
“I think you’re the only person in Philadelphia he might listen to before deciding.”
“That is absolutely not my responsibility.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Good.”
Then left.
Harper immediately called Damian.
He answered first ring.
“I thought you weren’t calling.”
“Your uncle was here.”
Silence.
“Harper.”
“He admitted stealing your ledger.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
Damian exhaled.
Then:
“What did he say?”
Harper hesitated.
This was family truth.
Not hers.
But Sebastian had deliberately placed it in her hands.
“He said your father didn’t die in an accident.”
Silence.
Long.
Then Damian’s voice became terrifyingly calm.
“What exactly did he say?”
Harper repeated.
When she finished, Damian said nothing.
“Damian?”
Still nothing.
Then:
“Stay inside.”
Click.
He hung up.
Harper stared at phone.
Thirty seconds later, black SUVs passed her window at speed.
May you like
Heading toward Society Hill.
And Harper knew she had just delivered a message powerful enough to make the most controlled man in Philadelphia stop thinking.
