Chapter 5 - THE TRAITOR AT ADRIAN’S TABLE
Nicholas Ferraro arrived for dinner the next evening.
He came because Adrian invited him.
Dominic hated the plan.
Elena hated it more.
“You’re bringing him here?”
“He comes here every Thursday.”
“That was before you knew he helped kill my husband.”
Adrian stood inside the family sitting room.
Elena faced him with both arms crossed.
Mia sat on the carpet arranging wooden blocks by color.
“She stays upstairs.”
“I assumed.”
“With Odette.”
“Yes.”
“Two guards.”
“Four.”
Elena blinked.
Adrian continued.
“Dominic’s men.”
She relaxed slightly.
Then:
“And me?”
“You can stay here.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“While you have dinner with him.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Adrian stared.
“No?”
“No.”
“You are not going downstairs.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
“Then what?”
“I’m leaving the estate with Mia until Nicholas is gone.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“That’s less secure.”
“Then cancel dinner.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“I need him comfortable.”
She laughed in disbelief.
“You need the man who arranged Daniel’s death comfortable?”
“For one hour.”
“I need Mia safe.”
“So do I.”
They stared at each other.
Mia looked up.
“Are you fighting?”
“No,” both said.
Mia returned to the blocks.
“You sound like fighting.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“Elena.”
She did the same.
“Adrian.”
He almost smiled despite himself.
She was the only employee in his estate who could say his name like a warning.
“You are staying.”
“That sounds like an order.”
“It is.”
“Then make it another correction.”
His expression changed.
She saw it.
Good.
Adrian exhaled.
“What do you want?”
“More information.”
“About?”
“What happens tonight.”
He explained.
Nicholas believed the evidence remained hidden.
Adrian would tell him Rachel was attacked.
Mention the missing folder.
Watch his reaction.
Meanwhile Dominic’s team would trace Nicholas’s communications after dinner.
Marcus had already contacted a federal prosecutor he trusted from his previous police work.
No search warrant yet.
No arrests.
They needed something current tying Nicholas to Vescari.
Elena listened.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
“You’ll stay?”
“Yes.”
Not because ordered.
Because informed.
Again.
Adrian was beginning to understand that difference.
At seven, Nicholas entered the dining room carrying a bottle of wine.
He smiled.
“Peace offering for the lockdown.”
Adrian accepted it.
“Didn’t know we were at war.”
Nicholas laughed.
“With you, everyone assumes.”
Dominic sat nearby.
Three other senior men joined.
Normal Thursday dinner.
Or the appearance of one.
Adrian played his part.
Business.
Ports.
Construction bids.
Then halfway through the meal:
“Rachel Adler was attacked.”
Nicholas’s fork stopped for less than a second.
Most people would miss it.
Adrian did not.
“Who?”
“The housekeeper.”
“Ah.”
Nicholas drank wine.
“The clock girl.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“She ran.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
Nicholas smiled.
“Should I know?”
“You approve household background contracts.”
“Not individual maids.”
“You approved Vale Security’s supplemental checks.”
Another pause.
Nicholas set down the glass.
“Standard vendor.”
“Simon Vale?”
“His company.”
“Good?”
Nicholas shrugged.
“Expensive.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Rachel said a man named Vale paid her.”
There.
Nicholas’s pupils changed.
Tiny.
Enough.
“To do what?”
Adrian smiled.
“Nothing important.”
The dinner continued.
Nicholas left at nine twenty.
At nine thirty-one, Dominic’s team saw him enter a parking garage in White Plains.
At nine forty, he switched vehicles.
At ten twelve, he drove toward the Hudson.
Marcus watched from an unmarked federal car with two agents.
Adrian remained at the estate.
He hated that.
Every instinct told him to follow.
Elena stopped him.
Not physically.
With one sentence.
“You said you wanted proof.”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Then let the people collecting proof do their jobs.”
So Adrian stayed.
At ten thirty-four, Dominic’s phone rang.
“He met Simon Vale.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Where?”
“Old restaurant on the river.”
“Vescari?”
“Not there.”
“Audio?”
“Agents are working on it.”
Elena sat across from him.
Mia slept upstairs.
Marcus sent photographs.
Nicholas.
Simon Vale.
Envelope exchanged.
Then a third man arrived.
Adrian stared.
He knew him.
Captain Henry Shaw.
New York organized crime task force.
The man who had attended two charity dinners in Adrian’s home while pretending they barely knew each other.
Federal corruption.
Again.
Daniel’s fear had been justified.
Nicholas did not merely have a mole in Adrian’s organization.
He had protection inside law enforcement.
The meeting ended.
Agents followed Shaw.
Dominic followed Nicholas separately.
Simon Vale disappeared.
Then Adrian’s house alarm activated.
Not perimeter.
Second floor.
Adrian’s blood turned cold.
He was running before security finished speaking.
“Elena!”
She followed.
They reached the family corridor.
One guard lay on the floor.
Alive.
Unconscious.
Another struggled near the stairs.
The suite door stood open.
Elena screamed:
“Mia!”
Adrian entered.
Empty bed.
Blanket on the floor.
Window closed.
Bathroom empty.
“Mia!”
No answer.
Elena’s face became white.
Adrian felt something inside him fracture.
Then a tiny voice came from beneath the wardrobe.
“Mommy?”
Elena dropped to her knees.
Mia crawled out clutching Mr. Buttons.
Adrian nearly collapsed.
Elena grabbed her.
Held her.
“Are you hurt?”
Mia shook her head.
“A man came.”
Adrian crouched.
“What man?”
“Tall.”
“What did he do?”
“He said Mommy wanted me downstairs.”
Elena went cold.
“And you?”
Mia hugged the bear.
“I said Mommy says strangers lie.”
Despite terror, Adrian almost laughed.
“What happened then?”
“Mr. Paul came.”
Paul was Dominic’s guard.
“He told me hide.”
“Where is Paul?”
Mia pointed toward the hallway.
The unconscious man.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Did the stranger touch you?”
“No.”
“Did you see his face?”
Mia nodded.
“Would you know him?”
“Yes.”
Security brought photographs.
Staff.
Contractors.
Known associates.
Mia rejected them.
Then Simon Vale appeared.
She pointed.
“Him.”
Adrian felt the old version of himself rise.
Cold.
Absolute.
Violent.
Simon Vale had entered his home and approached Mia.
There had been a time when the rest of the night would have been simple.
Find him.
End him.
No questions.
Elena saw Adrian’s face.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“He came for Mia.”
“I know.”
“He put his hands—”
“He didn’t.”
“He tried.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“But if you kill him, we lose Daniel’s case.”
Adrian stared.
She was protecting the truth over revenge.
While holding her terrified daughter.
That shamed him.
Mia touched his sleeve.
“Mr. Adrian?”
He looked down.
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
“At me?”
“No.”
Her eyes searched his.
“You look like mad at everybody.”
He almost smiled.
“That’s possible.”
Mia held out Mr. Buttons.
“You can hold him.”
Adrian stared.
Elena’s eyes filled.
Mia pushed the teddy toward him.
“When I’m mad, Mommy says hug something before saying bad words.”
Dominic arrived behind them.
He heard.
Then looked at Adrian.
“I strongly support this medical advice.”
Adrian gave him a murderous look.
Dominic raised both hands.
Mia shoved the bear harder.
Adrian took Mr. Buttons.
A feared man standing in a luxury hallway holding a battered teddy bear while trying not to order a killing.
Elena laughed.
One broken sound through tears.
Adrian looked at her.
Then at Mia.
The anger remained.
But it no longer controlled the next decision.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“Find Simon.”
“Alive.”
Dominic nodded.
“And Nicholas?”
“Do not move.”
“Not yet.”
Adrian handed Mr. Buttons back.
Mia hugged him.
Then something beeped inside the bear.
Everyone froze.
Adrian stared.
The electronics specialist had removed the memory card.
There should have been nothing electronic left.
Another beep.
Dominic took the bear carefully.
A tiny tracker had been pushed into the stuffing through a fresh seam beneath one leg.
Not Daniel’s.
New.
Simon Vale had not come to kidnap Mia.
Not yet.
He had come to mark her location.
Elena’s face went white.
Adrian looked toward the dark windows.
Somewhere outside, somebody believed the tracker still worked.
Dominic asked:
“What do we do?”
Adrian stared at the blinking device.
Then smiled.
Cold.
May you like
Controlled.
“We let it.”
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