Chapter 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH
Adrian stared at the photograph until his knuckles turned white.
Nia was standing beneath the hospital awning.
One hand held her purse.
The other rested against her stomach.
The image had been taken from across the street.
Close enough to identify her.
Far enough to remain unseen.
Adrian immediately called his head of security.
“Marcus.”
The man answered on the second ring.
“Sir?”
“Where is Erin?”
“Still at the hospital.”
“Who has access to her floor?”
A pause.
“Hospital staff, approved visitors, and our security detail.”
“I didn't ask who should have access.”
Marcus became silent.
“I asked who has access.”
“I'll check.”
“Don't check.”
Adrian's voice was cold.
“Find out.”
He ended the call.
Then he looked down the stairs.
Nia was standing at the bottom.
“You're frightened.”
Adrian slowly put his phone away.
“You shouldn't be involved in this.”
“I've been involved in your secrets for four years.”
“This is different.”
“How?”
“Because someone is watching you.”
Nia's stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian came downstairs.
He handed her the phone.
She saw the photograph.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
“That was taken today.”
“Yes.”
“Who took it?”
“I don't know.”
Nia looked at him.
“Is this because of Erin?”
“Yes.”
“What did she do?”
“She found something.”
“What?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Records.”
Nia's eyes narrowed.
“About what?”
“My father's business.”
The answer surprised her.
Adrian's father had been dead for nearly a decade.
Everyone knew the official story.
He had built a construction empire, expanded into private security, and died after a heart attack.
But Nia knew there were rumors.
Money laundering.
Illegal gambling.
Protection contracts.
Violence.
Adrian had always dismissed those stories.
Until now.
“What did Erin find?”
“She worked in our accounting department.”
“And?”
“She discovered payments that shouldn't exist.”
“To whom?”
Adrian looked toward the window.
“People who officially stopped existing years ago.”
Nia felt cold.
“Your father?”
“His old network.”
She stared at him.
“And you inherited it.”
Adrian didn't deny it.
That was the first time Nia realized how little she truly knew about her husband.
“You told me you cleaned everything up.”
“I tried.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why is a pregnant woman hiding in a hospital?”
“Because some people don't believe I did.”
Nia looked at the photograph again.
“Who is watching me?”
“I don't know.”
“But you have a guess.”
Adrian's silence answered.
Before Nia could speak, his phone rang.
Marcus.
Adrian answered.
“What?”
“We found something.”
“Talk.”
“There was a man near the hospital garage.”
“Description?”
“Gray coat. Fifty, maybe sixty. He left before our people reached him.”
“License plate?”
“Covered.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“He left this.”
Marcus sent another photograph.
Adrian opened it.
A small brass key lay on a concrete floor.
Nia watched his expression change.
“What is it?”
Adrian didn't answer.
She took the phone.
There was a tiny engraving on the key.
C-17.
Nia looked at him.
“What does C-17 mean?”
“An old storage unit.”
“Where?”
“Boston Harbor.”
“What's inside?”
“I don't know.”
That was the moment Nia understood something.
Adrian wasn't pretending anymore.
He was genuinely afraid.
And fear was dangerous when it came from a man like him.
An hour later, they were inside the private security office beneath Cole Meridian's headquarters.
Marcus placed a thick folder on the table.
“Erin found these records three weeks ago.”
Nia opened the folder.
Invoices.
Transfer receipts.
Property documents.
Names.
Some had been crossed out.
Others had handwritten dates beside them.
Then she saw one name.
THOMAS VALE.
Nia's heart stopped.
“Vale.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You know him?”
“I've heard the name.”
“Who was he?”
“My father's chief financial officer.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“After my father died.”
Nia looked at the folder.
“And Erin is a Vale.”
“Yes.”
“So she's related.”
“She is Thomas Vale's daughter.”
Nia slowly closed the folder.
“What did she find?”
Adrian answered quietly.
“Proof that my father didn't build the criminal network alone.”
“And?”
“There was someone inside the company who helped him.”
“Who?”
Adrian shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Marcus cleared his throat.
“Actually, we might.”
He placed an old photograph on the table.
It showed four men standing outside a warehouse.
One was Adrian's father.
Another was Thomas Vale.
The third was a younger Marcus.
Nia stared at the fourth man.
She didn't recognize him.
Adrian did.
His face went completely still.
“That can't be.”
“Who is he?” Nia asked.
Adrian didn't answer.
Marcus did.
“Richard Cole.”
Nia looked at Adrian.
“Your uncle?”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“My father's younger brother.”
“But Richard died before you married.”
“He was reported dead.”
The room fell silent.
Nia felt the floor shift beneath her.
“You're telling me your uncle may still be alive?”
Marcus looked at Adrian.
“Not may.”
He placed another photograph beside the first.
This one had been taken three weeks earlier.
A man in a gray coat stood outside St. Catherine's Medical Center.
The face was older.
The hair was white.
But the resemblance was unmistakable.
Adrian's voice dropped.
“That's Richard.”
Nia looked at him.
“Why would your supposedly dead uncle be watching me?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, Marcus opened another file.
Inside was an old hospital report.
The date was more than twenty years earlier.
The patient name was Thomas Vale.
Cause of injury: internal bleeding following physical assault.
Nia looked up.
“What does this have to do with Erin?”
Marcus turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
Patient claimed Adrian Cole Sr. ordered the attack.
Adrian stepped back.
“My father never told me.”
Nia looked at him.
“Then what else don't you know?”
Before he could answer, his phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
No number.
No name.
Just a photograph.
Nia opened it.
Her breath caught.
It showed Erin sleeping in her hospital bed.
And beside her crib was a second photograph.
A photograph of Nia.
May you like
On the back of the image were four words.
The baby belongs to us.
