Chapter 7 - Nobody Leaves the Estate
Roman dropped the phone.
“Down.”
Gunfire cracked through the loading dock.
Tomas returned fire from above.
Sadie crouched beside Anthony.
Roman moved to the stairwell.
“How many?”
Tomas shouted, “At least eight!”
Roman looked around.
Concrete.
One exit.
Bad.
Anthony pointed toward a ventilation hatch.
“Maintenance tunnel.”
Roman turned.
“Where?”
Anthony crawled toward a wall.
Behind a rusted cabinet was a narrow service opening.
Roman pulled it loose.
“Sadie first.”
She shook her head.
“Anthony.”
“Sadie.”
Roman’s tone ended the argument.
She entered the tunnel.
Anthony followed.
Roman covered them.
Tomas and two men retreated last.
The tunnel emptied behind an adjacent warehouse.
They escaped before Calvin’s men could surround the clinic.
Roman did not feel victorious.
He had walked directly into another trap.
Someone knew their movements.
Again.
Back at the estate, Roman locked everything down.
Nobody left.
Nobody entered.
Phones collected.
Vehicles disabled.
Gates sealed.
The staff gathered in the ballroom, confused and frightened.
Roman stood before them.
“This is temporary.”
Nobody believed him.
He continued.
“Someone inside this house is providing information to Calvin Rusk.”
A murmur moved through the room.
Roman scanned faces.
Cooks.
Drivers.
Maids.
Security.
Gardeners.
Accountants.
People who had served him for decades.
One of them was a spy.
Maybe more.
Sadie stood near Clara.
Her arm rested in a sling.
Roman saw staff looking at her.
Whispers.
She hated attention.
He dismissed everyone to assigned rooms.
Then took Sadie, Anthony, Tomas, Clara, and Father Matteo to the library.
Anthony looked awful.
Doctor Halpern treated him.
Broken ribs.
Dehydration.
Cuts.
Nothing fatal.
Roman stared at his brother.
“Start at the beginning.”
Anthony did.
Gambling.
Debt.
Calvin discovered it.
Then Lucy disappeared.
Anthony was forced to alter accounts.
Approve shell companies.
Delete records.
He began secretly building the red ledger.
Roman interrupted.
“You said red entries were targets.”
“Yes.”
“Targets for what?”
Anthony looked at Sadie.
“Removal.”
Sadie’s face tightened.
“Meaning death?”
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“Sometimes recruitment.”
Roman’s jaw hardened.
Anthony continued.
“Calvin preferred people who were desperate. Debt. Immigration problems. Family leverage.”
Sadie whispered, “Like you.”
Anthony nodded.
“And me.”
Roman looked at her.
Sadie touched her bracelet.
Ben.
Anthony said:
“Sadie became a target because she overheard too much. But before that…”
He hesitated.
Roman noticed.
“Before that what?”
Anthony looked at Sadie.
“She was already marked.”
Sadie stared.
“Why?”
Anthony shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Roman leaned forward.
“You wrote the ledger.”
“I copied Calvin’s notes.”
“What was beside her name?”
Anthony thought.
“E.M.”
Roman froze.
Sadie noticed.
“What?”
Roman stood.
“Elena Miller.”
Sadie’s mother.
Sadie looked confused.
“My mother?”
Roman turned.
“What was your mother’s maiden name?”
“Hart.”
Anthony whispered, “Hartwell.”
Silence.
Sadie looked between them.
“No.”
Roman’s mind raced.
Hartwell Medical Logistics.
Sadie’s mother’s maiden name.
The shell company.
Coincidence was possible.
Roman no longer believed in coincidence.
“Your mother worked where?”
Sadie’s voice weakened.
“A clinic.”
“What clinic?”
“She never told me much.”
“Why?”
“She died when I was sixteen.”
Roman’s chest tightened.
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Roman slowly sat.
Anthony stared.
Father Matteo crossed himself.
Sadie’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Roman looked at her.
“Elena died in a car accident.”
“You think they’re connected?”
“I don’t know.”
Tomas opened a laptop.
He searched public records.
“Elena Vescari died fourteen years ago.”
Sadie nodded.
“My mother died thirteen years ago.”
“Name?”
“Margaret Hart Miller.”
Tomas typed.
Then stopped.
“What?”
He turned the screen.
Margaret had worked as administrative director at Hartwell Women’s Medical Center.
Same address.
Same building they had raided.
Sadie stood.
“My mother worked there?”
Tomas nodded.
Roman stared at the screen.
The clinic had not always been criminal.
Once it had been legitimate.
Elena donated to it.
Margaret ran it.
Two women connected.
Both dead.
Roman asked Father Matteo, “Did Elena know Margaret?”
Matteo hesitated.
“Yes.”
Roman stood sharply.
“You knew?”
“They were friends.”
Sadie whispered, “My mother never mentioned Elena.”
Matteo looked ashamed.
“They were investigating something together.”
Roman’s anger rose.
“You keep finding information you forgot to tell me.”
“I promised Elena.”
“She is dead.”
“I know.”
“And Margaret is dead.”
Matteo lowered his head.
Sadie stepped closer.
“What were they investigating?”
“Calvin.”
Silence.
Matteo continued.
“Even then.”
Roman felt sick.
His wife had known.
Margaret had known.
Both died in car accidents within a year.
Calvin continued rising.
Roman had promoted him.
Trusted him.
Given him access.
Sadie stared toward the window.
“So my mother was killed?”
“We don’t know,” Roman said.
She turned on him.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Use calm words because the truth is ugly.”
Roman stopped.
She was right.
Again.
He corrected himself.
“It looks possible.”
Sadie’s eyes filled.
She nodded.
“Thank you.”
Tomas searched old archives.
“There’s more.”
Everyone turned.
“The original Hartwell clinic closed after Margaret’s death.”
“Why?”
“Financial fraud.”
Sadie shook her head.
“My mother was accused.”
Tomas read.
“Yes.”
“She didn’t steal.”
Roman watched her.
“How do you know?”
“Because we lost everything.”
Her voice broke.
“If she stole millions, she didn’t leave us any.”
Roman looked at the ledger.
Calvin had been doing the same thing for over a decade.
Steal.
Frame.
Remove.
Sadie’s family had been collateral damage long before she entered Roman’s house.
Maybe her employment there was not chance.
“Who hired you?” Roman asked.
Sadie blinked.
“Mrs. Bell.”
Roman looked toward the door.
The housekeeper.
Mrs. Bell had worked in the estate fourteen years.
She arrived two months after Elena died.
Roman stood.
“Where is she?”
Tomas checked the staff roster.
“Room twelve.”
Roman walked out.
Sadie followed.
They reached the staff wing.
Room twelve was locked.
Roman knocked.
“Mrs. Bell.”
No answer.
Tomas opened it with a master key.
Empty.
Bed untouched.
Window open.
A rope made from sheets hung outside.
Roman stared.
Nobody leaves the estate.
Except someone already had.
Sadie saw an envelope on the pillow.
Her name was written across it.
SADIE MILLER.
She opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Her mother.
Elena.
And Mrs. Bell.
Standing together.
On the back were six words:
WE WERE THREE. NOW YOU KNOW.
Then Sadie noticed a second line.
May you like
Written underneath in fresh ink.
DON’T TRUST ROMAN. ASK WHO DROVE THE CAR.
