CHAPTER 18
THE THREAT WAS INSIDE
Adrian did not touch the lock again.
Mara noticed.
His hand remained at his side while he looked at the door, then at her.
"I won't lock you in."
She gave a small nod.
"Thank you."
He moved away.
The apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
Marcus had left ten minutes earlier to trace the contractor's vehicle and verify whether the building had been compromised before their arrival. Adrian had told him to call the moment he had something.
Mara sat at the kitchen counter with her father's photograph in front of her.
The handwriting on the back had begun to feel like a message from a man she had spent years misunderstanding.
Some things are safer where nobody thinks to look.
She turned the photograph over again.
Then back.
Adrian stood near the window, phone in hand.
He hadn't said much since they arrived.
That worried her more than anger would have.
"What are you thinking?"
"Too many things."
"Pick one."
He glanced at her.
"I'm thinking about the access records."
"Because of your credentials."
"Because of yours."
Mara frowned.
"What about mine?"
"Your original security profile was created before I met you."
"Yes."
"It contained information that wasn't public."
"What kind?"
"Your mother's address. Your old apartment. Your workplace. Your regular contacts."
She went still.
"Naomi."
"Yes."
"Her address was in my profile?"
"Your professional contact list included her."
Mara looked down.
"She knew."
"Who?"
"Whoever accessed it. They knew Naomi was important to me."
Adrian's phone rang.
Marcus.
He answered immediately.
"Tell me."
Mara watched his face.
The silence stretched.
"Send everything."
Another pause.
"Are you certain?"
Marcus spoke again.
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"All right. Get out of there."
He ended the call.
Mara stood.
"What?"
"The contractor's name is Daniel Price."
"Okay."
"He's not just connected to Voss."
Adrian put the phone on the counter.
"He worked directly for Ellison Financial."
Mara stared at him.
Her father's company.
"When?"
"Six years."
"Doing what?"
"Internal risk and security."
She laughed once.
"No."
Adrian didn't move.
"No, that doesn't make sense."
"He left two years after your father died."
"My father didn't die."
Adrian's expression softened.
"Sorry. After he left."
Mara looked away.
She hated how quickly the correction hurt.
"Price worked there before the scandal?"
"Yes."
"Then he would know about the ledger."
"Possibly."
"He would know about Naomi."
"Possibly."
"He would know about me."
"Yes."
She walked toward the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
"Then this isn't about Voss discovering my investigation."
"No."
"It started with my father."
"That's what I'm thinking."
Mara turned.
"Then why did my father disappear?"
Adrian didn't answer.
"Why did he leave us with nothing?"
"I don't know."
"He could have fought."
"I know."
"He could have told me the truth."
"I know."
"He could have..."
Her voice broke.
She stopped.
Adrian crossed the room.
He didn't touch her.
He stood close enough that she could feel his presence without being crowded by it.
"Maybe he tried."
She looked at him.
"You don't know that."
"No."
"Then don't make excuses for him."
"I'm not."
He held her gaze.
"I'm trying to give you another possibility."
Mara looked down at the photograph.
"Possibility isn't evidence."
"No."
She almost smiled.
"You really have been listening."
"I listen to you."
That sentence stayed between them.
Then Adrian's phone vibrated.
He picked it up.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Mara watched him read.
"Marcus?"
"No."
"Who?"
Adrian turned the screen toward her.
An email.
No sender.
One line.
You are looking in the wrong place. Ask what Ellison hid before Voss found it.
Mara's eyes narrowed.
"That's not random."
"No."
She took the phone.
The message had been sent through an encrypted relay.
"Can you trace it?"
"Marcus is working on it."
"Could be bait."
"It could."
"Could be from Naomi."
"Maybe."
Mara looked at him.
"You don't believe that."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if Naomi wanted us to know something, she'd leave a stronger trail."
She nodded.
"Then who?"
Adrian's phone rang again.
Marcus.
He answered.
This time Marcus sounded different.
Mara couldn't hear the words, but she could see Adrian's reaction.
"Where are you?"
Pause.
"Don't go inside."
Another pause.
"Marcus."
He listened.
Then his voice dropped.
"How many?"
Mara's stomach tightened.
Adrian grabbed his coat.
"Stay here."
"No."
"Mara."
"No."
He looked at her.
"You're not going anywhere."
She folded her arms.
"You've tried that argument."
"This isn't an argument."
"Then don't make it one."
He stared at her.
She could see the instinct taking over.
Secure her.
Separate her.
Make the decision.
His jaw tightened.
Then he exhaled.
"Fine."
Mara blinked.
"Fine?"
"We go together."
"Thank you."
"But you stay beside me."
"I can live with that."
He picked up his weapon from the locked case.
Mara watched him.
She had never seen him move like that.
Not hurried.
Not careless.
Every motion deliberate.
Professional.
Prepared.
And somehow more frightening because she knew what it meant.
Something had changed.
They left the apartment.
Marcus was waiting in the garage.
His face was grim.
"What happened?" Mara asked.
He looked at Adrian.
"We found the contractor."
"Price?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"His office."
Mara stared.
"He's dead?"
Marcus nodded.
"Looks like it."
Adrian's face tightened.
"When?"
"Within the last few hours."
"Cause?"
"Not confirmed."
Mara stepped closer.
"What did he leave?"
Marcus handed Adrian a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a key.
Mara recognized it immediately.
"The storage locker."
Adrian looked at her.
"Same type?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
Marcus frowned.
"You have another key?"
"Yes."
Mara took hers from her pocket.
The two keys looked almost identical.
"Then there were two locks," Adrian said.
Marcus stared at them.
"Price had the second one."
"Where's the lock?"
"That's the problem."
Marcus pulled out his phone.
"There was a safe in his office."
Mara felt her pulse accelerate.
"Was it open?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Marcus looked at Adrian.
"The key fits."
Silence.
Adrian took the bag.
"Where is the safe?"
"Behind a false wall."
They returned to Marcus's vehicle.
The drive to Price's office was short.
Mara sat beside Adrian in the back.
Neither spoke.
Finally she said, "You think my father knew."
Adrian looked at her.
"I think he knew something."
"Something big enough to get people killed."
"Yes."
"And he left."
"Maybe to protect you."
She looked out the window.
"Or maybe he ran."
Adrian didn't argue.
That was one of the things she liked about him.
He never pretended certainty where there wasn't any.
The office building was nearly empty.
Marcus led them upstairs.
Price's office had already been secured.
Inside, papers covered the floor.
A desk drawer hung open.
There was blood on the carpet.
Mara stopped.
Adrian immediately moved between her and the room.
"Don't look."
"I need to."
"No."
She pushed past him.
Price lay beside the desk.
Older than Mara had imagined.
Gray hair.
Expensive shirt.
One hand curled beneath him.
His eyes were open.
Mara looked away.
Adrian's hand settled lightly against the back of her shoulder.
"Enough."
She stepped backward.
"Okay."
Marcus examined the room.
"Safe is here."
He moved toward the false wall.
Adrian followed.
Mara stayed several feet away.
The wall panel opened.
A steel safe appeared.
Marcus inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
Inside were files.
Hard drives.
A small black notebook.
And a photograph.
Adrian picked up the photograph.
Mara walked closer.
Her breath caught.
Her father.
Standing beside Graham Voss.
And Daniel Price.
The photograph was dated seven years earlier.
Mara stared.
"Why was my father with them?"
Adrian turned the photograph over.
Nothing.
Marcus opened the notebook.
"There's a list."
Mara moved closer.
Names.
Companies.
Dates.
Payments.
She scanned the pages.
"These are the transfers."
Adrian looked over her shoulder.
"Some of them."
"Then Voss didn't create this."
"No."
"My father was already inside."
"Maybe."
Mara looked at him.
"Stop saying maybe."
"I don't want to tell you something I can't prove."
She swallowed.
Then noticed one line near the bottom.
Her father's name.
Beside it was a date.
The date of the financial scandal.
Underneath it:
Refused to sign.
Mara's fingers went cold.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian read the line.
"I don't know."
"Then find out."
Marcus looked toward the door.
"Guys."
They turned.
A small red light blinked on the security panel.
"Someone triggered the building alarm."
Adrian moved immediately.
"We leave."
"But the files."
"Take the notebook."
Mara grabbed it.
They hurried into the hallway.
Footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
Marcus drew his weapon.
Adrian pushed Mara behind him.
"Stay with me."
They moved toward the elevator.
The doors opened.
They entered.
Marcus stayed behind long enough to check the hallway.
Then he joined them.
The elevator descended.
Mara looked at Adrian.
"How did they know we were here?"
He stared at the floor indicator.
"They followed us."
"From where?"
"I don't know."
She watched his face.
"You do."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"You think someone followed us from the safe apartment."
His silence answered.
Mara's stomach dropped.
"Then the new location isn't safe."
"No."
"Where are we going?"
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Marcus shook his head.
"Not the usual places."
Adrian nodded.
"I'll find somewhere."
Mara understood before he said it.
He was already planning.
A new route.
A new building.
A new set of locks.
A new place where nobody could reach her.
Except him.
She looked at the notebook in her hands.
The evidence had finally connected her father to Voss.
And now the threat had moved closer.
Much closer.
Adrian took her hand.
"We're going somewhere they won't expect."
She looked at their joined hands.
Then at him.
"Promise me something."
"What?"
"Don't decide for me."
He held her gaze.
"I won't."
She wanted to believe him.
She did.
That was the problem.
Because Adrian was already thinking about getting her out of Chicago.
And if the threat inside their operation was bigger than they realized, he might decide that keeping her alive mattered more than keeping her trust.
The elevator doors opened.
Rain waited outside.
Adrian led her toward the car.
For the first time, Mara wondered whether the person most capable of keeping her alive might also be the person most capable of taking every choice away from her.