Chapter 4 - The Enemy Inside His House
Daniel arrived twelve minutes after I called.
I had never seen him move that fast without someone bleeding.
His car stopped badly along the curb.
He was out before the driver fully braked.
Two men followed him into the building.
I met him in the hallway outside my apartment.
His eyes moved over me from head to toe.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did you touch anything?”
“Only the door before I realized—”
He stepped closer.
“Emily.”
“I'm fine.”
His face suggested he wanted to take me apart and verify that personally.
Instead, he looked toward the police officers inside.
“Who has access to this building?”
One officer stiffened.
I touched Daniel's arm.
“Don't.”
His eyes shifted to my hand.
“Don't what?”
“Turn this into one of your interrogations.”
“Someone entered your home.”
“The police are handling it.”
“The police don't know what they're looking at.”
“And you do?”
His silence told me more than his answer would have.
I stepped back.
“Daniel.”
He lowered his voice.
“The ring was in my safe.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I put it there after you left.”
“You told me you hadn't touched it.”
“I lied.”
Anger flashed through me.
“You lied?”
“I couldn't leave it on the counter.”
“So you put it in a safe.”
“Yes.”
“And someone took it.”
“Yes.”
“Who had access?”
“Very few people.”
“How few?”
He looked toward his head of security.
“Six.”
That changed everything.
The break-in wasn't random.
Someone close to Daniel had entered his private safe, taken my ring, broken into my apartment, and left a threat.
I stared at him.
“The press rumors.”
His expression changed.
“What rumors?”
I told him about Vanessa's former publicist.
By the time I finished, Daniel looked murderous.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She was afraid you'd do exactly what you're doing now.”
“What am I doing?”
“Looking like you're planning a funeral.”
One of the officers cleared his throat.
Daniel ignored him.
“I want you somewhere safe tonight.”
“No.”
His jaw clenched.
“Emily.”
“I am not moving back into the mansion.”
“Not the mansion. A hotel.”
“Owned by you?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His eyes darkened.
“This isn't about our divorce.”
“It always becomes about control with you.”
“Someone threatened you.”
“And I'm taking that seriously.”
“You're standing in a hallway arguing with me.”
“Because you're trying to decide where I sleep.”
He took a breath.
Then another.
I could almost watch him fight his instincts.
“What would make you feel safe?”
The question surprised me.
I thought about it.
“Sarah's house.”
He nodded immediately.
“I'll have someone outside.”
“Daniel.”
“Outside the property. No one goes in. You won't see them.”
I hesitated.
“One car.”
“Two.”
“One.”
“One car and cameras checked by Sarah's existing security company.”
“She has a security company?”
“She lives alone and works nights.”
He almost smiled.
“Your friend is more paranoid than I thought.”
“She's a woman living in Chicago.”
“Fair.”
We agreed.
That should not have felt monumental.
But Daniel Blackwood and I had just negotiated instead of fought.
At Sarah's house that evening, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered cautiously.
“Hello?”
A man's voice spoke.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is James Holloway. I worked for Thomas Blackwood.”
Daniel's father.
My pulse quickened.
“In what capacity?”
“Financial counsel.”
“What do you want?”
“I heard about your apartment.”
“How?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because whoever searched it may have been looking for something Thomas left you.”
I stood.
“What are you talking about?”
“Did Daniel ever tell you his father kept private records outside the company?”
“No.”
“Of course he didn't.”
“Mr. Holloway, stop speaking in riddles.”
He sighed.
“Your father and Thomas Blackwood knew each other.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“My father?”
My father, Robert Carter, had been an accountant.
Quiet.
Ordinary.
He died from cancer three years before my marriage to Daniel.
“That's impossible.”
“It isn't.”
“What did they have to do with each other?”
“Your father audited one of Thomas's companies nearly twenty years ago.”
I sat down slowly.
“He discovered irregularities.”
“What kind?”
“The kind that made Thomas very nervous.”
My hands turned cold.
“Did my father know who the Blackwoods were?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Probably because he wanted you nowhere near them.”
That hurt for obvious reasons.
“Then why did Thomas allow me to marry Daniel?”
“Allow?”
Holloway laughed without humor.
“Thomas tried to stop it.”
I remembered Daniel's father barely speaking to me.
I had assumed arrogance.
“What happened?”
“Daniel refused him.”
The words landed strangely.
Daniel had fought his father for me.
He had never told me.
“What does this have to do with my apartment?”
“Before your father died, he gave Thomas something.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
I frowned.
“Financial records?”
“Copies of them. Enough to damage several people.”
“Why give them to Thomas?”
“Insurance.”
“I don't understand.”
“Your father knew Thomas had enemies inside his own family. He gave him evidence that could be used if certain men ever attempted to seize control.”
My head spun.
“Who?”
Holloway became quiet.
“Victor Blackwood.”
Daniel's uncle.
I knew Victor.
Everyone in the family did.
He was Thomas's younger brother.
Silver-haired, charming, elegant.
He kissed my cheek at Christmas.
Called me sweetheart.
Always brought expensive wine.
“Victor?”
“He has wanted Daniel's position since before Thomas died.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Thomas didn't trust his brother. Neither did your father.”
A long pause.
“Before Thomas died, he moved the ledger somewhere Victor could never openly search.”
“Where?”
“To you.”
I stood.
“That's impossible.”
“Did you receive anything unusual after your father's death?”
“No.”
“Think.”
I thought.
Legal documents.
Photographs.
Boxes from my father's house.
An old wooden chest.
My heart stopped.
There had been a sealed envelope inside.
I had never opened it.
Not because I forgot.
Because my father had written across the front:
For Emily, when she finally realizes powerful men are afraid of paper.
At the time, I assumed it was one of his strange jokes.
After he died, I couldn't bear to open everything immediately.
The envelope had gone into storage.
Blackwood storage.
At the mansion.
“Mrs. Blackwood?”
I swallowed.
“I might know what you're talking about.”
“Don't tell anyone.”
“Daniel—”
“Especially Daniel until you know who inside his house can be trusted.”
The line went dead.
I stood completely still.
Sarah entered the room carrying tea.
“You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I may have found out why someone broke into my apartment.”
I told her everything.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she said, “Call Daniel.”
“Holloway said not to.”
“Holloway is a stranger.”
“He worked for Daniel's father.”
“That makes him less trustworthy, not more.”
Fair point.
I called Daniel.
He answered immediately.
“Emily?”
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Do you trust Victor?”
Silence.
A very long silence.
Finally:
“Why?”
“That wasn't an answer.”
“Where did you hear his name?”
“Daniel.”
His voice became sharp.
“Emily, tell me.”
I closed my eyes.
“No commands.”
He went silent.
Then softer:
“Please tell me.”
I told him.
Everything.
When I mentioned the envelope, Daniel swore.
“Where is it?”
“Storage at the mansion.”
“Don't come here.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“I'll find it.”
“No.”
“Emily.”
“It belongs to me.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“So could you. I married you anyway.”
He exhaled.
“I walked into that.”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“Come tomorrow morning,” he said. “Bring Sarah if you want.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“Because tonight I'm changing the people with access to the property.”
That sounded ominous.
“Daniel.”
“No one gets hurt.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
I believed him.
That was still dangerous.
The next morning, Sarah drove me to the mansion.
Daniel waited in the foyer.
Victor was sitting in the living room.
I stopped.
He smiled.
“Emily, sweetheart.”
Daniel's expression was unreadable.
Victor rose.
“I heard about your apartment. Terrible business.”
Every instinct inside me screamed.
He came forward to kiss my cheek.
I stepped back.
His smile barely changed.
“Well.”
Daniel watched him.
“Victor wanted to discuss family matters.”
“How convenient.”
Victor chuckled.
“Divorce has made you sharper.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Victor looked between us.
“Such a shame, by the way. You two were always beautiful together.”
My skin crawled.
Daniel said, “Leave.”
Victor's eyebrows rose.
“This is my brother's house too.”
“No. It was.”
The room went cold.
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Careful, nephew.”
Daniel took one step forward.
“You have ten seconds.”
Victor looked at me.
Then at Daniel.
Something ugly passed through his eyes.
He adjusted his cuffs.
“Family should not threaten family.”
Daniel's voice was quiet.
“I learned from the best.”
Victor left.
Only after the front door closed did I breathe normally.
“You suspect him.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“And you never told me.”
“I wanted you outside that part of my life.”
“You married me into it.”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
“I know.”
We went to storage.
The box containing my father's things was untouched.
My hands shook as I found the wooden chest.
The envelope was still inside.
I opened it.
No ledger.
Only a key.
And another note in my father's handwriting.
Emily,
If you are reading this, then someone has already made you afraid.
Don't trust the person who tells you power makes him untouchable.
Trust the man willing to lose power to keep you safe.
The key opens box 317 at First Lake Trust.
I looked up.
Daniel had gone pale.
“What?”
He stared at the handwriting.
“Your father said something similar to mine before he died.”
“What?”
Daniel's voice became quiet.
“That the greatest test of a Blackwood would not be whether he could keep the empire.”
May you like
He looked at me.
“It would be whether he knew when to let it go.”
