Chapter 6 - The Price of a Secret
Adrian did not deny the question.
They stood in his office the next morning while sunlight struck the gray water beyond the windows. Olivia had placed the note between them. He read it once, then folded it carefully.
“The night my father died, I was at boarding school,” he said.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
Adrian turned toward the window. “My father called me at 11:40. He said he had made a terrible mistake and needed me to come home. Before I could ask what he meant, the call ended.”
“And then?”
“My uncle told me there had been an accident. He handled the funeral. He handled the company. He handled everything.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I was nineteen.”
“You’re not nineteen now.”
“No.”
“So what do you believe?”
He looked at her. “That my father was trying to expose Graham.”
“And my mother?”
“She vanished three weeks later.”
Olivia gripped the edge of the desk. “My mother told me my father abandoned us.”
“Maybe she was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From the truth.”
The door opened, and Adrian’s chief security officer, Marcus Bell, entered. “We found the van.”
“Where?”
“Outside Northline. It left when Olivia arrived.”
Olivia straightened. “Can we identify the driver?”
“Not yet. The plate was stolen.”
Marcus placed a flash drive on the desk. “There’s more. Someone accessed the old Vale Meridian server last night using an executive credential.”
Adrian’s face hardened. “Whose?”
“Graham’s.”
Olivia remembered the way Graham had looked at her. Not curiosity. Recognition.
“What is he searching for?” she asked.
Marcus hesitated. “A file called Harbor Blue.”
“What is that?”
Adrian answered. “The original land ledger.”
“The one that proves the families were promised ownership?”
“Possibly.”
“And the one my mother may have hidden?”
“Possibly.”
“You use that word when you already know the answer.”
Adrian’s mouth tightened. “I know my father believed the ledger existed. I don’t know where it is.”
Olivia took the flash drive. “Then we find it before Graham does.”
“You’re volunteering?”
“I’m protecting the truth about a neighborhood I’ve spent three years planning.”
“This could become dangerous.”
“You’ve said that.”
“I’m saying it again.”
“And I’m still here.”
He stepped closer. “Why?”
The question carried too many meanings. Olivia could have said because she needed answers. Because her mother’s name had been pulled into the center of a war. Because Adrian kissed her like he was asking, not taking.
Instead, she said, “Because I don’t run from a problem just because rich people made it.”
His eyes warmed. “That may be the first honest thing anyone has said to me this week.”
“Your week sounds lonely.”
“It is.”
The honesty between them was more dangerous than the attraction.
They spent the afternoon reviewing old maps. Olivia noticed the current Harbor Renewal boundaries had been shifted six blocks inland from the original plan. One parcel, marked 17-B, was missing from every public filing.
“What was here?” she asked.
“A warehouse,” Adrian said. “It burned in 1999.”
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
“Who owned it?”
Adrian checked the records. His expression changed.
“My father.”
Before Olivia could answer, the office lights went out.
Marcus shouted from the hallway. A sharp crack echoed through the building, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Adrian grabbed Olivia’s hand and pulled her behind the desk.
“Stay down.”
“What was that?”
May you like
He listened.
“Someone just fired a shot into my office.”
