Chapter 2 - EMMA RECOGNIZED HIMI moved Emma away from the desk.
“What other man?”
“The angry one.”
“Did you see his face?”
She shook her head.
“He was behind the door.”
“When did this happen?”
“Last night.”
I had been in Chicago for a board meeting.
Emma had remained at the mansion with her nanny and security staff.
Victor had no scheduled reason to visit.
“Why were you awake?”
“I wanted water.”
She looked down at her stuffed rabbit.
“I heard the picture moving.”
“The painting?”
She nodded.
“Mr. Victor took it off the wall. Then the angry man said they had to find the book.”
Marcus moved toward the study entrance.
He spoke quietly into his security radio.
“Lock down the internal records. Preserve all footage from last night.”
Emma grabbed my sleeve.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“I wasn’t supposed to come in.”
“You are not in trouble for telling me the truth.”
She looked toward the photograph again.
“Mr. Victor saw me.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did he do?”
“He put his finger on his mouth.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten you?”
Emma hesitated.
“He said Daddy would lose everything if I told.”
Anger rose inside me.
I forced it down.
Emma needed calm.
Not the sight of her father losing control.
“You did the right thing.”
“Are we going to lose our house?”
“No book is more important than you.”
“That isn’t what he said.”
I looked at Marcus.
“Take Emma to her room. Place two officers outside.”
Marcus did not move.
“I think she should remain with you.”
He was right.
Someone had entered my study despite his security team.
Until we knew who helped them, separating from Emma made no sense.
I called her nanny and asked her to bring blankets to the library next door.
Then I turned toward the painting.
It showed my grandparents standing outside the first Whitmore factory.
My father hung it there before I inherited the mansion.
I had worked in that study for eleven years.
Never knew anything was behind it.
Marcus examined the frame.
Fresh scratches marked the lower hooks.
Someone had removed it recently.
He tested its weight.
Then looked at me.
“There’s a mechanism behind the right edge.”
“Open it.”
Marcus pressed a concealed brass catch.
The painting moved away from the wall.
Behind it was a steel door.
May you like
A hidden safe.
And its electronic panel was still glowing.
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