Chapter 4 - The Locked Greenhouse
I ducked into the greenhouse and called Adrian from the small phone he had given me. Gabriel entered before Adrian answered.
"You shouldn't have looked at my messages," Gabriel said.
I backed toward the potting table. "I didn't mean to."
"I know. That's why I'm sorry."
He reached for my arm. I grabbed a watering can and knocked it against a shelf. Glass shattered. The noise brought two gardeners running, and Gabriel stepped away as though he had merely come to help.
Adrian arrived seconds later.
"Gabriel," he said quietly, "give me your weapon."
Gabriel stared at him, then complied. Adrian had received my call and heard enough before the connection cut out.
Gabriel insisted that he was working undercover to identify a traitor. Adrian ordered him held under guard, unharmed, until the evidence could be examined.
That night Adrian sat across from me in the library. "You saved yourself," he said. "You didn't wait for me."
"I was terrified."
"Courage doesn't mean you weren't."
He asked what I wanted to do. Leave, stay, speak to the police—he would support my choice. I told him I wanted the truth first.
A forensic technician recovered Gabriel's deleted messages. They pointed to a prepaid number registered under a false name, but the device had connected repeatedly near Luca's apartment.
May you like
Then an unfamiliar woman called the estate's main line and asked for me.
"Claire Bennett?" she whispered. "My name is Evelyn Russo. Dean is my husband. If you want to survive Sunday, meet me before he realizes I've called."
