Chapter 6 - THE BREAK-IN
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Adrian reached Bennett Urban Renewal before the police.
Claire arrived thirty seconds behind him.
The front door had been forced.
Glass covered the floor.
Nora stood in the hallway trembling while Ethan spoke to a 911 dispatcher.
Adrian caught Claire by the arm before she stepped inside.
“Don’t.”
“My computers are in there.”
“And whoever did this may still be inside.”
“I’m not waiting outside.”
“Claire.”
She looked down at his hand.
Adrian released her immediately.
That mattered.
Claire noticed.
Two police cruisers arrived.
Officers cleared the rooms.
No one was inside.
The theft was surgical.
Three laptops.
Two external drives.
The gray St. Matthew binder.
Nothing else.
Cash remained in a desk drawer.
A camera remained on Nora’s shelf.
Even an expensive tablet beside the conference table had been untouched.
“This wasn’t burglary,” Adrian said.
The detective looked at him.
“You law enforcement?”
“No.”
“Then let us decide that.”
Claire almost smiled despite everything.
Adrian ignored her.
An officer brought over a broken security camera.
“Someone clipped the interior line.”
Claire looked at Nora.
“Cloud backup?”
Nora nodded.
“Offsite.”
“Good.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
His security director.
He stepped away.
“Talk.”
“We found something in the Vale audit.”
“What?”
“Lauren downloaded St. Matthew files the night before she was suspended.”
Adrian looked through the broken doorway at Claire.
“How many?”
“Everything.”
“Send me the logs.”
“Already done.”
Adrian hung up.
Claire was watching him.
“What?”
“Lauren had copies.”
Her face hardened.
“You think she did this?”
“I think we don’t assume anything.”
“That is a surprisingly reasonable sentence.”
“Claire.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No.”
Police finished taking statements after midnight.
Nora went home with her sister.
Ethan refused to leave until Claire did.
Adrian stood near the stairs.
“Where are you staying?”
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“No.”
“I’m not asking so I can show up.”
“That sounds exactly like why you’re asking.”
“Someone targeted your office.”
“So?”
“So whoever took those files may know you had them.”
Claire folded her arms.
“I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
His answer caught her again.
Adrian continued.
“But I have security resources you don’t.”
“You mean men who follow people around.”
“I mean professionals who can make sure nobody enters your building.”
“I’m not moving back to the mansion.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
She studied him.
That was new too.
Old Adrian would have issued an order.
Current Adrian was asking.
Barely.
But asking.
“I’m staying at Rebecca’s.”
He recognized the name.
Claire’s college roommate.
“Does Rebecca have a doorman?”
“She has a German shepherd.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“His name is Walter.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Claire.”
She almost laughed.
Then Ethan walked over.
“I can stay downstairs.”
“No,” Claire said.
“My grandma already said yes.”
“You have class.”
“I have one class tomorrow.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You know how to use a firearm?”
Claire snapped, “Absolutely not.”
Ethan blinked.
“No?”
“Good,” Claire said.
Adrian rubbed his temple.
“All right.”
He called Frank.
“Send Michael and Grant to Rebecca Holland’s building.”
Claire stared.
“No.”
“They remain outside.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“Two men standing in black coats outside her apartment will terrify Rebecca.”
“They can sit in a car.”
She hesitated.
“Across the street.”
“Fine.”
“And they do not follow me.”
“Fine.”
“Or Ethan.”
“Fine.”
Ethan looked between them.
“This is weird.”
Neither answered.
By morning, the break-in had become news.
By noon, Lauren had retained a criminal defense attorney.
By three, she released a statement denying involvement in both the fraudulent authorization and burglary.
Then she called Claire.
Claire almost did not answer.
She was sitting in Rebecca’s kitchen when Lauren’s name appeared.
Adrian happened to be across the table.
He had brought security-camera footage from a neighboring building.
Rebecca had taken Ethan and Walter for coffee, leaving them alone.
Claire put the call on speaker.
“What do you want?”
Lauren’s breathing came softly through the phone.
“You need to stop.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Stop what?”
“The investigation.”
“I’m not conducting it.”
“Your husband is.”
Adrian remained silent.
Lauren continued.
“You think Adrian is protecting you?”
Claire’s eyes hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you still have no idea what kind of man you married.”
Adrian reached for the phone.
Claire raised a hand.
“No. Let her talk.”
Lauren laughed.
“Of course he’s there.”
“What do you want, Lauren?”
“I want the St. Matthew challenge withdrawn.”
“Why?”
“Because if you keep digging, things will come out that Adrian cannot bury.”
Adrian’s expression turned cold.
Claire felt it.
“What things?”
Lauren paused.
“The reason your husband married you.”
The kitchen went silent.
Claire looked at Adrian.
He did not move.
Lauren whispered, “He never told you, did he?”
The call ended.
Claire kept the phone in her hand.
Adrian’s face had changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Her stomach tightened.
“What did she mean?”
“Nothing relevant to the break-in.”
She stared.
“That was the wrong answer.”
“Claire.”
“Why did you marry me?”
He stood.
“We should discuss this another time.”
“No.”
“Not here.”
“Sit down.”
Adrian Vale, a man accustomed to controlling rooms containing fifty executives, slowly sat.
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Nine years ago, you proposed after four months.”
“Yes.”
“You said you loved me.”
“I did.”
“Did?”
“Do.”
Her eyes flickered.
He continued before she could react.
“But Lauren is referring to something else.”
“What?”
Adrian looked toward the rain running down Rebecca’s kitchen window.
“When my father died, Vale Freight was more vulnerable than anyone knew.”
Claire said nothing.
“Two banks were preparing to call loans. We needed approval for the South Shore transfer terminal.”
Her face slowly changed.
“My father sat on the planning commission.”
“Yes.”
Claire went very still.
“No.”
“Claire—”
“No.”
“Your father never took money.”
“That is not what I’m asking.”
“I know.”
Her chair scraped backward.
“Did you date me because of my father?”
Adrian stood.
“At first—”
Claire slapped him.
The sound cracked through the kitchen.
Neither moved.
Her hand shook.
Adrian touched his cheek.
He did not look angry.
That made it worse.
Claire’s eyes filled for the first time since she left the mansion.
“You let me spend nine years wondering why I was never enough for you.”
“You were always enough.”
“You married me for a permit.”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I met you because of a permit.”
His voice broke through hers.
“I married you because I fell in love with you.”
Claire stared at him.
“But I should have told you how it started.”
“Yes.”
“I was ashamed.”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
“You were comfortable.”
Then she picked up her coat.
Adrian took one step toward her and stopped himself.
Claire noticed that too.
“Don’t follow me.”
He obeyed.
May you like
That might have been the first truly loving thing he had done for her in years.
And somehow, it hurt the most.
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