Chapter 3
“May I come in?”
I glanced at Celia.
She lifted one shoulder, as if the decision belonged entirely to me.
It did.
That realization felt strange.
For years, Ryan had made small decisions without asking. Which bills could wait. Which friends were “bad influences.” Whether I should return to work after Lily was born. Whether I was overreacting. Whether my memory of an argument was accurate.
The choices had been so ordinary that I had not noticed how few remained mine.
“Yes,” I said.
Vincent entered and closed the door softly behind him.
He did not sit.
“What does the key open?” I asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“But you recognize the symbol.”
“It was used by Belladonna Holdings on properties and secure records before my father died.”
“Secure records?”
“Contracts. Account ledgers. Ownership transfers. Anything someone wanted protected from electronic discovery.”
“You mean hidden.”
“Yes.”
The room seemed suddenly too warm.
I shifted Lily higher against my shoulder.
“Ryan burned papers the night I found this.”
Vincent’s eyes sharpened. “What kind of papers?”
“I don’t know. He said old tax documents. I saw him from the kitchen window. By the time I reached the garage, most of them were ash.”
May you like
“Did you see anything readable?”
I closed my eyes, trying to rebuild that night.
