Chapter 6 - THE EMPTY BRIDAL SUITE|
The scream had come from the bridal suite.
By the time Adrienne reached the second floor, three guards were already outside the open door. A lamp lay shattered on the carpet. The curtains had been pulled from one side of the window, and a jewelry box had been overturned beside the dressing table.
Celeste stood near the bed, clutching her robe around herself.
“He was here,” she cried. “Someone was in my room.”
Adrienne scanned the room.
“Who?”
“I don't know. A man. He came through the door, grabbed my arm, and demanded to know where I had put it.”
“Put what?”
“The bottle!”
Her answer came before she seemed to realize what she had said.
Silence settled over the room.
Adrienne looked at her.
“You told me you didn't know what was in the vial.”
Celeste's face drained of color.
“I meant he demanded to know where I had put the bottle he gave me. The flower treatment. I was frightened.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No. He was wearing a mask.”
“Which way did he go?”
“Toward the balcony.”
Adrienne crossed the room and examined the open balcony doors. The railing stood more than twenty feet above the garden. Beyond it, the estate grounds disappeared into deepening dusk.
Grant entered with two guards.
“No sign of an intruder,” he reported. “The exterior cameras are still down.”
“Get the system restored,” Adrienne ordered. “And nobody enters or leaves without my approval.”
Celeste began to cry harder.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I want to understand what happened.”
“You think I staged this?”
“I didn't say that.”
“You don't have to. I can see it in your face.”
She stepped toward him and caught his sleeve.
“Adrienne, please. Someone tried to hurt me. I'm your fiancée.”
He gently removed her hand.
“Then tell me the truth.”
For one second, the performance slipped.
Celeste's eyes turned cold.
“You don't know what you're asking.”
Adrienne heard the words.
So did Marisol, who had stopped in the doorway.
Celeste noticed her and immediately changed expression.
“Get her out of here,” she snapped. “She's been following me all day.”
Adrienne turned.
“Miss Vega stays.”
Celeste stared at him.
“You're choosing her?”
“I'm choosing to find out what happened.”
The distinction did not comfort her.
Grant discovered a narrow cut on the balcony curtain and a smear of blood near the doorframe. The intruder had apparently injured a hand while forcing the door.
But the most important discovery came from the dressing table.
A leather document case had been opened and emptied.
Marisol noticed the blue ribbons first.
“Mr. Hawthorne,” she said. “What are those?”
Adrienne lifted one of the discarded papers.
His name appeared at the top.
Beneath it was a series of legal clauses concerning control of assets, authority during incapacity, and the transfer of certain interests to Celeste Vaughn.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
“Did you prepare these?” he asked her.
Celeste pressed her lips together.
“They're estate-planning documents. Your attorney asked me to review them.”
“My attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
She gave him a name.
Adrienne stared at her for a long moment.
“That attorney hasn't represented me in two years.”
Celeste's hand tightened around her robe.
“You're making this sound sinister when it isn't.”
“Why were the documents in your bridal suite?”
“Because we were getting married.”
“Why were they marked for execution today?”
She had no answer.
Adrienne placed the papers on the table.
“Grant, preserve everything in this room. Every document, every fingerprint, every trace of blood.”
Celeste stepped back.
“You can't do this to me.”
“I haven't done anything to you.”
“You're humiliating me.”
Adrienne's voice remained quiet.
“Imagine how humiliating it would be to discover that the person you planned to spend your life with had been preparing for your death.”
For the first time, Celeste looked genuinely afraid.
Then she lifted her chin.
“If you think I'm responsible, call the police.”
“I already have.”
The words struck her harder than a shout.
A few minutes later, sirens sounded beyond the estate gates.
Celeste watched through the window as the first police cruiser entered the driveway.
Then she turned toward Marisol.
Her eyes were full of hatred.
“You should have kept your mouth shut.”
Marisol felt her stomach tighten.
“I tried to save his life.”
Celeste leaned closer.
“No. You tried to become important.”
May you like
She whispered the words so softly that only Marisol could hear them.
“And now you're going to learn how expensive that mistake can be.”
