Chapter 13 - THE BETRAYAL THAT CAME FROM INSIDE|
I called Thomas back repeatedly, but he did not answer.
Within minutes, I was driving toward the secure residence where he had been staying.
Claire met me at the entrance.
"He's gone."
I stopped.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"The security team found the front door open. His telephone was on the table."
"Did anyone see him leave?"
"No."
I felt the familiar coldness of fear settle over me.
For years, my life had been shaped by people disappearing without explanation.
I refused to accept another unanswered absence.
I called Adrian.
He answered immediately.
"Nora?"
"Thomas is missing."
His voice changed.
"Where are you?"
I gave him the address.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
When he arrived, he brought Victor and two investigators.
The residence was searched. Security footage was reviewed. Thomas's movements were traced through the previous twenty-four hours.
At first, nothing appeared unusual.
Then Victor found a vehicle registered to a company connected to Daniel Price.
The former personal assistant had been released on bail pending trial.
He was supposed to be wearing an electronic monitoring device.
The device had been disabled.
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Find him."
The investigators located Daniel's last known address, but the apartment was empty.
Inside, they found a stack of printed documents.
One was a draft agreement between Michael Cole and the prosecution.
Another was a list of witnesses.
Thomas's name appeared near the top.
Beside it was a handwritten note.
He must not testify.
I felt sick.
"Can Michael really clear his name?"
Adrian shook his head.
"He can create doubt. That's enough to damage a case."
Victor examined the documents.
"Someone inside the prosecution team may have leaked the witness list."
Adrian looked at him.
"Can you prove it?"
"Not yet."
For the next two days, we searched for Thomas.
I barely slept.
Every time my phone vibrated, I hoped it was him.
Then, on the third morning, a message arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Thomas sitting in a chair inside a dimly lit room.
His hands were tied.
Beneath the image was a message.
Withdraw the statement, and he goes home.
I showed Adrian.
He read it without speaking.
Then he looked at me.
"They want you to make a decision."
"Yes."
"You don't have to make it alone."
I stared at the photograph.
"If I withdraw, Michael could walk free."
"If you refuse, Thomas may be in danger."
I hated that both possibilities were true.
Adrian arranged for investigators to trace the message. The image had been transmitted through several temporary accounts, but one technical detail suggested the sender had been inside the estate's security network.
Victor reviewed the access logs.
Only one person had entered the system during the relevant period.
Helen Morris.
I refused to believe it.
"Helen wouldn't do that."
Adrian did not argue.
"We need to speak with her."
We found Helen in the staff dining room.
She looked exhausted.
When she saw the photograph, her face crumpled.
"I didn't know they would take him."
My stomach dropped.
"What did you do?"
Helen began to cry.
Daniel had approached her two weeks earlier, claiming that Michael's people had threatened her adult son. He had asked her to provide access to the estate's old security network.
She had agreed.
She told herself she was protecting her family.
She had not known the access would be used to locate Thomas.
"I thought they only wanted records," she whispered.
I stared at her.
"You helped them find him."
"I didn't know."
"But you knew you were helping someone who had already hurt people."
Helen covered her face.
"I was afraid."
I remembered the night Vanessa cut my hair.
I remembered Helen lowering herself into a chair because she was afraid of losing her job.
Now fear had led her to help the very people who threatened us.
I could not comfort her.
Adrian ordered the investigators to preserve the evidence and contact Helen's son to establish whether he was in danger.
Then he turned toward me.
"We'll find Thomas."
I nodded.
But before we could leave, Helen grabbed my hand.
"Nora, there's something else. Daniel gave me a key. He said if anything went wrong, I should tell you where to find it."
She placed a small brass key in my palm.
"What does it open?"
Helen swallowed.
"The room beneath the old chapel."
Adrian went completely still.
There was a private chapel on the estate grounds, closed since his father's death.
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Beneath it lay a sealed archive that had never appeared on the official property plans.
And according to Helen, my grandmother had once been inside.
