Chapter 6 - MY MOTHER'S KEY
My mother refused to answer questions until her lawyer arrived.
I did not wait.
"Why did you open my vault?"
Celeste sat in the library, perfectly composed.
"I needed documents."
"Which documents?"
"Your father's letters."
"The cufflinks were in the same box."
"I didn't take them."
"Someone did."
Her attorney raised a hand.
"Ethan, stop interrogating my client."
I stared at him.
"Your client is my mother."
"Tonight she's also a witness."
Mara asked for the bank footage.
It showed Celeste entering the vault room alone.
Twenty-three minutes later she left carrying a document envelope.
No visible jewelry box.
But the camera did not cover the private viewing cubicle.
"What letters did you take?" Mara asked.
Celeste looked at me.
"Adrian's."
My stomach tightened.
"What letters?"
She reached into her purse and removed three envelopes.
Adrian's handwriting.
Dated weeks before his death.
Ethan,
If anything happens to me, do not let Julian control Vale Security.
I read it twice.
Another letter named Owen Kane.
Adrian wrote that Owen had been moving unregistered weapons through Vale security contracts overseas.
He suspected Julian was approving invoices.
The third letter was shorter.
Dad knows something is wrong. Mom thinks I'm paranoid. I have proof in the blue ledger.
"What blue ledger?" I asked.
Celeste looked ashamed.
"I never found it."
"Why didn't you give me these four years ago?"
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"Because your father begged me not to destroy the family after Adrian died."
I laughed once.
"So you protected the family by hiding the truth?"
She looked away.
Mara asked the harder question.
"Why open the vault three days ago?"
Celeste whispered, "Someone sent me a photograph of these letters."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
She handed Mara her phone.
The message read:
BRING ADRIAN'S LETTERS TO ETHAN'S BIRTHDAY OR NOAH LEARNS HOW HIS UNCLE REALLY DIED.
Attached was a photograph.
May you like
Adrian lying on the hotel balcony floor.
Taken before police arrived.
