Chapter 6 - Box 714
Grace’s bedroom still smelled faintly like her perfume.
Mia went straight to the window seat, pulled out a drawer, and pressed the back panel.
A wooden music box slid forward.
Inside was the blue glass bird.
Vincent almost laughed from the shock of seeing it.
Mia lifted it carefully.
“Mommy said it was a key.”
Vincent twisted the bird’s base.
A narrow brass key slid from beneath one wing.
Stamped on it: 714.
He called Grace’s old bank.
An hour later, Vincent and Marcus stood inside a private vault.
Safe-deposit box 714 required the bank’s key and the one hidden in the bird.
Inside lay a sealed envelope, a flash drive, and a photograph.
The photo showed Grace outside a hotel with Grant Keller.
Celeste stood beside them.
It had been taken three weeks before Grace died.
On the back, Grace had written:
IF THEY SAY I WAS PARANOID, START HERE.
The envelope held wire transfers.
Millions moving through companies Vincent had never approved.
At the bottom was Grace’s handwriting.
GRANT IS STEALING.
CELESTE KNOWS.
Marcus connected the flash drive to an isolated laptop.
One audio file appeared.
Grace’s voice filled the vault.
“If Vincent is listening to this, I didn’t get the chance to tell him myself.”
Vincent had to sit down.
Grace continued.
“Grant has been moving money. I made copies. He knows.”
Then her voice dropped.
“And if Mia is still alive, keep her away from Celeste.”
Vincent stopped breathing.
The recording ended abruptly.
Marcus looked at him.
Vincent whispered, “Grace died the next day.”
Then his phone rang.
Celeste.
May you like
“You found the box,” she said.
Not a question.
