Chapter 12 - CELESTE CROSS
Celeste Cross entered wearing white cashmere and fury.
“What happened?”
Stellan looked at her for a long time.
“You tell me.”
She stopped.
She looked at Fern.
Then at me.
“So it’s true.”
My arms tightened.
“What is?”
“That Adrian left more than a mess behind that night.”
Stellan’s face hardened. “Careful.”
Celeste ignored him.
“Our uncle has spent two years asking whether you got some girl pregnant after the gala. I thought he was paranoid.”
“How did Victor know?” I asked.
She looked at Stellan.
“Because someone saw you leave with Selene.”
“Who?”
“Me.”
Celeste had followed Stellan that night because she feared he was walking into Victor’s trap. She saw him put me into a cab at dawn. She later told one person.
Her fiancé, Malcolm Voss.
Stellan swore softly.
Malcolm was a banker, polished and harmless in public. He also managed several Cross family trusts.
“Where is he?” Stellan asked.
Celeste’s face changed.
“He said he was flying to New York.”
Elias checked.
No flight.
Malcolm’s phone last pinged three blocks from my old apartment.
My father looked sick.
“What?” I asked.
He stared at Celeste’s engagement ring.
“The symbol.”
A tiny shepherd’s crook was engraved inside the band.
Celeste ripped it off.
“I thought it was his family crest.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That was Victor’s code.”
Stellan called Malcolm.
He answered immediately.
“Stellan.”
“Where are you?”
A small laugh.
“Closer than you think.”
Stellan’s eyes went to the security screens.
One camera showed the mansion gate.
Another showed the garage.
Then the nursery camera flickered.
Malcolm appeared on-screen inside Fern’s room.
But Fern was still in my arms.
May you like
He smiled into the camera and held up a red folder.
“Bring me the ledger,” he said, “or the next nursery I visit won’t be empty.”
