Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT THE MANSION BECAME A PRISON
"Put it down," Casper said.
Marlon glanced at the weapon in his hand as though he had forgotten he was holding it.
Then he lowered it.
"Someone breached the outer security system. I came to warn you."
Casper watched him carefully.
"Who called me?"
"I don't know."
"You've been investigating Cordelia for weeks. You met a broker outside a private club. And now someone has threatened a girl whose existence I didn't know until today."
Marlon looked at Willow.
"Who is her sister?"
"That isn't relevant," Casper replied.
"It may be."
The answer came too quickly.
Casper stepped closer.
"Explain."
Marlon hesitated, then removed a small photograph from his jacket.
It showed Isabella Falcone standing beside a hospital bed.
Beside her sat a little girl with dark curls and a pale face.
Willow recognized the girl immediately.
Winnie.
Her fingers went numb.
"Where did you get that?"
Marlon looked at her.
"From Isabella's private archive."
Casper snatched the photograph.
"Why is my mother in a picture with her?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Marlon didn't deny it.
Instead, he said, "The wedding is no longer the problem. Someone is trying to connect your mother's death to the port documents. Cordelia knows something about the accident, and I believe she intends to reveal it publicly."
Casper's jaw tightened.
"What does Winnie have to do with any of this?"
"That is what I haven't figured out."
Willow could no longer remain silent.
"My sister is twelve years old. She's sick. She has nothing to do with your business."
Marlon looked at her with an expression that was almost apologetic.
"Perhaps. But someone believes she does."
Casper turned to his security chief, who had arrived with two armed guards.
"Lock down the estate. Nobody enters or leaves without my authorization. Find the men who went to the apartment."
The guards hurried away.
Casper then ordered a driver to take Willow to the hospital.
"I can go alone," she said.
"No."
"You don't understand. If I disappear from work, Cordelia will know something is wrong."
"Let her wonder."
Willow looked at him.
"People like you can afford to make enemies. I can't."
The words struck harder than she intended.
Casper studied her face.
For the first time, he saw the cost of the world he controlled.
He could freeze accounts, close ports, and make powerful men disappear from public life.
But a frightened twelve-year-old girl could still be threatened because someone wanted leverage over him.
"Then we'll make certain you don't have to face them alone," he said.
At the hospital, Winnie was resting beneath a thin blanket when Willow entered.
The girl immediately reached for her sister's hand.
"You came."
"Of course I came."
Winnie glanced at Casper, who stood near the doorway.
"Is that the man you work for?"
Willow nodded.
Winnie considered him for several seconds.
"You're taller than I expected."
Casper blinked.
Marlon, standing behind him, almost smiled.
"She has a habit of saying whatever she thinks," Willow explained.
"That's a useful habit," Casper said.
Winnie looked at his expensive suit.
"Are you rich?"
"Yes."
"Then why do you look so sad?"
The question silenced him.
Willow sat beside the bed, brushing her sister's hair away from her forehead.
For a few minutes, the world seemed almost normal.
Then a nurse entered carrying a folder.
"Ms. Reed, we need to discuss your sister's admission paperwork."
Willow followed her into the corridor.
Casper remained with Winnie.
The girl watched him quietly.
"Do you have a family?"
"I have an uncle."
"That's not what I asked."
He looked toward the window.
"No. Not really."
Winnie nodded as if she understood something adults rarely said aloud.
"Willow says people can be lonely even when they're surrounded by other people."
Casper looked at her.
"Your sister is very wise."
"She's scared all the time," Winnie replied. "She just doesn't let anyone see."
Before Casper could answer, a security officer entered the room.
"Sir, we've found Esther."
Casper stood.
"Where?"
"At the apartment. She's alive, but the place has been searched. We found a broken lock and signs of a struggle."
"Did you find the men?"
"One vehicle was abandoned three blocks away."
Casper ordered the officer to remain with Winnie.
Then he followed Marlon into the corridor.
"Whoever did this knew where the girl lived," Casper said.
"And knew when Willow would be at the mansion," Marlon replied.
"Which means someone has been watching her."
Marlon nodded.
"We need to move her somewhere secure."
Casper looked through the glass at Willow, who had returned to Winnie's bedside.
"Arrange a private residence. Medical staff, security, everything she needs."
"Willow won't accept it."
"She doesn't have to like it."
Marlon hesitated.
"There's something else. The hospital records show that Isabella Falcone paid for Winnie's first cardiac consultation twelve years ago."
Casper went very still.
"How is that possible?"
"Her name appears on the original financial authorization."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I only found the record an hour ago."
Casper looked at the document.
His mother's signature appeared at the bottom.
Beside it was a handwritten instruction.
Keep the Reed sisters away from August.
The ink was faded, but the words were unmistakable.
Casper read them again.
Then his telephone rang.
Cordelia.
He answered without greeting her.
"Darling," she said sweetly, "I hope you're not planning to abandon our wedding because of a little household emergency."
"What do you know about Isabella Falcone?"
The silence lasted two seconds.
Then Cordelia laughed.
"Everything, Casper."
His hand tightened around the phone.
"What happened to my mother?"
"You should ask your uncle."
"Tell me what you know."
"Not over the telephone."
"Then tell me Saturday."
Cordelia's voice became cold.
"Gladly. Make sure all three hundred guests are listening."
She ended the call.
Casper stared at the screen.
He had spent his life believing that his mother's death was an accident.
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Now a dying child's medical file, a missing woman, a traitorous fiancée, and an old family secret had become connected in ways he could no longer ignore.
And on Saturday, Cordelia intended to make sure the entire city learned why.
