Chapter 4 - The Truth About Fiona
The fetal heart rate stabilized twelve minutes later.
Those twelve minutes aged Matthias ten years.
By sunrise, Serena’s contractions had slowed.
The obstetrician remained cautious.
“You’re staying.”
Serena nodded.
“How long?”
“Until I’m convinced your daughter intends to remain where she belongs.”
Matthias immediately said, “As long as necessary.”
Serena looked at him.
“The doctor was talking to me.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He stopped.
“Sorry.”
It was a tiny thing.
But Serena noticed.
Matthias Dre had apologized without defending himself.
Maybe miracles did happen at Christmas.
Roman returned shortly after eight.
The phone trace led to a warehouse in Stamford.
Empty.
Blood was found on the floor.
No Fiona.
Her brother, Daniel Vale, was easier to locate.
He had supposedly been studying architecture in Europe.
In reality, he had returned to the United States six months earlier and disappeared.
“Hensley has been controlling her since summer,” Roman explained.
Serena stared at the ceiling.
“So Fiona wasn’t Matthias’s mistress.”
“No,” Matthias said.
Serena looked at him.
“That does not make you innocent.”
“I know.”
Roman glanced between them.
“I can return when the marriage tribunal concludes.”
“Stay,” Serena said.
Matthias sighed.
Roman almost smiled.
They reconstructed the scheme.
Dominic Hensley had discovered Matthias and Roman were gathering evidence against him. Fiona had been forced to spy on Matthias in exchange for her brother’s safety.
The hotel receipt had been altered.
The necklace had been deliberate.
The Christmas appearance was supposed to humiliate Serena enough that she would leave the party alone.
Then the shooter would intercept her.
“But why me?” Serena asked.
Roman tapped the copied threat document.
“Because someone inside Hensley’s organization sent this to you.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Why would they trust me?”
Matthias answered.
“Because you’re a nurse.”
Serena frowned.
Roman understood first.
“Hensley Foundation.”
Serena sat upright.
For seven years, she had worked at St. Catherine.
Two years earlier, Hensley’s charitable foundation had funded a new trauma wing.
Serena had treated several employees from Hensley companies.
Then she remembered one.
Michael Corbin.
Forty-six.
Accountant.
Admitted after what police called a car accident.
He had been terrified.
“He asked for me.”
Matthias leaned forward.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“What did he say?”
Serena searched her memory.
Michael had suffered a fractured clavicle and internal bleeding.
Before surgery, he had grabbed Serena’s wrist.
“If anything happens to me, Christmas tells the truth.”
At the time she thought he was delirious.
“He died during surgery.”
Roman’s expression hardened.
“Corbin was Hensley’s controller.”
Serena felt cold.
“He sent the envelope.”
“Likely.”
Matthias stood.
“Then Hensley thinks Serena knows more than she does.”
Roman shook his head.
“Or Corbin gave her something else.”
Serena thought back.
Hospital room.
Blood.
Medication.
Michael’s personal belongings.
Then she remembered.
“A key.”
Both men looked at her.
“He had a tiny brass key on a chain. He told me not to give it to anyone except his daughter.”
“Did you?”
“There was no daughter listed in his chart. After he died, I put it in the hospital property safe.”
Roman was already dialing.
The key was gone.
Security logs showed someone had retrieved Corbin’s belongings using forged family identification.
That person appeared on camera.
Fiona.
Matthias stared at the still image.
“She has the key.”
Roman nodded.
“And Hensley doesn’t know.”
A message arrived on Serena’s phone.
Unknown sender.
A photograph loaded.
Fiona.
Alive.
Bruised.
Holding that brass key.
Below it:
TELL MATTHIAS I’M SORRY.
A second message followed.
LOCKER 318. GRAND CENTRAL. BEFORE NOON.
Matthias reached for his coat.
Serena grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
“I have to go.”
“That’s exactly what they want.”
“It may lead to Fiona.”
“And it may lead to a bullet.”
Roman said, “She’s right.”
Matthias glared.
Roman shrugged.
“Pregnancy hasn’t damaged her strategic thinking.”
Serena ignored him.
“Send someone Hensley doesn’t recognize.”
Matthias considered.
Then looked at her.
“Who?”
Three hours later, Nathan Brooks, an off-duty paramedic who had worked with Serena for years, approached locker 318 wearing jeans and a baseball cap.
Inside was a flash drive.
No trap.
No bomb.
No key.
Just information.
Roman opened the encrypted files in Serena’s hospital room.
Bank transfers.
Bribes.
Property records.
Photographs.
Then one video.
Dominic Hensley sat inside a restaurant with several men.
Among them was Matthias’s father.
Charles Dre.
Serena slowly looked toward her husband.
Matthias stared at the screen.
His face became stone.
The timestamp was from eight months earlier.
Charles could be heard clearly.
“If my son discovers the arrangement, handle him.”
Hensley laughed.
“And the wife?”
Charles lifted his wine.
“She’s temporary.”
Matthias did not move.
Serena’s heart hurt despite everything between them.
Then Charles continued.
“The child complicates matters.”
Matthias stood.
Roman caught his arm.
“Don’t.”
“My father threatened my wife and daughter.”
“And running into his house angry solves what?”
Matthias looked ready to kill him.
Serena spoke softly.
“Matthias.”
He turned.
“Come here.”
He obeyed.
She took his hand.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But something human.
“Don’t become the man they expect you to be.”
His breathing slowed.
“What do I become?”
May you like
Serena looked at the evidence.
“The man who makes sure they can never do this to anyone again.”
