Chapter 4 - The Red Notebook
Annie refused to cry.
That was the first thing I noticed.
The second was that she was terrified.
“My notebook is gone.”
“I know.”
“It had my class notes.”
“What else?”
She hesitated.
“Nothing important.”
I looked at her.
She looked away.
“Annie.”
“It had my mother's medical information.”
“Anything else?”
She said nothing.
I understood.
“Your father's information?”
Her eyes lifted.
“Yes.”
Daniel entered.
“Security found a partial footprint near the window.”
“Whoever entered knew the cameras.”
“Definitely.”
I looked at Annie.
“Why would anyone want your notebook?”
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
She pressed her lips together.
Then she whispered:
“My mother told me never to lose it.”
That changed everything.
“Why?”
“She said if anything happened to her, I was supposed to give it to someone.”
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“She never told me.”
“Did she ever mention my family?”
Annie looked at me.
“Once.”
“What did she say?”
“She said your father owed mine a debt.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“What kind of debt?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel looked at me.
The situation was becoming more dangerous by the minute.
I moved Annie to a guest suite closer to the security wing.
She protested.
“I can stay in my room.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone broke into your room.”
“I can handle myself.”
“You have a damaged prosthetic.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That doesn't make me helpless.”
“I didn't say it did.”
“That's what everyone thinks.”
I paused.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
I assigned two female security officers outside her suite.
Annie hated it.
But she accepted.
At two in the morning, I found her sitting in the library.
She was studying engineering diagrams.
“You should sleep.”
“I have an exam.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Today.”
I looked at the clock.
2:07 a.m.
“You work twelve hours and study until two?”
“I have to pass.”
“Why?”
“So I can get out.”
“Out of the estate?”
“Out of depending on people.”
I understood more than she knew.
“Your mother?”
“She needs me.”
“You're eighteen.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn't have to carry everything.”
She looked at me.
“Neither should you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You've been working since you were twenty.”
“How do you know?”
“Everyone knows.”
“That isn't an answer.”
She smiled.
“Maybe I pay attention.”
For the first time, the silence between us wasn't uncomfortable.
Then the lights went out.
Annie stood.
“What happened?”
“Stay here.”
I drew my weapon.
The emergency system should have activated.
It didn't.
Somebody had disabled it.
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Annie moved behind me.
The intruder appeared.
Black clothing.
Masked.
He raised a weapon.
I fired first.
The man dropped behind the doorway.
My security team rushed in.
Daniel checked the hallway.
“Gone.”
I looked down.
The intruder had escaped through a service corridor.
But something remained on the floor.
A small metal key.
I picked it up.
Annie stared.
“That looks like mine.”
It was.
Almost identical.
Except this one carried a tiny engraved number.
17.
Her father’s key had no number.
I turned it over.
On the back was a symbol.
A hawk.
My father had used that symbol on one private account.
A secret account.
One I had been told didn't exist.
I looked at Daniel.
“Call the bank.”
He did.
Five minutes later, his expression changed.
“The account is still active.”
“How much?”
He gave me the number.
I felt my blood run cold.
Twenty-seven million dollars.
Hidden for eighteen years.
May you like
And the authorized beneficiary was—
Annie Carter.
