Chapter 3 - The First Crack in the Crown
By Wednesday morning, Celeste knew something had changed.
She simply did not know why.
Nobody had suddenly become brave.
Nobody openly challenged her.
Yet the staff moved differently.
Emily no longer jumped when Celeste entered the kitchen.
Percy looked her in the eye for half a second too long.
Bess had stopped reporting minor mistakes.
And Laura Beckett?
Laura behaved as if nothing had happened.
That was the part Celeste hated most.
She cleaned.
She changed linens.
She polished the long dining table before dinner.
She never whispered behind Celeste’s back.
Never smirked.
Never gave Celeste anything she could point to as open rebellion.
At noon, Celeste entered the library and deliberately dropped an empty champagne flute onto the carpet.
Laura looked at it.
Then at her.
“Clean it.”
Laura bent, picked it up, and placed it on her cart.
Celeste stepped closer.
“Was that difficult?”
“No.”
“You should remember that.”
Laura continued dusting.
Celeste's eyes narrowed.
“You think Garrett likes you.”
Laura stopped.
“No.”
“He called you into his study.”
“He's my employer.”
Celeste laughed softly.
“You have no idea what kind of man you're dealing with.”
Laura looked at her.
“I know exactly what kind of woman I'm dealing with.”
Celeste’s hand moved.
Fast.
She intended to slap her.
Laura caught her wrist.
Neither woman moved.
Celeste stared at Laura’s hand.
“Let go.”
Laura did immediately.
“I would recommend not trying that again.”
Celeste’s face flushed.
“You threatened me.”
“No. I gave you advice.”
Celeste stepped closer.
“I could make you disappear.”
Laura's eyes changed.
Only slightly.
But Celeste saw it.
“Then you should understand something before you try.”
Laura lowered her voice.
“I have disappeared before.”
For the first time, Celeste backed away.
That evening Garrett received a report from his security chief, Malcolm Reed.
It contained something he had not requested.
Laura’s military record had been partially sealed.
More interestingly, her younger brother, Daniel Beckett, had worked as a forensic accountant.
Six years earlier, Daniel died in what police classified as a robbery gone wrong.
Laura resigned from the Army seven months later.
Garrett stared at the photograph attached to the file.
Daniel Beckett.
Twenty-nine.
A familiar face.
Garrett opened a locked drawer.
He removed an old ledger seized years earlier from a rival organization.
One name had been circled in red.
D. Beckett.
Garrett sat perfectly still.
A knock came.
Celeste entered without waiting.
“We need to talk about the maid.”
Garrett closed the ledger.
“No.”
She blinked.
“No?”
“We don't need to talk about Laura.”
“You're allowing a servant to disrespect me.”
Garrett stood.
“Did you try to hit her today?”
Celeste froze.
That answered him.
“How do you know?”
“Cameras.”
Her face changed.
“What cameras?”
“The ones you apparently forgot existed.”
Celeste glanced toward the ceiling.
Garrett walked closer.
“Don't touch my employees again.”
“Your employees?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to be your wife.”
“That doesn't make them your property.”
Celeste stared at him.
Something ugly flashed behind her eyes.
Then she smiled.
“Of course.”
She kissed his cheek.
Garrett did not move.
Celeste left.
Five minutes later, she entered the guest wing and locked herself inside a bathroom.
She removed a second phone from behind a loose panel beneath the sink.
One message waited.
Is Beckett still there?
Celeste typed back.
Yes.
The reply came immediately.
Then you have a problem.
Celeste looked toward the locked door.
She doesn't know anything.
Three dots appeared.
Then:
Her brother thought the same thing.
Celeste's face drained of color.
Downstairs, Laura was folding napkins when Garrett appeared in the doorway.
“Walk with me.”
He led her outside.
They crossed the rear terrace in silence.
“Daniel Beckett was your brother.”
Laura stopped.
The warmth vanished from her face.
“Don't.”
“I knew him.”
Laura stared at Garrett.
“No.”
“I met him twice.”
“That's impossible.”
“He was investigating money being washed through shipping companies.”
Laura's breathing changed.
Garrett continued carefully.
“He came to me because one company belonged to someone I wanted destroyed.”
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
Laura laughed once, bitterly.
“Convenient.”
Garrett accepted that.
“He gave me documents. Two weeks later he was dead.”
Laura's eyes glistened.
She looked away before the tears could fall.
“You could have told the police.”
“The police were compromised.”
“Then you could have told me.”
“I didn't know you existed.”
That silenced her.
Garrett reached into his coat and handed her a photograph.
Daniel stood outside a downtown café.
Beside him was Garrett.
Laura stared.
Her fingers trembled.
“My brother hated cameras.”
“I noticed.”
She looked up.
“What did he find?”
“Something called Project Lantern.”
Laura’s face changed.
Garrett noticed.
“You've heard it before.”
Laura swallowed.
“Daniel said it once.”
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
Garrett moved closer.
“What did he say?”
Laura closed her eyes.
For six years she had tried not to remember that final voicemail.
Now every word returned.
“He said, ‘If anything happens to me, follow the lantern.’”
Garrett went motionless.
May you like
From the second-floor window above them, Celeste watched.
And for the first time in two years inside the Hardwick estate, she was the frightened one.
