Chapter 2 - The Warning Beneath My Champagne
I read the message three times.
DON’T LET MARCUS LEAVE WITH NOAH.
My first instinct was to find the waiter.
My second was to laugh at myself.
This was a christening reception, not a kidnapping plot.
Noah was twenty feet away in his decorated bassinet, surrounded by relatives, photographers, and enough phones to document every breath he took.
Marcus was speaking with two investors near the bar.
Nothing looked wrong.
That was what frightened me.
“Claire?”
Mom had noticed my face.
I folded the napkin into my palm.
“Nothing.”
She studied me for a second longer than I liked.
Helen had always known when I lied.
She simply respected people enough to let them finish doing it.
Before she could ask again, Evelyn appeared.
“Family photograph.”
She looked at my mother.
“Immediate family.”
Mom stepped backward automatically.
I caught her wrist.
“She is immediate family.”
Evelyn’s smile hardened.
“Marcus wants a proper Hale photograph.”
“A proper one?”
“Claire,” Mom whispered.
There it was again.
Don’t make trouble.
I released her only because Noah began fussing.
Marcus swept him into his arms, instantly becoming the smiling father everyone expected him to be. Cameras flashed. He kissed Noah’s forehead.
Then I noticed the document sticking from his inside jacket pocket.
A navy passport.
Noah’s passport.
My stomach tightened.
We had obtained it two months earlier for a family trip to France that Marcus had canceled.
It belonged in our home safe.
I walked toward him.
“Why do you have Noah’s passport?”
His hand immediately covered his jacket.
For half a second, his face emptied.
Then the smile returned.
“My assistant needed it for the rescheduled trip.”
“What rescheduled trip?”
“Not today, Claire.”
He handed Noah to Evelyn.
That bothered me even more.
Marcus loved explaining himself when he believed he was right.
Before I could press him, my phone vibrated.
A notification from Meridian Trust.
A transfer request had been initiated against one of my private holding accounts.
$18.4 million.
I stared at the number.
Only three people had authorization to request movement from that account.
Me.
My family counsel, Daniel Mercer.
And my mother.
I looked at Helen.
She was across the ballroom, quietly adjusting Noah’s blanket.
Impossible.
Then another notification appeared.
REQUESTING ENTITY: NORTHSTAR CUSTODIAL HOLDINGS.
I had never heard of it.
I called Daniel.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Marcus touched my lower back.
“You look pale.”
I locked my phone.
“Do I?”
His eyes dropped toward my hand.
Not my face.
My phone.
That was when I understood something terrifying.
He had been waiting to see whether I received the notification.
Before I could react, Evelyn deliberately bumped Mom’s shoulder as she passed.
Mom stumbled against a chair.
Marcus laughed.
Not loudly.
Just enough for me to hear.
May you like
And when I turned toward him, he whispered:
“Some people never learn where they belong.”
