Chapter 3 - THE HOUSE BEHIND THE GATESThirty-six minutes later, Daniel and Lily were riding in an armored SUV toward a property they weren’t supposed to know existed.
Grace sat opposite them.
Nobody spoke much.
Lily held Daniel’s hand with both of hers.
The convoy left Chicago and eventually turned onto a private wooded road.
An iron gate appeared.
Then another.
Then a security checkpoint.
Finally, the trees opened.
Daniel stared.
“You call this a residence?”
Grace looked embarrassed.
The mansion contained three wings, a stone courtyard, a private lake, and enough windows to supply Daniel’s entire neighborhood.
Lily pressed her face against the glass.
“Does Batman live here?”
“No,” Grace said.
“Does he visit?”
“Not yet.”
Daniel sighed.
“Please stop encouraging her billionaire expectations.”
Inside, a woman named Mrs. Alvarez hugged Grace tightly.
“I thought you were dead.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel watched.
For all the money surrounding her, Grace suddenly looked like the barefoot woman in his kitchen again.
Small.
Exhausted.
Alone.
Then an older man entered.
Silver-haired.
Perfectly tailored.
“Evelyn.”
Grace stiffened.
“Uncle Richard.”
Richard Sterling approached and kissed her cheek.
“The entire board has been frantic.”
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
“And this is?”
“The man who helped me.”
Richard looked Daniel up and down.
For half a second, Daniel saw something cold.
Then the smile returned.
“Of course. The hero.”
“I’m a mechanic.”
“Machine technician,” Lily corrected.
Daniel looked down.
“Thank you, public relations department.”
Richard laughed.
Yet Grace didn’t.
Daniel discovered that rich people had an astonishing ability to turn breakfast into a corporate emergency.
Before 9 a.m., Grace’s lawyer had arrived.
Then her communications director.
Then three board members.
Then federal investigators.
Every conversation centered on the same question:
Who knew her travel schedule?
Richard.
Marcus.
Her assistant Sophia.
Board chairman William Crowe.
A small security group.
And Grace’s fiancé.
Daniel blinked.
“Fiancé?”
Grace looked uncomfortable.
“Yes.”
The front doors opened.
A man in a navy suit hurried inside.
“Evelyn!”
Alexander Kane was handsome in the carefully manufactured way advertisements preferred.
He crossed the room and wrapped Grace in his arms.
Daniel looked away.
He didn’t know why that bothered him.
Lily whispered, “I don’t like him.”
Daniel whispered back, “You met him four seconds ago.”
“He squeezed her too hard.”
Unfortunately, Daniel had noticed that too.
Alexander pulled back.
“Where have you been? Do you know what I’ve gone through?”
Grace stared.
“I was the one being kidnapped.”
“Obviously. I mean—God, Evelyn.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then noticed Daniel.
“So you’re him.”
Daniel stood.
“Daniel Carter.”
Alexander didn’t offer his hand.
“I’ve seen the pictures.”
“Congratulations.”
Grace shot Daniel a warning glance.
Alexander smiled without humor.
“My fiancée has been through something traumatic. I appreciate what you did, but security can handle things from here.”
Daniel immediately stood.
“Great.”
Grace looked alarmed.
“Daniel.”
“I said I’d stay until Lily was safe.”
“You are safe here.”
“Good. We’ll go home once Marcus clears it.”
Alexander’s expression relaxed.
Grace’s didn’t.
That afternoon, Lily disappeared.
Daniel realized it when he entered their guest suite and found the room empty.
His blood turned cold.
“Lily?”
No answer.
He ran into the corridor.
“LILY!”
Security immediately moved.
Grace came running from a meeting.
“What happened?”
“She’s gone.”
For twenty-two seconds, Daniel lived every parent’s nightmare.
Then a child giggled outside.
They found Lily in the rose garden.
She was sitting beside an old gardener.
And holding something in her hand.
“What did I tell you about wandering off?” Daniel demanded.
Lily’s smile vanished.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel crouched and hugged her.
His anger disappeared as quickly as it came.
“I thought somebody took you.”
“I just found this.”
She held out a small black object.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Under the table.”
He took it carefully.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” Grace asked.
Marcus looked toward the mansion.
“A listening device.”
Everyone became silent.
“It was underneath the garden table?”
Marcus nodded.
“The table you use for private breakfast meetings.”
Grace stared at the house.
Someone inside had been listening.
Marcus ordered a full sweep.
Within two hours, they found three more devices.
One in Grace’s private study.
One beneath the conference room table.
And one inside her bedroom.
Grace looked physically ill.
“They've been watching me in my own home.”
Daniel crossed his arms.
“Who has access?”
“Almost everyone senior enough.”
“Your fiancé?”
She looked at him sharply.
“Yes.”
“I’m not accusing him.”
“You sound like you are.”
“I’m accusing everybody.”
Grace turned away.
“You don’t know Alexander.”
“No. Neither did Lily. She didn’t like him anyway.”
Despite herself, Grace laughed.
Then it faded.
“He was there after my parents died.”
Daniel said nothing.
Grace stared across the lake.
Her parents had died in a private-plane crash when she was twenty-six.
She inherited the Sterling empire overnight.
Alexander had helped her survive the press.
The lawsuits.
The family battles.
“He knows everything about me,” she said.
Daniel’s voice was quiet.
“That isn’t always the same as loving somebody.”
Grace looked at him.
Something passed between them.
Then Marcus appeared.
“We found something else.”
In the security room, footage played on a giant monitor.
The kidnapping night.
Grace’s scheduled limousine arrived.
Her real driver, Thomas, entered the employee garage.
Then a man wearing a maintenance uniform followed him.
Seven minutes later, the replacement vehicle departed.
Marcus froze a frame.
The maintenance worker’s face was partly visible.
Grace whispered, “I know him.”
“Who?”
“He works for Alexander.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward her.
Grace shook hers.
“No. He used to work for Alexander. Security consultant. Evan Pike.”
Marcus typed rapidly.
“Pike disappeared eighteen months ago.”
Daniel looked at the footage.
“Apparently not.”
Grace’s phone rang.
Alexander.
Nobody moved.
She answered.
“Hello?”
His voice filled the speaker.
“Evelyn, where are you?”
“In security.”
A pause.
“Why?”
Grace looked directly at Daniel.
“We found the man who replaced my driver.”
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then Alexander spoke.
“Who?”
“Evan Pike.”
Another pause.
“I barely remember him.”
Daniel watched Grace’s face.
She did remember.
Because Alexander had once claimed Evan Pike died overseas.
Grace said slowly, “Alexander, you told me he was dead.”
The call disconnected.
Marcus immediately stood.
“Lock the estate.”
Daniel looked through the window.
Across the courtyard, Alexander Kane was walking quickly toward his car.
“Marcus.”
Marcus saw him.
Security moved.
But Alexander suddenly began running.
Daniel didn’t think.
He sprinted through the doors.
Alexander reached the vehicle.
Daniel caught him just as he opened it.
Alexander swung.
His fist connected with Daniel’s jaw.
Daniel stumbled.
Alexander reached inside the car.
Grace screamed.
“Daniel!”
Alexander pulled out a handgun.
Daniel froze.
Security surrounded them.
Alexander’s face transformed.
No charm.
No smile.
Only panic.
Grace stepped onto the stairs.
“Why are you carrying a gun?”
Alexander stared at her.
Then, astonishingly, he laughed.
“You think I tried to kidnap you?”
“Put it down.”
“You have no idea what’s happening.”
“Then explain.”
Alexander slowly placed the weapon on the ground.
Marcus’s men restrained him.
But before they dragged him away, Alexander looked directly at Daniel.
“You think you rescued a billionaire?”
Daniel said nothing.
Alexander smiled.
“You rescued a target.”
May you like
Then he turned toward Grace.
“And if you think I’m the one behind this, Evelyn, you're already dead.”
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