Chapter 7 - THE SENATOR’S WARNING
Mara spent her first night away from the Thorne mansion in a guest room overlooking Lake Michigan.
Luca’s home was quieter than she expected.
No gold furniture.
No armed men standing beside every doorway.
No paintings of ancestors staring judgmentally from walls.
Just glass, stone, books, and windows facing black water.
She still could not sleep.
At 2:14 a.m., she found Luca in the kitchen.
He was making coffee.
“You don’t sleep?”
“Sometimes.”
“That sounds healthy.”
He pushed a mug toward her.
“Decaf.”
Mara looked suspicious.
“You remembered I’m pregnant?”
“I have been informed several times today.”
She sat.
Luca remained standing.
“Mercer found your mother’s hospital archive.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
“And?”
“Several files are missing.”
“Of course.”
“The hospital says they were transferred to an independent clinic.”
“Which clinic?”
“It closed four years ago.”
Mara closed her eyes.
Luca continued.
“We found one nurse who worked there.”
“Can we talk to her?”
“We’re trying.”
“Meaning?”
“She disappeared yesterday.”
Mara stared at him.
“Yesterday?”
“After Mercer’s office called.”
The kitchen suddenly felt colder.
“You think Thorne took her?”
“I think Charles noticed someone asking questions.”
Mara looked toward the dark lake.
“I should leave.”
Luca’s voice sharpened.
“Why?”
“Because everyone around me gets hurt.”
“No.”
“My mother.”
“No.”
“The nurse.”
“You are not responsible for what Charles Thorne chooses to do.”
“You don’t know that.”
Luca sat across from her.
“I know men like Charles.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“So do I.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You know what it feels like to be beneath them.”
She looked at him.
“I know what it feels like to stand across from them.”
There was no arrogance in the sentence.
Only experience.
“What happens now?”
“We prove what he did.”
“And then?”
“Then he answers for it.”
Mara studied him.
“To a court?”
Luca understood the question.
“Yes.”
She seemed surprised.
“You expected something else?”
“I’ve heard stories about you.”
“So have I.”
“Are they true?”
“Some.”
“Which ones?”
“The less interesting ones.”
Mara almost smiled.
His phone rang.
Luca glanced at the number.
His expression hardened.
“Charles.”
He answered on speaker.
The senator’s voice filled the kitchen.
“Luca.”
“Charles.”
“I assume Mara is with you.”
Mara remained silent.
Charles continued.
“This situation has become unnecessarily dramatic.”
“My daughter assaulted your employee.”
“Former employee.”
“Details.”
Charles sighed.
“Mara took property belonging to my family.”
Luca looked toward the silver bracelet on the counter.
“What property?”
“Confidential records.”
Mara leaned closer.
“I took nothing.”
The senator paused.
“Good evening, Mara.”
Her skin crawled.
“Where is the bracelet?”
Luca’s eyes sharpened.
Mara answered.
“It’s mine.”
“It belonged to your mother while she was employed by me.”
“My mother owned it before she ever worked for you.”
Charles’ pleasant tone disappeared.
“You do not understand what you are holding.”
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
Charles changed tactics.
“You are about to become a mother.”
Mara’s fingers tightened around the mug.
“Yes.”
“You should think about stability.”
Luca’s face darkened.
Charles continued.
“Children suffer when their parents make reckless decisions.”
Luca reached for the phone.
Mara stopped him.
“What are you threatening?”
“I’m offering perspective.”
“No.”
Her voice steadied.
“You’re threatening my baby because you’re afraid of a bracelet.”
Charles was silent.
Mara felt something inside her change.
Three years ago, his silence would have terrified her.
Tonight, it sounded like weakness.
“You were never supposed to find any of this,” Charles said quietly.
Mara stopped breathing.
Luca leaned forward.
“What exactly wasn’t she supposed to find?”
The senator realized his mistake.
The call ended.
Mara stared at the phone.
Luca was already sending the recording to Mercer.
“He admitted something.”
“Not enough.”
“It’s a beginning.”
Mara looked at the bracelet.
“Open it.”
Luca picked it up.
He examined the seam under the clasp with a magnifying lens from his desk.
Then he pressed a nearly invisible notch.
The silver clasp separated.
Something tiny fell onto the countertop.
Not a key.
A rolled strip of paper.
Mara carefully opened it.
Numbers were written in faded blue ink.
ST. MICHAEL.
Luca looked up.
“Does that mean anything to you?”
Mara shook her head.
Then her face changed.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“My mother used to take me to St. Michael Cemetery when I was little.”
Luca frowned.
“This isn’t St. Michael.”
“No.”
Mara stared at the numbers.
“Her parents are buried there.”
“Plot 312?”
“Maybe.”
“And seventeen?”
“I don’t know.”
Luca stood.
“We find out tomorrow.”
A phone vibrated on the counter.
Not Luca’s.
Mara’s.
A text from an unknown number appeared.
DO NOT GO TO ST. MICHAEL.
Mara’s blood turned cold.
May you like
A second message followed.
THEY ARE ALREADY WAITING.
