Chapter 9 – The Burner Phone
The next morning, the mansion felt entirely different. Sunlight poured through the massive bay windows, warming the usually cold marble floors.
In the east wing, little Leo was running down the hallway, laughing as Adrian chased him. June sat in the sunroom, sipping tea and knitting a tiny blue sweater. It was the picture of perfect peace.
But as the newly appointed estate manager, I had work to do.
My first task was dealing with the basement.
Adrian had ordered Celeste to be handed over to federal authorities by noon. He wanted her out of his life, but he didn’t want blood on his hands now that Leo was home. He was trying to be a better man.
I walked down the concrete stairs, Marcus right behind me with the cell keys.
“She’s been quiet all morning,” Marcus noted, unlatching the heavy iron door.
We swung it open.
The cell was empty.
My heart stalled. “Where is she?”
Marcus swore under his breath, drawing his weapon. He rushed in, checking the corners. “The ventilation grate.”
I looked up. The heavy steel cover of the air vent had been unscrewed from the inside.
“How?” I asked, panicked. “We searched her!”
Marcus looked at the small metal cot in the corner of the room. Tucked beneath the thin mattress was a small, black burner phone. And beside it, a heavily tarnished silver coin.
Marcus picked up the coin, his face going pale.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a Roman denarius,” Marcus whispered. “It’s the calling card of the Romanos’ top fixer. The Ghost.”
“Someone broke in here and let her out?”
“Worse,” Marcus said, looking at the open vent. “She had help from the inside. Someone in the house gave her the tools to escape.”
We ran upstairs to the security room. Marcus pulled up the camera feeds from the basement level over the past twelve hours.
At 3:14 AM, the footage flickered. For exactly two minutes, the cameras looped an old recording.
“Someone hacked the mainframe,” Marcus said, dragging a hand down his face. “Only top-tier syndicate hackers can do this. The Romanos must have offered her a deal. The ledger for her life.”
“But she didn’t get the ledger,” I reminded him. “Adrian locked it in the biometric vault in his office.”
Marcus shook his head. “She didn’t need the physical ledger, Lily. Celeste is a corporate spy. She has an eidetic memory. If she read any of those pages, she can recite the offshore account numbers to the Romanos.”
I suddenly remembered the engagement dinner. When Adrian first opened Dominic’s safe, he had left the ledger on the desk for almost an hour while we dealt with the chaos.
Celeste had been alone in the study before she attacked the guards.
“We have to tell Adrian,” I said, turning toward the door.
Before we could take a step, the estate’s alarm system blared, a piercing, deafening siren that rattled the windows.
“Perimeter breach!” the automated security voice echoed through the halls. “Gate four compromised!”
We rushed to the monitors.
On the screen for Gate Four—the rear service entrance—three black, armored SUVs had just smashed through the iron gates. Armed men were pouring out, moving tactically toward the mansion.
“The Romanos,” Marcus hissed, grabbing his radio. “All units, defensive positions! Protect the boss and the boy!”
I ran blindly toward the east wing. I had to get to June and Leo.
I turned the corner and nearly slammed into Adrian. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, his eyes blazing with a familiar, terrifying darkness.
“Take them to the panic room,” Adrian ordered, pushing a heavy keyring into my hand. “Behind the library fireplace. Do not come out until I give the all-clear.”
“Adrian, they have Celeste!” I yelled over the alarm. “She memorized the ledger!”
Adrian froze. Then, a dark, chilling smile spread across his face.
“I know,” Adrian said quietly.
I stared at him. “You know?”
“I swapped the ledger last night while she was tied up in the study,” Adrian said, his voice dead calm. “The book she read… the numbers she memorized… they aren’t the offshore accounts.”
“Then what are they?”
“They’re the routing numbers to a federal honey-pot account,” Adrian said. “If the Romanos try to wire money using those codes, the FBI will instantly freeze every asset they own.”
My jaw dropped. He had played her.
“But they’re here to kill you!” I pleaded.
Adrian cocked his rifle. “Let them try.”
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