Chapter 6: The Call He Shouldn't Have Made
Chapter 6: The Call He Shouldn't Have Made
Adrien stared at the phone vibrating in his hand.
The name on the screen seemed almost unreal.
Daniel Mercer.
For fifteen years, Daniel had been more than a Chief Financial Officer.
He had been Adrien's closest adviser.
His sounding board.
The man who had stood beside him through mergers, market crashes, and billion-dollar negotiations.
He had attended family holidays.
He had toasted Lily's birth.
He had carried Evelyn's casket at her funeral.
Now his fingerprint had been found on a listening device hidden inside Adrien's home.
The phone continued to ring.
Everyone in the library watched him.
Samuel Grayson spoke first.
"Put it on speaker."
Adrien nodded once.
He accepted the call.
"Daniel."
A warm, familiar voice answered immediately.
"Adrien."
"I've been trying to reach you."
"You've had a busy afternoon."
Adrien's eyes narrowed.
"What makes you say that?"
A brief pause.
Then Daniel chuckled softly.
"Call it intuition."
Adrien didn't smile.
"What do you need?"
"I actually wanted to ask you the same question."
Another pause.
"I heard you've had visitors."
Every muscle in Adrien's body tightened.
He hadn't told anyone.
The meeting had been private.
No announcement had been made.
Only the people inside the mansion knew about it.
Unless...
Someone else had been listening.
Adrien kept his voice steady.
"Who told you that?"
"I have friends."
"Interesting."
Daniel laughed again.
"You sound suspicious."
"Should I be?"
The line went quiet.
Just for a second.
Then Daniel's voice returned.
"Adrien."
"We've known each other a long time."
"We have."
"So let me give you one piece of advice."
Adrien waited.
"Whatever you found today..."
"...stop looking."
No one in the library moved.
Even Lily sensed the danger in the conversation.
She clung tightly to Cora's hand.
Adrien's voice turned cold.
"Why?"
"Because some truths destroy more than lies."
Adrien looked toward Samuel.
The attorney's face had gone pale.
He recognized the sentence.
It was one Evelyn herself had written in an old journal.
Daniel continued.
"I'm saying this as your friend."
"There are things that can't be undone."
Adrien answered quietly.
"My daughter had a listening device hidden in her bedroom."
Silence.
A long silence.
Finally, Daniel spoke again.
"I didn't know about that."
Adrien caught it immediately.
Not What are you talking about?
Not That's impossible.
Instead—
"I didn't know about that."
A subtle admission.
He knew about the other devices.
Just not Lily's.
Adrien's heartbeat slowed.
Whenever he negotiated difficult contracts, he became calmer, not angrier.
The calmer he became, the more dangerous he was.
"Where are you?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Chicago."
"Business meeting."
Adrien glanced at the head of security.
The guard silently opened a tracking application on his tablet.
Within seconds, he frowned.
He held the screen where only Adrien could see it.
Daniel Mercer's company vehicle had entered Greenwich forty-two minutes earlier.
Adrien looked back at the phone.
"You sound tired."
"It's been a long day."
"I imagine it has."
Daniel replied.
"I'll fly back tomorrow."
"No need."
Adrien's voice remained perfectly calm.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight."
Silence.
Then—
The call disconnected.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Daniel had hung up.
The library remained quiet.
The head of security spoke first.
"Sir."
"He lied."
"I know."
"The GPS from his company vehicle shows it entered Connecticut less than an hour ago."
Adrien nodded slowly.
"Find him."
"Immediately."
"Already done."
The guard tapped his earpiece.
"All security teams are searching."
Richard Bennett cleared his throat.
"This is getting out of hand."
Adrien looked at him.
"Is it?"
Richard shifted uncomfortably.
"You've turned your home into a crime scene."
"My home became a crime scene long before today."
No one argued.
Samuel stepped closer to the table.
"There may be something else."
Adrien looked at him.
"What?"
"The photographs."
He spread them across the polished wood.
"There are thirty-two pictures."
Adrien counted them.
"Yes."
"But look at the numbering."
Each photograph had a tiny handwritten number in the corner.
...
Samuel frowned.
"There's a gap."
Adrien immediately saw it.
Photograph 17 was missing.
Lily leaned forward.
"Someone took one."
Samuel nodded.
"Exactly."
"But why only one?"
Cora suddenly covered her mouth.
"Oh..."
Adrien turned.
"What is it?"
"I remember."
Her voice trembled.
"Evelyn showed me one picture."
"Only once."
"What was in it?"
"I..."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'm trying to remember."
Lily gently rubbed Cora's arm.
"It's okay."
"Take your time."
Cora smiled sadly.
"Your mother always did that."
Adrien froze.
"What?"
"When I became nervous..."
"...she'd rub my arm exactly like that."
He looked at Lily.
She had never seen Evelyn do it.
She had been too young to remember.
Yet somehow...
The gesture had survived.
Passed from mother to daughter without a single lesson.
Cora suddenly gasped.
"The missing picture."
Adrien leaned closer.
"Tell me."
"Evelyn wasn't alone."
"Neither was Daniel."
"There was..."
She stopped.
Her eyes widened.
"There was another man."
"Who?"
"I never learned his name."
"But..."
"But what?"
"He wore a ring."
Adrien frowned.
"A ring?"
"A large silver ring."
"With a raven engraved on it."
Samuel's face instantly changed.
"No..."
Adrien looked sharply at him.
"You know that symbol?"
Samuel slowly nodded.
"I prayed I'd never hear that description again."
"What does it mean?"
Samuel hesitated.
Then answered quietly.
"Twenty-five years ago..."
"...that ring belonged to a private organization that specialized in corporate espionage."
The room fell silent.
"They called themselves..."
He stopped as if saying the name aloud still carried power.
"...The Black Raven Circle."
Before anyone could ask another question—
The mansion's security alarm suddenly erupted.
Red emergency lights flashed across every wall.
A guard's voice echoed over the intercom.
"Security breach."
"East wing."
"An intruder has entered the mansion."
Then came a second announcement.
May you like
One that made Adrien's blood run cold.
"The intruder is heading toward Miss Lily's bedroom."
