Chapter 2 - THE MAN IN THE SERVICE HALL
Sebastian moved before the second alarm pulse.
He crossed the darkness, opened the bedside safe, and put a pistol into his hand.
Valerie froze.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“That was not a request.”
“Someone gave me that key, Sebastian.”
Her voice steadied despite the fear in it.
“If they are here, they came because of me.”
He threw her his white shirt.
“Then stay behind me.”
The emergency lights flickered red along the corridor.
A cold draft came through the penthouse although every exterior door was sealed.
Sebastian checked the security panel.
The cameras had not failed.
They had been looped.
A recording of an empty hallway played again and again while someone moved unseen through his home.
He led Valerie toward the private office.
The door stood open.
His desk drawers had been pulled out and emptied.
The wall safe behind the Basquiat was exposed.
Nothing inside appeared missing.
“That is impossible,” Sebastian said.
“What?”
“The safe can only be opened by my palm print.”
A faint metallic sound came from the service corridor.
Sebastian raised the weapon.
A man in a maintenance uniform stepped into view.
He wore a black mask and carried a slim leather folder.
“Drop it,” Sebastian ordered.
The intruder turned and ran.
Sebastian followed him through the kitchen and into the service hall.
The man reached the freight elevator, but Valerie appeared from the opposite side and slammed a fire extinguisher into his shoulder.
The folder skidded across the marble.
The intruder recovered too quickly.
He struck Valerie hard enough to send her against the wall.
Sebastian fired once into the ceiling.
The man flinched, kicked open the stairwell door, and vanished downward.
Sebastian knelt beside Valerie.
“I told you to stay behind me.”
“And I told you he came because of me.”
She pressed one hand to her bruised cheek and reached for the folder with the other.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Sebastian’s father standing beside a burning car.
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On the back, someone had written a date and six words.
VALERIE BENNETT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO LIVE.
