Chapter 5

The Missing Heiress

Thirty-six days after Roman sent me away, Eleanor Blackwood arrived at his estate expecting to find me sulking upstairs.

Instead, she found Celeste’s children running beneath a white silk wedding canopy.

The garden had been transformed while I was gone. Florists moved between tables carrying arrangements of white roses. A string quartet rehearsed near the fountain.

Roman stood on the terrace with a wedding coordinator.

Eleanor crossed the lawn without greeting anyone.

“Where is Evie?”

Roman looked past her toward Arthur Blackwood.

“She isn’t here.”

“I can see that. Where is she?”

“She’s still upset.”

Eleanor’s face hardened.

“You told me three days ago that you were bringing her home.”

“I sent Marcus. Apparently, she left Halcyon on her own.”

Arthur stopped beside his wife.

“Evie has been missing for more than a month?”

“She isn’t missing.”

“Then call her.”

Roman took out his phone.

The call went directly to voicemail.

His expression barely changed, but Eleanor saw it.

“When was the last time you spoke to her?”

Roman did not answer.

“When?” she demanded.

“The morning she left.”

Eleanor struck him across the face.

The musicians stopped playing.

Celeste appeared at the terrace doors, one hand resting protectively on her son’s shoulder.

“Eleanor, I’m sure Evie is safe.”

“Stay out of this.”

“She may only need space.”

Eleanor turned on her.

“A twenty-three-year-old woman vanishes in a foreign country, leaves her passport behind, and doesn’t touch her bank accounts for five weeks. That is not asking for space.”

Roman looked at Marcus.

“You checked her accounts?”

“Yes. No card activity. No withdrawals.”

“And you didn’t think that mattered?”

Marcus lowered his eyes.

“I believed she had access to cash.”

Eleanor’s voice shook with fury.

“You believed what was convenient.”

Arthur stepped between his wife and Roman.

“Gideon Shaw called us this morning. The Vale security network has been searching for Evie for two weeks.”

Roman finally lost his composure.

“Why would Gideon be searching?”

“Because unlike you, he realized she would never disappear without contacting someone.”

Celeste moved closer.

“Roman, tomorrow is the wedding. Perhaps you should let your team handle—”

Roman turned.

One look silenced her.

“Cancel everything.”

“Roman—”

“Now.”

Within forty minutes, his jet was in the air.

Eleanor and Arthur went with him. Gideon’s aircraft left New York at nearly the same time, carrying six former Vale security officers and a federal liaison who had been quietly investigating Halcyon Ridge’s financial network.

Roman reached San Aurelio first.

Darius Cole met him outside the administrative building.

“Mr. Blackwood, we weren’t expecting you.”

“Where is Evelyn?”

Darius hesitated.

“You were told she left.”

“I asked where she is.”

The men behind Roman spread across the courtyard.

Darius glanced toward Marcus, perhaps hoping to find support.

Marcus gave him none.

“We had an internal transfer,” Darius said. “There was confusion over her status.”

Roman stepped closer.

“What transfer?”

Darius swallowed.

“Red Haven.”

Silence descended over the courtyard.

Mateo Salazar, who had accompanied Roman from the airfield, went pale.

“No one gets transferred to Red Haven by mistake.”

Roman grabbed Darius by the throat and drove him into the wall.

“Why was she sent there?”

“She was disruptive. Blake said she assaulted staff.”

“She is five foot five and weighed a hundred and ten pounds when she arrived.”

“She kept trying to escape.”

Roman’s hand tightened.

“Escape from the place I was told she had already left?”

Darius could not answer.

A second convoy entered the compound.

Gideon Shaw emerged before the first SUV had fully stopped.

He had served my father for twenty-seven years. Gray streaked his dark hair now, but age had done nothing to soften him.

He crossed the courtyard and punched Roman.

Roman staggered.

His security team moved, but he raised one hand.

“Let him.”

Gideon hit him again.

“If she’s dead,” he said, “you won’t leave this island.”

“She isn’t dead.”

“You don’t know that.”

Gideon threw a silver object at Roman’s feet.

My father’s signet ring struck the pavement.

All the color drained from Roman’s face.

“Where did you find this?”

“In the seat of a transport van registered to Red Haven. The driver was changing the plates when my team intercepted him.”

Roman picked up the ring.

A dark stain marked one edge.

Blood.

Gideon showed him a photograph of the torn seat.

“She hid it deliberately. She knew someone might trace the vehicle.”

Roman closed his fist around the ring.

For the first time, he understood that I had not been waiting in comfort for him to call.

I had been leaving evidence because I feared I would die.

They reached Red Haven after sunset.

Music and shouting carried across the cliffs. Luxury vehicles filled the private lot. Masked guests moved through a stone entrance guarded by hired soldiers.

A betting event was already underway.

Roman walked into the underground arena with a gun in his hand.

No one tried to stop him.

Recognition spread through the crowd. Conversations died. Men who had paid thousands of dollars to watch strangers suffer suddenly lowered their heads.

At the center of the arena stood a steel enclosure.

I was inside it.

Heavy chains dragged from my wrists and ankles. Blood ran down one side of my face. Floodlights blinded me whenever I looked toward the audience.

Across the enclosure, three attack dogs strained against mechanical restraints.

A voice sounded over the speakers.

“Place your final wagers.”

I studied the locking mechanism on my right wrist.

The guards had missed the metal clip I had removed from my numbered tag. I had spent the last six minutes forcing it into the cuff.

One pin had already moved.

I did not know Roman was in the room.

I no longer expected him.

The buzzer sounded.

The restraints released.

One dog charged.

I twisted the clip.

The cuff opened.

I dropped beneath the animal’s leap and swung the loose chain with both hands. Metal struck the gate, producing a deafening crash.

The dog recoiled.

The audience shouted.

I backed toward the darkest corner, searching for another weakness.

Then a gunshot split the air.

The dog collapsed several feet from me.

Two more shots followed. The remaining animals fell before they reached the center of the enclosure.

Silence swept through the arena.

I looked toward the entrance.

Roman stood between rows of masked spectators, his arm still extended.

Behind him were Eleanor, Arthur, and Gideon.

Roman lowered the gun.

His eyes found my face.

For weeks, I had imagined this moment.

I thought I would scream at him.

I thought I would run to him.

Instead, my knees gave way.

Gideon reached the enclosure first.

“Evie!”

The gate was locked. He fired into the mechanism and tore it open.

I crawled backward when Roman followed him inside.

“Don’t.”

Roman stopped.

The single word seemed to wound him.

Gideon removed his coat and wrapped it around me. When he lifted me, I gripped his collar with what little strength remained.

“My bandage,” I whispered.

“What?”

“There’s a card inside.”

His eyes sharpened.

“Evidence?”

“Everything.”

Gideon held me closer.

“I’ve got it.”

Roman reached toward me.

I turned my face into Gideon’s shoulder.

The last thing I heard before darkness claimed me was Eleanor sobbing my name.