Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN IN RED
Vivian had changed out of her ballroom gown.
She now wore a red coat over a simple black dress.
Without the diamonds and carefully styled hair, she looked younger and far less certain.
Two federal agents moved toward her.
Celeste raised a hand.
“Let her speak.”
Vivian entered the study and locked the door behind her.
“Julian knows about the photograph,” she said.
“How?” Celeste asked.
“Because he ordered me to place it outside the door.”
Arthur stood in anger.
“You’re working for him.”
“I worked for myself.”
Vivian looked at Celeste’s covered shoulders.
“That is what women in this family learn to do.”
“You assaulted me in front of two hundred people.”
“I needed Julian to believe I was still loyal.”
“You enjoyed it.”
Vivian’s silence confirmed the accusation.
Celeste stepped closer.
“You do not get to turn cruelty into sacrifice.”
“I’m not asking for forgiveness.”
“Then what are you asking for?”
“Protection.”
Vivian opened her handbag and removed a small digital recorder.
“For six months, I have recorded Julian’s private calls.”
Reed took the device.
“Why?”
“Because I discovered he planned to transfer every Warren asset into offshore accounts.”
Vivian looked toward Arthur.
“By next week, this family would have owned nothing.”
Arthur stared at her.
“And you were going to stop him?”
“I was going to leave him.”
She turned toward Celeste.
“Then he showed me a file from Graywater.”
“What file?”
“Your medical evacuation report.”
Vivian’s voice became quieter.
“He knew you survived before the Navy notified the family.”
Celeste felt the room narrow around her.
Only someone connected to the operation could have known that quickly.
“Julian was monitoring the mission,” Reed said.
Vivian nodded.
“He called the ambush a correction.”
Arthur gripped the edge of the desk.
“My son would never use that word.”
“He did.”
Vivian looked almost sorry for him.
“He also said Amelia should have accepted her correction.”
Arthur’s knees weakened.
Celeste caught his arm before he fell.
Vivian removed a brass key from her coat.
“This opens a maintenance tunnel beneath Pier Nine.”
She placed it in Celeste’s palm.
“At low tide, the tunnel is accessible for seventeen minutes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your mother took me there the night before she died.”
Celeste tightened her fingers around the key.
“What did she show you?”
“A room filled with evidence.”
May you like
Vivian looked toward Amelia’s portrait.
“And a man who was supposed to be dead.”
