Frank called again before Adrian reached the airport.

This time Adrian answered on the first ring.

“Where is she?”

“Alive.”

“If you touch her—”

“You’re not in a position to threaten me.”

Adrian gripped the steering wheel so hard his bruised wrist screamed.

“What do you want?”

“The USB drive.”

“You won’t get it.”

“Then Mara won’t walk out.”

Adrian forced himself to breathe.

“You think I carry evidence around in my pocket?”

“I think you know where the copies are.”

“What happens if I give them to you?”

Frank laughed.

“You’re asking the wrong question.”

“What’s the right one?”

“Ask what happens if you don’t.”

Adrian closed his eyes for half a second.

“Let me talk to her.”

Silence.

Then Mara’s voice came through.

“Adrian?”

“I’m here.”

She sounded breathless but alert.

“Are you hurt?”

“My shoulder. I’m okay.”

Frank interrupted. “That’s enough.”

Mara spoke quickly.

“Don’t give him anything.”

The line muffled.

Then Frank again.

“Two hours. Come to the carriage house alone.”

“Why there?”

“You’ll understand.”

The call ended.

Noah reached the guesthouse four minutes later.

Mara was gone.

But she had left something behind.

A bloody fingerprint on the hallway wall.

Under it, scratched into the paint with what looked like a metal hairpin, were four letters.

CAM 4.

Noah called Adrian.

“She left us a clue.”

Adrian’s mind raced.

“Camera four?”

“Maybe.”

Adrian logged into the estate’s old archived security portal.

Camera four covered the carriage-house driveway.

Frank had told him that camera had been dead for months.

It wasn’t.

The feed was hidden from the main system, but it was recording to a separate server.

Adrian opened the latest clip.

Frank’s SUV arrived.

Mara was in the back seat.

Alive.

A second vehicle sat near the carriage house.

Vanessa’s.

Adrian stared.

“She’s there.”

Noah said, “That doesn’t surprise me.”

“It should.”

“Why?”

“Because Frank just kidnapped Mara to protect Vanessa.”

“So?”

Adrian zoomed in.

Vanessa stepped from her car.

She was not frightened.

She was furious.

She marched toward Frank and slapped him across the face.

Then she pointed toward the carriage house and screamed something the camera could not record.

Frank grabbed her arm.

Vanessa fought him.

Noah went silent.

Adrian watched the clip again.

“This isn’t a meeting.”

“What is it?”

Adrian’s voice dropped.

“Frank kidnapped Vanessa too.”

Then another figure stepped from the shadows inside the carriage house.

Evan Rourke.

And in his hand was a gun.