Chapter 4: The Name on the Photograph
For several seconds, Victor Romano couldn't move.
He held the photograph between his thumb and forefinger, staring at the name written across its back.
Anthony Romano.
His older brother had been dead for six years.
Victor had attended the funeral in a black suit, stood beside the grave while the priest spoke, and watched the earth close over the coffin. He had paid for the headstone himself. He had even kept Anthony's old watch, the one Adrian claimed to have seen on the wrist of a stranger at the boathouse.
Now his dead brother's name was connected to a photograph of his frightened son.
And Eleanor was standing in his office, waiting for him to break.
"Where did you get this?"" Victor asked again.
Eleanor adjusted the cuff of her dress.
"I told you. Someone left it.""
"Who?""
"If I knew, I would have told you.""
Victor slammed the photograph onto his desk.
"Stop lying to me.""
Adrian flinched.
The sound seemed to bring Victor back to himself. He turned immediately toward his son.
"Sorry, buddy. I wasn't angry with you.""
Adrian nodded, but his fingers had curled into the fabric of his father's jacket.
Eleanor watched the exchange with an expression that was almost satisfied.
"You see?"" she said.
"This is exactly what I was afraid of. You are becoming unstable, Victor. You are seeing conspiracies everywhere because a child has told you a frightening story.""
Victor looked at her slowly.
"Leave my office.""
"Not until you listen.""
"Now.""
She picked up her handbag.
At the door, she paused.
"Anthony made mistakes, Victor. Terrible ones. You spent years protecting his reputation because you couldn't bear to admit what kind of man he was.""
Victor's face hardened.
"What do you know about Anthony?""
For the first time, Eleanor looked uncertain.
Then she smiled.
"More than you think.""
She left, closing the door with deliberate gentleness.
Victor stood motionless until her footsteps faded.
Then he turned toward Daniel Brooks, who had remained beside the filing cabinet.
"Tell me everything you know about my brother's death.""
Daniel frowned.
"Sir?""
"Every report. Every witness statement. Every financial record connected to him. I want the original files, not the summaries my lawyers gave me.""
"Of course.""
"And Daniel?""
"Yes, sir?""
"Don't tell Eleanor what we're investigating.""
Daniel nodded.
Victor looked down at the photograph again.
"Someone has been planning this for a long time.""
That afternoon, I found Adrian in the library.
He sat behind the largest bookshelf, hidden from the doorway, with his knees drawn against his chest. A children's encyclopedia lay open beside him, untouched.
I carried a glass of milk and a plate of biscuits.
"May I sit with you?""
He looked at the food suspiciously.
"It's not from Eleanor, sweetheart.""
He examined my face before reaching for a biscuit.
I sat on the carpet beside him.
"Your father wants to keep you safe.""
Adrian broke the biscuit in half.
"People always say that before something bad happens.""
The words hurt more than he could have known.
I waited.
Finally, he looked at me.
"Margaret, do you think Daddy will send me away?""
"No.""
"What if Eleanor says I need to go somewhere else?""
"Then your father will ask why.""
Adrian shook his head.
"She always has an answer.""
He was right.
Eleanor had an explanation for everything. A dropped plate became deliberate disrespect. A child's fear became manipulation. A witness became an employee who had misunderstood the situation.
She never needed the truth to make sense.
She only needed her version to sound more convincing.
I reached for his hand.
"Tell me about the boathouse.""
Adrian went still.
"Who told you about that?""
"Your father showed me the photograph.""
He looked toward the library door.
"Is Eleanor here?""
"No.""
"Are you sure?""
I checked the hallway.
"Yes.""
He took a breath.
"She said we were going to feed the ducks. But when we got there, there weren't any ducks.""
"What happened?""
"A man was waiting inside.""
"Was he wearing your father's watch?""
Adrian nodded.
"He knew my name. He called me Little Romano. Eleanor told him I was going to spend more time with him soon.""
My stomach tightened.
"What did the man say?""
Adrian's eyes filled.
"He asked if I wanted to go to a school far away. Eleanor said Daddy had already agreed.""
"Did your father agree?""
"No.""
His voice was so certain that I believed him immediately.
"Then why did you think you had to go?""
"Because Eleanor said Daddy would be happier without me.""
He pressed his hands against his ears.
"She said I reminded him of Mommy. She said every time he looked at me, he remembered the woman who died because she couldn't stay alive long enough to raise me.""
"Adrian, that is not true.""
"I know."" His voice broke.
"But she says it when nobody else is there.""
I pulled him into my arms.
He clung to me, trembling.
Then he whispered something that made the room seem suddenly colder.
"The man at the boathouse said he would come back on my birthday.""
"When is your birthday?""
"Saturday.""
It was Thursday.
I pulled away and looked at him.
"Did Eleanor tell your father about this?""
Adrian shook his head.
"She said it was a surprise.""
Before I could ask anything else, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Adrian grabbed my wrist.
"Please don't let her take me.""
"I won't.""
The door opened.
Daniel stood there, his expression grim.
"Margaret, I need you in the security office.""
I rose slowly.
"What happened?""
He looked at Adrian.
"Your father has found something.""
Victor was waiting in the security room when I arrived.
The walls were lined with monitors, each displaying a different part of the estate. Daniel had spread old reports across a desk, and a laptop showed a scanned copy of a police document.
Victor pointed to the screen.
"Read that.""
The document concerned Anthony's death.
Six years earlier, his car had left a mountain road during heavy rain. The vehicle had plunged down an embankment, and investigators had concluded that he lost control on a dangerous bend.
There had been no evidence of foul play.
But one detail had been omitted from the summary Victor remembered.
Three days before the accident, Anthony had withdrawn a substantial amount of money from a joint investment account he shared with Victor.
The money had never been recovered.
"Why wasn't I told about this?"" Victor demanded.
Daniel tapped the report.
"You were told about the withdrawal, sir. But the original statement says the transaction was reversed. The police accepted that explanation because your financial office confirmed the funds were returned.""
"Which financial office?""
Daniel turned the screen.
The document carried the signature of Victor's former chief financial officer.
Martin Shaw.
Victor's oldest friend.
The man who had helped him establish Romano Holdings when they were both in their twenties. The man who had stood beside him at Anthony's funeral. The man who had later introduced him to Eleanor.
Victor sat down slowly.
"Martin told me Anthony was in debt.""
"Was he?""
"That's what I was told.""
Daniel opened another file.
"There are discrepancies in the original account records. Someone altered the transaction history. The authorization came from an administrative terminal in this mansion.""
Victor stared at the screen.
"Which terminal?""
Daniel hesitated.
"The office adjoining the master bedroom.""
Eleanor's private office.
Victor stood so abruptly that his chair scraped across the floor.
"Find Martin.""
"I've already tried. His company says he's traveling.""
"Where?""
"They won't disclose his itinerary.""
Victor grabbed his phone.
He called Martin directly.
The call went to voicemail.
"Martin, it's Victor. Call me immediately. We need to discuss Anthony.""
He ended the call.
A moment later, his phone vibrated.
An incoming message.
No name appeared on the screen, only an unfamiliar number.
The message contained a photograph of Adrian sleeping in his bed.
It had been taken that morning.
Beneath it were seven words.
*You cannot guard him every second, Victor.*
Victor's expression changed.
He called Daniel over.
"Lock down the estate. No unauthorized visitors. No staff leave without being checked out. And get Adrian away from his bedroom.""
Daniel immediately reached for his radio.
Victor stared at the photograph.
For the first time, he understood that the threat was not simply about his money, his marriage, or his brother's past.
Someone had been watching his son.
Someone inside his home.
May you like
And whoever it was had just made one thing clear.
They were not finished with Adrian Romano.
