Chapter 3
Galen did not go home alone.
He called his mother.
Then his attorney.
Then the head of security for Moretti Holdings.
By the time he reached his house with Eira asleep against his shoulder, three people were waiting in the driveway.
His mother, Bianca Moretti, got out of her car first.
She was sixty-two, elegant, sharp-eyed, and nearly impossible to intimidate.
The second she saw the torn sash hanging from Eira’s dress, her expression changed.
“What happened?”
Galen handed Eira to her.
“Take her upstairs.”
Bianca looked at his face.
“Galen.”
“Please.”
That one word frightened her more than shouting would have.
She nodded.
Eira stirred.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
“Don’t let her throw Mommy away.”
Galen closed his eyes for one second.
Then kissed her forehead.
“I won’t.”
Bianca carried her inside.
Attorney Marcus Hale approached next.
“You sounded serious.”
“I am.”
Galen showed him the brass key.
Marcus frowned.
“What am I looking at?”
“A reason to reopen four years of my life.”
They entered the house.
Galen’s security director, Raymond Cole, followed.
The upstairs hallway was quiet.
At the end stood a dark wooden door.
Celeste’s study.
Galen had preserved it after her death because he couldn’t bring himself to empty it.
Eventually, he stopped entering altogether.
Ainsley hated the room.
She once called it a shrine.
He had told her it was temporary.
Now he hated himself for saying that.
He unlocked the study.
The smell hit him first.
Cedar.
Old paper.
Celeste’s perfume had disappeared years ago, but sometimes his memory invented it.
He stepped inside.
A lamp had been overturned.
Two drawers were open.
A cabinet door hung slightly crooked.
Someone had searched the room.
Raymond noticed immediately.
“This wasn’t like this?”
“No.”
“When were you last in here?”
“Months ago.”
“Who has access?”
“House staff. Me.”
Galen paused.
“And Ainsley had the master code.”
Marcus looked around.
“Call the police.”
Galen shook his head.
“First I want to know what she was looking for.”
They searched.
It took Raymond six minutes to find the blue box.
It had been shoved behind a row of books inside a bottom cabinet.
Small.
Wooden.
Blue-painted edges.
A brass lock.
Galen stared at it.
He recognized Celeste’s handwriting on the lid.
For Eira.
His throat tightened.
Marcus saw it.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He inserted the key.
It turned.
The click sounded too loud.
Galen opened the lid.
Inside were three envelopes.
A flash drive.
An old photograph.
And a sealed document.
Galen picked up the photograph first.
His hands stopped.
Ainsley was in it.
Younger.
Maybe twenty-five.
Standing beside Celeste.
They were smiling.
Galen couldn’t breathe.
Marcus took the photo.
“You said they never met.”
“That’s what Ainsley told me.”
On the back, Celeste had written:
Ainsley and me. Harbor fundraiser. June 14.
Seven years earlier.
Three years before Celeste died.
Galen picked up the first envelope.
His name was written across the front.
Galen.
He sat down.
For several seconds, he could not open it.
Marcus stepped away, giving him space.
Galen finally broke the seal.
Celeste’s handwriting filled two pages.
Galen,
If you are reading this, then something happened that I was afraid might happen, or Eira found this years later and finally decided you deserved to know.
I hope it is the second.
There is a woman named Ainsley Vale.
I met her through the Harbor Foundation.
At first, I liked her.
Then she began asking questions about you.
Too many questions.
Where you worked.
When you traveled.
What restaurants we used.
Whether you had security.
Whether our marriage was happy.
I thought she was simply fascinated by your business profile.
I was wrong.
Galen stopped.
His fingers trembled.
Marcus looked over.
“What?”
Galen kept reading.
When I became uncomfortable and stopped answering, she grew angry.
She told me I was selfish.
She said women like me “wasted men like you.”
She later apologized, but I began avoiding her.
Two months ago, I saw her outside Eira’s preschool.
She had no reason to be there.
When I approached her, she claimed she was meeting someone nearby.
I did not believe her.
Please do not dismiss this as paranoia.
I have screenshots and records on the drive.
If something happens to me, give everything to the police.
And please protect Eira.
Galen lowered the letter.
The room tilted.
Marcus cursed softly.
Raymond immediately reached for his phone.
“I’m calling Detective Ruiz.”
Galen nodded.
He could barely hear him.
His eyes were still on Celeste’s handwriting.
Protect Eira.
He had almost married the woman Celeste had warned him about.
He had brought Ainsley into their home.
He had let her tuck Eira into bed.
He had given her access codes.
He had believed her when she said Eira needed “firmer boundaries.”
His stomach turned.
He nearly vomited.
“Galen.”
Marcus gripped his shoulder.
“Stay with me.”
“I put her in my house.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I put her next to Eira.”
“You didn’t know.”
“Celeste knew.”
Marcus had no answer.
Galen opened the second envelope.
It was addressed to Bianca.
The third said:
For the police.
Raymond returned.
“Ruiz is coming.”
Galen looked at the flash drive.
“Do we plug it in?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not until police image it properly.”
Galen nodded.
Then he noticed the sealed document.
He opened it.
A copy of an insurance report.
Celeste’s accident.
Her vehicle had lost control on a wet road.
Police had determined excessive speed contributed.
But across the bottom, Celeste had handwritten:
Brake warning light came on twice this week after service.
Service.
Galen remembered.
Their car had been serviced three days before the crash.
He had handled everything afterward.
Funeral.
Eira.
Insurance.
He had never questioned the mechanic’s report.
Why would he?
It had been an accident.
Hadn’t it?
Bianca appeared at the doorway.
“Eira is asleep.”
Galen quickly folded the report.
But his mother had already seen his face.
“What did you find?”
He handed her Celeste’s letter.
Bianca read in silence.
Halfway through, her hand flew to her mouth.
“No.”
Galen looked at the photograph.
“Ainsley knew her.”
Bianca finished the letter.
Then looked at him with horror.
“You were going to marry that woman tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“You brought her around Eira.”
“I know.”
Bianca’s eyes filled.
She sat down heavily.
“Celeste tried to warn us.”
“She hid it.”
“Because she was scared.”
Galen stared at the blue box.
“No.”
Bianca frowned.
“What?”
“She didn’t hide it from me because she was scared.”
He looked at the words written on the lid.
For Eira.
“She hid it where she knew I wouldn’t go.”
“Why?”
Galen’s voice broke.
“Because we had a fight.”
Bianca waited.
Galen had not spoken about that night in years.
“The night before Celeste died.”
His mother stared at him.
“We argued.”
“About what?”
“She said someone was watching her.”
Bianca went still.
“I told her she was exhausted.”
Galen could barely force the words out.
“Eira was only three months old. Celeste wasn’t sleeping. She kept saying the same car had followed her twice.”
His mother whispered.
“Oh, Galen.”
“I told her she was imagining it.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“She tried to tell me.”
He pressed both hands against his face.
“And I left.”
“Left?”
“I had a business dinner.”
Bianca stared.
“I was angry. She was angry. I went to the city.”
His voice cracked.
“She died the next afternoon.”
Bianca crossed the room and held him.
For a moment, Galen was no longer a powerful businessman.
He was a widower who had carried the wrong kind of guilt for four years.
“I should have listened.”
Bianca whispered against his shoulder.
“You listen now.”
A knock sounded downstairs.
Raymond looked toward the hallway.
“Detective Ruiz.”
Detective Sofia Ruiz had handled Celeste’s original crash.
She entered the study ten minutes later.
Older now.
More silver in her dark hair.
Same steady eyes.
Galen showed her the box without touching anything else.
Ruiz read Celeste’s letter.
Then looked at the photograph.
Her face became serious.
“Where is Ainsley now?”
“At the hotel, unless she left.”
Ruiz immediately called another officer.
“Locate her. Do not approach until I say.”
Galen stared at her.
“You believe this?”
“I believe evidence.”
She pointed at the blue box.
“And this is evidence.”
“What about Celeste’s accident?”
Ruiz exhaled.
“We’ll review it.”
“The brakes.”
“We’ll review everything.”
“Detective, I need more than that.”
She looked at him.
“You want me to tell you right now your wife was murdered.”
Galen went silent.
“I won’t do that.”
Ruiz continued.
“But I will tell you this.”
She held up the photograph.
“If a woman your late wife documented as a possible stalker later entered your life under the claim that they had never met, became engaged to you, and tried to destroy evidence your wife left behind…”
Her voice hardened.
“…then I am very interested in how that happened.”
Raymond’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then looked at Galen.
“She’s gone.”
Galen stood.
“Who?”
“Ainsley.”
“From the hotel?”
“Yes.”
“What about Nolan?”
“Gone too.”
Ruiz turned sharply.
“Vehicles?”
“Her SUV is still there.”
That made everyone silent.
Ainsley had left without her car.
Ruiz asked, “Cameras?”
“We’re pulling them.”
Galen immediately thought of Eira.
He headed toward the door.
Ruiz stopped him.
“Where are you going?”
“My daughter.”
“She’s upstairs.”
“I need to see her.”
Ruiz followed.
When Galen entered Eira’s bedroom, she was curled beneath her blanket with the stuffed white lamb Celeste had bought before she was born.
He stood beside the bed.
For several seconds, he simply watched her breathe.
Then Eira’s eyes opened.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
She sat up.
“Did you find Mommy’s box?”
Galen froze.
“Yes.”
Eira looked toward the doorway nervously.
“Is Ainsley gone?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
Galen sat beside her.
“Yes.”
Eira stared down at her blanket.
Then whispered.
“She said if I told you about the box, you wouldn’t want me anymore.”
Galen felt something inside him break.
He pulled her into his arms.
“That will never happen.”
“She said you wanted a new family.”
“No.”
“She said after the wedding she was going to be your real family.”
“No.”
Eira began crying.
Galen held her tighter.
“You are my family.”
“Mommy too?”
“Always.”
She sniffed.
Then she said something that made his blood turn cold.
“Ainsley said Mommy should’ve stayed quiet.”
Galen slowly pulled back.
“When did she say that?”
“Yesterday.”
“Exactly what did she say?”
Eira rubbed her eyes.
“She was mad at the blue box.”
“What words did she use?”
Eira thought.
Then whispered.
“She said, ‘Celeste should have learned when to stay quiet.’”
Galen stopped breathing.
Detective Ruiz had heard it from the doorway.
Her expression changed immediately.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Galen looked at her.
Ruiz’s phone began ringing.
She answered.
“Ruiz.”
Silence.
Then her face tightened.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Secure it. Nobody touches anything.”
She ended the call.
Galen stood.
“What happened?”
Ruiz looked at Eira.
Then at him.
“They found Ainsley.”
“Where?”
Ruiz’s answer made Bianca grip the doorframe.
“At the cemetery.”
Galen’s throat tightened.
“Celeste’s grave?”
May you like
Ruiz nodded.
“And she wasn’t alone.”
