Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER NOBODY WAS ALLOWED TO MENTION
Nico Marlowe hadn't spoken his brother's name in six years.
Not at dinner.
Not in business meetings.
Not even during the anniversary of his death.
But now, inside a Chicago hotel suite, Serena Callahan was staring at him with a photograph that had somehow connected her mother's jewelry to the worst night of his life.
“Your brother worked for Whitmore Holdings?”
Nico didn't answer immediately.
Enzo quietly closed the laptop.
Serena noticed.
“What are you hiding?”
Nico looked toward the bedroom door.
“Is Lily asleep?”
“Yes.”
“Then I'll tell you what I know.”
He took a chair opposite Serena.
“My brother's name was Daniel.”
She waited.
“He was four years younger than me. Smarter, too.”
Nico's mouth tightened.
“He hated the family business.”
Serena studied him.
“Your business?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do instead?”
“Financial investigations. Corporate fraud. The kind of work that involved numbers rather than guns.”
A faint smile touched Nico's face.
“He used to say I was wasting my intelligence frightening people when I could have made twice as much money solving puzzles.”
Serena almost smiled.
“He sounds like someone I would have liked.”
“You would have.”
The smile disappeared.
“Six years ago, Daniel uncovered irregularities involving a group of companies that supplied transportation services to Whitmore Holdings.”
Serena leaned forward.
“My father's logistics subsidiaries?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He believed someone was using those companies to conceal stolen assets.”
“And?”
“He arranged a meeting with a source.”
Nico stared at his hands.
“Daniel never came home.”
The silence lasted several seconds.
Serena spoke carefully.
“Was he murdered?”
Nico's jaw tightened.
“The official investigation concluded that he died in a highway collision.”
“But you don't believe it.”
“I never did.”
Serena looked at the photograph again.
“Did Julian know him?”
Nico nodded.
“Business acquaintances.”
“Friends?”
“No.”
The answer was too quick.
Serena noticed.
“Nico.”
He looked at her.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Nico rubbed his forehead.
“Julian was one of the last people to speak with Daniel.”
Serena felt cold.
“Why?”
“Daniel believed Julian could identify the person moving the money.”
“And did he?”
Nico looked toward the dark window.
“Julian claimed Daniel never explained what he wanted.”
Serena studied the grainy photograph.
Her father's handwriting.
Her mother's bracelet.
The missing brass key.
All connected to a death six years earlier.
“Why would my father know about this?”
Nico shook his head.
“I don't know.”
But Serena could tell something else was troubling him.
“You blamed Julian?”
“For a long time.”
“And now?”
“Now I wonder why Daniel's name appeared in a message your parents were trying to protect.”
By sunrise, Serena had slept less than an hour.
Lily woke asking for pancakes.
Nico, who had remained in an adjacent suite, arranged breakfast.
He also had Enzo bring a small pink sewing box.
Serena stared when she saw it.
“What is that?”
“For Bunny.”
Nico looked mildly embarrassed.
“The hotel seamstress said the button would hold better with a reinforcing patch.”
Lily opened the box.
Inside were several pieces of colorful fabric.
One had tiny carrots.
She gasped.
“Bunny pants!”
Nico studied the fabric.
“I was thinking a jacket.”
“Pants,” Lily insisted.
Serena laughed.
A real laugh.
For the first time since the birthday party, her daughter looked completely relaxed.
Then Serena's phone vibrated.
A message from Julian's office.
Not a threat.
Not an apology.
A formal notice.
An emergency family-court filing had been submitted, alleging that Serena removed Lily from the marital home during a mental health crisis.
Serena read the words twice.
Her smile vanished.
Attached was an affidavit.
Signed by Julian.
And another witness.
Claire Holloway.
Serena stared at the statement.
It claimed she had threatened to disappear with Lily.
That she had become paranoid.
That she had accused innocent employees of stealing.
Then she reached the final paragraph.
The affidavit alleged that Serena had been receiving medication for an undisclosed psychiatric condition.
She covered her mouth.
Nico approached.
“What happened?”
She handed him the phone.
He read silently.
His expression hardened.
“Is any of this true?”
Serena shook her head.
“No.”
“Have you received medical treatment?”
“Of course. Normal appointments. Nothing like this.”
“Then where did he get the medication claim?”
Serena looked toward Lily.
The little girl was making Bunny stand on the breakfast table.
Then Serena remembered something.
“Claire.”
Nico looked up.
“Explain.”
“Six months ago, Claire recommended a private physician when I started having trouble sleeping.”
“Did you go?”
“Twice.”
“What did the doctor prescribe?”
“Nothing. He suggested changing my schedule and reducing stress.”
Serena's voice grew sharper.
“Julian kept insisting I needed stronger treatment.”
Nico took the phone.
“Then we obtain your medical records.”
Serena nodded.
“And I want an attorney who's not afraid of him.”
Nico smiled faintly.
“That can be arranged.”
Later that morning, Serena insisted on visiting her father's office.
Nico agreed on one condition.
Enzo would drive.
Not because he intended to control her.
Because she was exhausted, frightened, and facing a husband who was already using the courts to put pressure on her.
Serena considered refusing.
Then accepted.
At eleven, their car pulled into a quiet tree-lined street in Lake Forest.
The Whitmore family office occupied a restored brick building surrounded by old maple trees.
Serena's father, Charles Whitmore, was already waiting.
At eighty-two, he moved with a cane but still possessed the straight posture of the executive who had built the family company.
When he saw Serena, his expression collapsed.
“Sweetheart.”
She rushed toward him.
“Dad.”
He wrapped his arms around her.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Charles looked toward Lily.
“There's my birthday girl.”
Lily ran into his arms.
“Grandpa! Bunny got pants!”
Charles laughed.
Then noticed Nico standing beside the car.
His smile disappeared.
“Marlowe.”
Nico inclined his head.
“Mr. Whitmore.”
Charles studied Serena.
“What have you brought into my office?”
Serena frowned.
“Dad?”
Charles's voice sharpened.
“Why is Nico Marlowe here?”
Nico looked at him calmly.
“Your wife's microfilm told Serena to ask me about Daniel.”
Charles went pale.
His cane slipped slightly.
Serena reached for him.
“Dad?”
He stared at Nico.
Then looked toward Lily.
“Take the child into the garden.”
Serena didn't move.
“Why?”
Charles swallowed.
“Because there are things her grandfather needs to say that she shouldn't have to hear.”
Enzo gently offered Lily a tour of the garden fountain.
She agreed after securing a promise that Bunny could come.
The moment the child disappeared through the glass doors, Charles turned toward Nico.
“I told your brother not to trust Julian.”
Nico's expression darkened.
“You knew Daniel?”
Charles lowered himself into a chair.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel made me promise.”
Nico stepped closer.
“Daniel's dead.”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Serena touched her father's shoulder.
“Dad, what happened?”
Charles looked at his daughter.
Then at Nico.
His next words were almost a whisper.
“Your brother wasn't investigating money.”
Nico froze.
“What?”
Charles looked toward an old photograph of Eleanor Whitmore on the desk.
“He was investigating the people who controlled it.”
He opened a drawer.
Inside lay Daniel Marlowe's wristwatch.
The glass was cracked.
The leather strap had been carefully repaired.
Nico stared.
He recognized it immediately.
His brother had worn that watch every day.
Charles placed it on the desk.
“Daniel gave this to Eleanor the afternoon before he died.”
Nico's voice hardened.
“Why?”
Charles looked toward Serena.
“Because he believed someone inside this family was going to betray him.”
Then Charles turned the watch over.
May you like
Engraved on the back were five words.
JULIAN WAS NOT THE FIRST.
