Chapter 1 - The Caregiver Who Knew Too Much
Rachel Collins had spent thirty-six hours caring for Thomas Lancaster when his wife accused her of stealing a gold pocket watch.
In front of forty wealthy Christmas guests, Eleanor Lancaster tore Rachel's coat from her shoulders and ordered her into the eleven-degree Aspen night.
Rachel begged to wait inside for her ride.
Eleanor refused.
Then her son appeared.
Nathaniel Lancaster, forty-four, was a powerful Colorado Mafia boss. His tattooed arms and commanding presence frightened most men, but what caught everyone's attention was the way he looked at his mother.
He wasn't angry.
He was suspicious.
When Eleanor accused Rachel of stealing Thomas's antique watch, Nathaniel revealed something devastating.
He had locked that watch in a Denver bank vault three days earlier.
And Eleanor was the only person who knew.
Nathaniel returned Rachel's coat and brought her into the library, where she revealed another disturbing truth.
Thomas, a seventy-three-year-old stroke survivor, had been trying to communicate something important.
When Rachel helped him write, Eleanor grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.
She had also threatened Rachel's younger brother, Daniel, who desperately needed spinal surgery.
Rachel showed Nathaniel the message Thomas had written.
NOT THE DOCTOR.
NOT MY WIFE.
CHECK THE BLUE ROOM.
On the reverse were four faint numbers and one name.
MASON.
Mason Lancaster was Nathaniel's younger brother.
He had disappeared fifteen years earlier after a terrible argument with their father.
The blue room had been locked ever since.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel's security chief, Caleb Shaw, discovered that someone had changed Thomas's medication using Rachel's staff credentials.
Rachel had not even been working that day.
At 11:46 that night, Nathaniel finally unlocked the blue room.
Inside, he found a hospital bed, medical equipment, and a security monitor showing the library downstairs.
On the screen, Eleanor stood behind Rachel.
Something silver flashed in her hand.
Nathaniel ordered Caleb to hurry downstairs.
But before either man moved, a concealed door opened behind the hospital bed.
A weak, familiar voice came from the darkness.
"Nathaniel, don't go downstairs."
Nathaniel recognized it immediately.
His missing brother was standing behind that door.
May you like
And Mason whispered something that changed everything.
"Your mother isn't the one you should be afraid of."
