Chapter 2
The service lift was locked down.
The loading bay was sealed.
No vehicle left the property.
Adriano wanted the entire library searched before anyone was allowed to move.
Bernadette laughed softly.
Too softly.
“You're locking donors inside because of a child’s misunderstanding.”
Adriano turned toward her.
The laugh died.
He did not raise his voice.
“A child did not record you.”
Bernadette’s fingers tightened around her pearl necklace.
Damian stepped closer to her.
Protective.
Or controlling.
Adriano could no longer tell.
Security footage from the service lift answered the next question.
At 8:54, a man wearing a restoration-staff jacket entered the corridor.
Baseball cap low.
Face partly hidden.
He scanned Theo’s duplicated wristband.
The door opened.
He rode the elevator down.
Two minutes later he returned upstairs.
Empty-handed.
Adriano watched twice.
“Who is he?”
Head librarian Charlotte Reed shook her head.
“Not staff.”
The jacket was real.
The man was not.
The loading-bay camera showed something worse.
A black Mercedes van had entered at 8:31 using a temporary vendor permit.
Its plates were registered to Carbone Protective Services.
Adriano’s own security company.
Every eye in the room shifted toward him.
Damian’s mouth curved.
There it was.
The first attempt to take power back.
“You might want to ask your own people before accusing mine.”
Adriano looked at him.
Damian held his gaze.
Confident again.
For the first time that night, evidence appeared to point away from him.
Security chief Enzo Marchetti stepped forward.
“That permit used my authorization code.”
Adriano’s head turned.
Enzo looked shaken.
“I didn't issue it.”
Damian spread his hands.
“Convenient.”
Enzo’s breathing became heavier.
Adriano raised one finger.
Silence returned.
“Can your code be copied?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You’d need access to our contractor audit portal.”
Adriano looked toward the security office.
“Who requested access recently?”
Enzo checked.
His face changed.
He stared at the screen longer than necessary.
Adriano noticed.
“Say it.”
Enzo swallowed.
“Damian.”
Bernadette inhaled sharply.
Damian did not.
That reaction told Adriano more than denial.
But Enzo kept reading.
“He requested the audit because he said he was reviewing security costs for the auction.”
Damian shrugged.
“I was.”
Then Enzo’s hand stopped over the tablet.
“There’s another access record.”
“What?”
“The same cloned credential opened the restricted restoration vault three nights ago.”
Charlotte’s face drained.
“No.”
Adriano turned toward her.
“What’s in that vault?”
Charlotte looked at the rare-book cases behind them.
May you like
“One item is missing.”
The planned disappearance of Theo was now connected to something stolen before the child had ever entered the auction.
