Chapter 5
We reached the reserve corridor beneath the east wing in less than four minutes.
The outer door stood open.
That should have been impossible.
Dominic kept the modern access codes. I kept the biometric override. Eleanor, apparently, had been relying on something much older.
The founder’s lock.
A brass mechanism hidden behind the new panel.
It had been used.
Dominic swore quietly.
Inside, nothing obvious was missing.
That worried me more.
Old ledgers remained untouched. Sealed cash trunks were still stacked against the wall. Jewelry boxes sat where they had been cataloged.
Then I saw one empty space.
Small.
Rectangular.
“What was there?”
Dominic looked at it.
“A black case.”
“What was inside?”
He hesitated.
I turned toward him.
“Dominic.”
“The original Sterling signet set.”
I stared at him.
Not jewelry.
Symbols.
Old families are ridiculous until you understand symbols can move men faster than guns.
“The founder’s ring?”
He nodded.
“And the reserve seal.”
That meant whoever took the case did not want money.
They wanted recognition.
A claim.
I looked back toward the corridor.
Footsteps.
Richard appeared first, limping slightly.
Eleanor behind him.
I almost laughed.
“You came fast for people who don’t know what’s happening.”
Eleanor ignored that.
She looked at the empty shelf.
Then her face changed.
Not fear.
Rage.
“He took it.”
There.
A pronoun.
Not who took it.
He.
I stepped closer.
“Michael.”
She said nothing.
Richard looked at his mother.
“Mom.”
She turned on him. “Shut up.”
That confirmed enough.
I looked at Dominic.
“Seal the estate.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You think he’s trapped here?”
I turned slowly.
“You invited him.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Silence.
Richard answered without meaning to.
“He doesn’t need invitations.”
Eleanor’s eyes closed.
Too late again.
Michael Sterling knew hidden access routes.
He knew the reserve.
He knew the founder’s lock.
And he had entered a house Eleanor still thought of as hers.
I looked at both of them.
“You were trying to trigger his claim.”
Eleanor stared back.
Then I understood the part that terrified her.
She had expected Michael to appear after she broke me publicly.
Instead, he came early.
May you like
And he had taken the symbols before she controlled the narrative.
The succession fight Eleanor tried to start had just moved beyond her.
