Chapter 5
I brought Elspeth into Vivian’s old sitting room.
No Dorian.
Not yet.
Her sister’s photograph stood on the mantel.
Elspeth refused to look at it.
I played the recording.
All of it.
When it ended, she sat very still.
“She misunderstood.”
I almost laughed.
“Dead women are convenient that way.”
“She thought everything was manipulation.”
“Was it?”
Silence.
I leaned forward.
“How many threats did you fabricate?”
Her eyes filled.
“I didn’t fabricate attacks.”
Not what I asked.
“How many warnings?”
She looked away.
Enough.
She and Dorian had created uncertainty.
A vehicle reported twice.
A rumor repeated from another city.
An employee quietly labeled suspicious without evidence.
Nothing that directly harmed anyone.
That was how they justified it.
They did not create violence.
They created anticipation of violence.
Fear did the rest.
I moved meetings.
Expanded security.
Paid for Hollis locations.
Trusted Dorian more.
Vivian saw it.
“Why?”
Elspeth finally looked at me.
“Because Hollis was dying.”
There.
Her family’s hospitality holdings had been collapsing.
Old estates.
Clubs.
Staff.
Reputation.
Vivian married me and stopped caring whether Hollis remained powerful.
Elspeth cared enough for both of them.
She believed a formal Vaughan-Hollis security alliance would save everything their parents built.
“And Dorian?”
“He wanted command.”
Of course.
A merged security structure would make him indispensable.
Two ambitions.
One system.
Vivian threatened both.
Then I asked:
“What happened at dinner?”
Elspeth’s mouth tightened.
“You know.”
“No.”
I looked at her sister’s photograph.
“I know Vivian asked whether dessert was safe.”
Silence.
“I know you told her yes.”
Silence.
“I know she trusted you.”
Elspeth started crying.
I waited.
Then she whispered:
“I wanted her to stay at the table.”
My pulse slowed.
“What does that mean?”
“She was leaving.”
Vivian had planned to walk out.
Call me from the car.
Tell me everything.
Elspeth needed ten more minutes to convince her not to.
So when Vivian questioned the dessert, Elspeth reassured her without checking again.
Carelessness?
Desperation?
Something darker?
I asked.
“Did you know it wasn’t safe?”
May you like
Elspeth did not answer.
That silence was worse than yes.
