Chapter 10 - The Reckoning
|
Back at the mansion, Evelyn sat in the grand library, sipping red wine and waiting for Rossi’s call to confirm the dock takeover.
The clock on the mantle chimed 11:00 P.M.
Her phone rang. She snatched it off the table instantly.
“Is it done?” Evelyn asked eagerly.
“Miss Kensington,” a calm, deep voice replied through the speaker. It wasn't Rossi.
It was Vincenzo.
Evelyn’s wine glass slipped from her hand, shattering against the Persian rug, red wine spreading like a pool of dark blood across the wool.
“V-Vincenzo?” she stuttered, her knees knocking together as she backed away from the desk. “How... you’re in a coma! The doctor said—”
“Dr. Julian works for me, Evelyn,” Vincenzo’s voice drifted through the phone, smooth and cold as steel. “He’s worked for me for fifteen years. Just like the security team, the police chief, and the federal prosecutor who just signed Adrian Rossi’s arrest warrant.”
Evelyn ran toward the library doors, pulling them open frantically.
Standing in the hallway were two armed Costa guards. Beside them stood Beatrice, wearing a simple, elegant dark coat over her clothes, holding the silver tray with the tiny glass vial sitting in the center.
May you like
“You...” Evelyn gasped, pointing a shaking finger at Beatrice. “You told him!”
“I told him you put hemlock in his espresso,” Beatrice said quietly. “And I told him you were cheap enough to leave the bottle in the trash.”
