Chapter 1
The Badge Victor Did Not Recognize
Victor Morgan had seen men lie to him in boardrooms worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but he had never watched fear disappear from a man's face as quickly as it disappeared from the security guard standing beside Victoria.
Lily was trembling so hard against Victor's chest that he could feel every breath through his suit jacket.
"Daddy," she whispered again, this time barely loud enough for him to hear. "No red door."
Victor's eyes lifted.
Across the marble atrium, the massive guard froze.
The man's badge said BRUTUS KANE, SECURITY, but the logo beneath the name was wrong. Morgan Galleria's security staff wore silver emblems with a narrow blue stripe. This badge had a black border and no blue stripe at all.
Victor knew because his company owned forty-two percent of the building.
"Clara," he said without looking away from the man.
Clara Bennett, Victor's head of corporate security, stepped forward from behind him. She was a former Chicago detective who had spent fifteen years learning to notice the detail everyone else missed.
"I see it," she said.
Victoria crossed her arms. "Oh, for God's sake. Lily got scared. Brutus was helping me catch her before she fell into the fountain."
"Catch her?" Victor asked.
His voice was quiet.
That frightened Victoria more than if he had shouted.
Lily tightened both arms around his neck.
"He bad," she whispered.
Brutus took one step backward.
Clara raised a hand, and two members of Victor's security team moved between him and the nearest exit.
"Nobody touches him," Victor said. "Nobody touches Victoria. Mall police can handle that part."
Victoria stared at him. "Handle what part?"
Victor's gaze moved to the service corridor behind her.
The red emergency door at the end of the hallway was slowly swinging shut.
"The part my daughter is afraid to explain."
A mall employee pushed through the crowd, pale and breathless.
"Mr. Morgan?" he said. "We found a woman in the employee restroom near loading dock C. She says she's Lily's nanny."
Victor felt something inside him turn cold.
"Grace?"
The employee nodded. "She was locked inside."
Victoria's face changed for less than a second.
But Clara saw it.
Victor saw it too.
"Where is she?"
"Mall security office. She has a cut on her forehead, but she's conscious."
Victor looked down at Lily.
"Baby girl, we're going to see Grace."
Lily immediately shook her head.
"No red door."
"We won't go through the red door."
That seemed to matter.
As Victor carried her away, Brutus suddenly said, "You don't understand what's happening here."
Victor stopped.
The crowd went silent again.
Brutus looked at Victoria, not Victor.
"Tell him," he said.
Victoria's lips parted.
"Brutus, shut up."
Victor turned slowly.
There it was.
Not confusion.
Not outrage.
Fear.
And for the first time since he had found his daughter running barefoot beside the fountain, Victor understood one thing with absolute certainty.
May you like
Victoria was not afraid of being misunderstood.
She was afraid Brutus would tell the truth.
