Chapter 7: The villa on the cliff
1091 Words
The drive to Prescott’s private villa on the Amalfi coast was meant to be business that’s what Rose told herself as the jet’s wheels touched down and she caught her first glimpse of the Mediterranean glimmering like liquid silver under the morning sun.
The rain chased them out of Manhattan, by the time Richard’s car curved along the Atlantic highway, city light had been replaced by fog and salt-spray, Rose watched the grey horizon slide past her window, the ocean below like hammered steel.
“Where are we going?” she asked at last.
Richard had invited her under the guise of preparing the proposal for the Global Innovation Summit, but even before the flight she’d sensed there was more beneath his calm, deliberate invitation.
“Prescott Villa,” he said, “It’s private, Secure, and no one there will know you’re Rose Thompson from the finance department.”
“So now I’m a ghost again?”
He gave a humorless smile. “If you’re going to hunt ghosts, it helps to become one.”
The villa itself was breathtaking, The air smelled of citrus and salt, the kind of beauty that could almost make you forget what it was hiding.
The villa rose out of the cliffs like a fortress of glass and white stone, Waves slammed the rocks below, sending mist up the walls Inside, it was minimalist too clean, too silent a place built for a man who couldn’t sleep.
As soon as the staff disappeared down the hallway, Richard turned to her.
“There’s a security suite downstairs, Every email, every transaction tied to V-One passes through an off-site node near here If we can reach it, we can trace who’s been siphoning the funds.”
Rose dropped her bag on the marble floor “And you think the man who killed my sister is behind it.”
“I think Charles Vance was working for someone worse,” he said. “And they’re still inside my company.”
Richard stood by the balcony when she arrived, his suit jacket discarded, shirt sleeves rolled above his forearms “Welcome to my escape,” he said.
“Escape from what?” she asked.
He looked at the horizon for a long moment “My father used to bring me here when I was a boy, He said The sea teaches patience but it’s really just a mirror it shows you what you’re running from.”
Rose’s voice softened. “And what are you running from, Richard?”
He turned then, his expression unreadable “You tell me. You’re very good at seeing what others miss.”
For a heartbeat, she forgot to breathe. Every time he looked at her like that, it felt like he could strip away her armor piece by piece.
Hours later, while the storm battered the coastline, Rose followed him into the underground room where banks of monitors glowed faint blue.
She leaned over a console “Who else has access to this system?”
“Only me,” Richard said and hesitated “And Vance before I locked him out.”
Rose’s pulse jumped. “So if we find new data here…”
“It means he’s back.”
He gestured toward the terrace “Come. Work can wait until after dinner.”
The meal was set outdoors beneath a canopy of vines. Candlelight flickered against the stone, throwing gold across his features, The conversation drifted from business to philosophy, then to memories that slipped too easily into confession.
“I lost my mother young,” he said quietly. “Vance was my father’s closest friend, He became my mentor after the accident, Everything I know about control and strategy he taught me.”
Rose studied him carefully “And do you still trust him?”
Richard’s fork paused mid-air “Why do you ask?”
“I'm just curious”
His eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion stirring “You’ve been curious about a lot of things lately Rose, Including matters outside your department.”
The words landed like a blade wrapped in velvet, For a second, her pulse faltered, had he found out about the files?
But before she could answer, he smiled faintly “Relax, Curiosity is what I admire most about you.”
Dinner ended with a walk along the cliffs, The moon hung low, the sea below whispering secrets against the rocks, Rose kept her distance, afraid of what might happen if she didn’t.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, careful “You remind me of someone I once knew, Someone who wasn’t afraid to challenge me.”
“Did she matter?” Rose asked.
“Yes, she mattered”
Their eyes met, and for a long moment neither moved, The night pressed around them, the sound of the waves rising between breaths, Then, as if remembering himself, he stepped back, “Let’s get to work” he said
They worked in silence, Lines of code scrolled across the screens, each string revealing another layer of deceit: shell companies, false invoices, hidden transfers to an account in Zurich under the alias Solace Holdings.
Rose frowned “My sister’s last email used that word ‘Solace.’ She said it wasn’t what it looked like.”
Richard’s jaw tightened. “Then she found something they didn’t want seen.”
A loud click echoed from the hallway above them, Both froze.
Rose whispered, “Did you lock the front door?”
“Yes,” he said. “But that sound came from inside.”
They moved through the villa in darkness, the power flickering with each strike of lightning, From the far end of the corridor came the faint metallic scrape of a window latch.
Richard motioned for her to stay behind him, When they reached the living room, the curtains rippled inward wind, or something else.
On the coffee table lay a single wet footprint.
And beside it, a USB drive.
Richard picked it up slowly “Whoever was here wanted us to find this.”
Rose’s hands trembled as she took it “Or they wanted us to plug it in.”
He stared out at the storm “We’ll analyze it tomorrow. Tonight, keep your door locked.”
“Do you really think a lock matters?” she asked.
“For peace of mind,” he said, “sometimes that’s all we have.”
She turned away, but his words followed her down the hall quiet, protective, and edged with the same fear now coiled in her chest.
- Writer
