Chapter 23: The First Move
Footsteps creaked overhead, and Ethan pressed himself flat against the filing cabinet, holding his breath. A shadow moved past the doorway, methodical, unhurried, pulling drawers open one by one.
The intruder searched with clear purpose, gathering files into a bag before pausing near the desk. A lighter flared briefly, and flames caught the edge of a folder before the figure tossed it into the metal wastebasket and walked away.
Ethan waited until the footsteps faded completely before emerging. Most of the files were gone, the remaining ones curling to ash in the wastebasket, but beneath the burnt papers he found one surviving photograph, its edges singed but intact.
Isabella Mercer, standing beside Adrian's father, at what looked like another estate entirely.
