CHAPTER 5 The Man Who Knew Adrian's Name
The room erupted into chaos.
Rachel curled around Emma, shielding the little girl with her own body.
Natalie crouched behind the heavy oak wardrobe, her breathing ragged.
Adrian held Claire's journal against his chest with one hand while reaching blindly for anything that could be used as a weapon with the other.
The hooded man stepped farther into the room.
His pistol never wavered.
Rain flashed silver across the broken mirror as lightning lit the room for a heartbeat.
Then darkness swallowed everything again.
"You have five seconds," the intruder said calmly.
"One."
Adrian remained silent.
"Two."
His fingers brushed against something cold.
A solid brass clothing rod that had fallen from the wardrobe during the search.
He gripped it.
"Three."
The man took another step.
"You don't want to do this, Mr. Westwood."
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
The stranger knew his name.
Not surprising.
Half of Chicago knew Adrian Westwood.
But the way he said it...
It sounded personal.
Like they had met before.
"Four."
Emma suddenly whispered from behind Rachel.
"He's afraid."
The man froze for the briefest instant.
Rachel tightened her arms around her daughter.
"Don't speak."
Emma shook her head.
"He's scared of the book."
Not Adrian.
Not the police.
The journal.
The stranger laughed softly.
"Smart little girl."
Then he fired.
Pfft!
The bullet struck the wardrobe inches above Adrian's head.
Wood exploded into splinters.
At that exact moment Adrian moved.
He lunged from behind the wardrobe and swung the brass rod with every ounce of strength he had.
The metal crashed into the intruder's wrist.
CRACK!
The pistol flew across the room.
The hooded man staggered backward but recovered instantly.
Far too quickly for an ordinary criminal.
Military training.
Or something close to it.
He drove a punch toward Adrian's ribs.
Adrian twisted.
The fist grazed him instead of landing cleanly.
Still...
The impact stole his breath.
The man was powerful.
Years younger than Adrian.
Fast.
Disciplined.
No wasted movement.
They crashed into the vanity together.
Perfume bottles shattered across the marble floor.
The room filled with the scent of jasmine and roses.
Claire's favorite fragrance.
For one strange second...
Adrian remembered their wedding morning.
Then another punch snapped him back to reality.
He blocked it.
Countered with an elbow.
The intruder stumbled.
Natalie seized the opportunity.
She grabbed a heavy porcelain vase and hurled it.
It smashed against the man's shoulder.
He grunted.
Not from pain.
From annoyance.
As though she'd interrupted him.
He reached inside his coat.
Adrian's heart sank.
A second weapon.
Not a gun.
A combat knife.
Eight inches long.
The blade reflected another flash of lightning.
"You should've handed me the journal," the stranger said.
He rushed forward.
Adrian barely avoided the first slash.
The knife sliced through his jacket sleeve.
Another attack.
Another.
The man wasn't trying to intimidate him anymore.
He was trying to kill him.
Adrian kicked a chair toward him.
The intruder stepped over it effortlessly.
Too effortlessly.
Like he'd anticipated it.
Then...
Emma screamed.
"Behind you!"
Adrian turned instinctively.
The stranger had feinted.
The knife came from the opposite direction.
Too late.
Too fast.
At the last possible second, Natalie shoved Adrian sideways.
The blade buried itself deep into her shoulder.
She cried out in agony.
"Natalie!"
Blood spread quickly across her blouse.
The intruder yanked the knife free.
He raised it again.
Before he could strike...
A deafening bark echoed through the hallway.
Everyone looked toward the door.
A massive German Shepherd charged into the room.
Titan.
Claire's old protection dog.
Except...
Titan had supposedly died two years earlier.
The dog launched himself straight at the intruder.
The man barely had time to react.
Titan slammed into his chest with enough force to send both of them crashing through the broken doorway.
The knife skidded across the floor.
The journal remained in Adrian's hand.
Outside in the hallway, furious barking mixed with crashing furniture.
Then...
A single sharp whistle.
Titan stopped barking.
Adrian frowned.
The dog whimpered.
Then backed away.
The intruder slowly stood.
He wasn't surprised by the dog.
He'd expected him.
He looked directly at Titan.
"Good boy."
Titan lowered his head.
His tail tucked between his legs.
He obeyed.
Adrian's blood ran cold.
"No..."
Titan wasn't attacking anymore.
The dog walked calmly to the stranger's side.
Like he knew him.
Like he'd been trained by him.
Natalie stared in disbelief despite the pain.
"That's impossible."
The intruder gently scratched behind Titan's ear.
Then looked back at Adrian.
"You always thought Claire rescued abandoned animals."
He smiled beneath the hood.
"She never told you where this one came from."
Adrian felt something click in his memory.
Years ago...
Claire had found Titan after an incident involving a private security company.
She'd refused to explain the details.
The stranger took one step backward toward the hallway.
His mission had failed.
But he wasn't panicking.
Almost as though...
This had only been a test.
"You'll open the next envelope," he said quietly.
"When you do..."
His voice became colder.
"...you'll wish she'd never written any of them."
Adrian's grip tightened around the journal.
"What are you talking about?"
Instead of answering...
The stranger reached into his pocket.
He tossed a small object onto the floor.
It slid to Adrian's feet.
A silver cufflink.
Engraved with a familiar symbol.
A bluebird.
Exactly like the missing porcelain figure.
Then the intruder disappeared into the darkness.
By the time Adrian reached the hallway...
He was gone.
Only rain blew through an open window at the far end of the corridor.
No footsteps.
No sound.
Nothing.
Behind him, Rachel suddenly gasped.
"Adrian..."
He turned.
Emma was staring at the silver cufflink.
Her face had become strangely pale.
She whispered only four words.
"He dropped it... on purpose."
Adrian picked up the cufflink.
As he turned it over in his hand, he noticed something almost invisible etched into the back.
Three tiny letters.
B.C.G.
None of them recognized the initials.
But somewhere in the mansion...
An old grandfather clock suddenly began to chime.
Not the correct hour.
Not even close.
Twelve slow chimes.
Then...
From deep inside the clock's wooden case...
Came the unmistakable sound of something mechanical unlocking.
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END OF CHAPTER 5
