Chapter 4 - THE GHOST IN THE RAIN

None spoke.

The image on the tablet seemed to have left all of them dumbfounded.

The silver lighter gleamed beneath the security camera's grainy footage.

A small object.

An ordinary object.

Yet Celine felt as though she had been dealt a hard blow.

IMPOSSIBLE.

The lighter had disappeared ten years ago.

The police claimed it was lost during evidence transfer.

She had spent years tracking rumors, bribing former officers, digging through archives.

Nothing.

No trace.

No answers.

And now it was here.

Inside Adrian Kane's estate.

Her father's lighter.

The security guard shifted nervously.

"Sir?"

Adrian remained still.

His eyes were no longer on the tablet.

They were on Celine.

Watching.

Studying.

Waiting.

Celine immediately forced her face blank.

Too late.

She already knew it.

He had seen everything.

Every ounce of recognition.

Every flicker of shock.

Every crack in her armor.

A mistake.

A massive mistake.

The guard cleared his throat.

"We're currently searching the grounds."

Adrian finally spoke.

"How many teams?"

"Four."

"Expand it to eight."

"Yes, sir."

The guard hesitated.

"There is one more thing."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"What?"

"The cameras lost visual contact with the intruder six minutes after entry."

Silence.

The room grew colder.

"Lost contact?"

"Yes, sir."

Adrian slowly turned.

His expression had become frighteningly calm.

"Explain."

The guard swallowed.

"We reviewed every camera twice."

His voice lowered.

"It's as if the person vanished."

A beat passed.

Nobody laughed.

Because nobody thought it was funny.

Adrian dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

The door closed.

Silence returned.

This time it felt heavier.

More dangerous.

Then Adrian looked at her.

"Who is he?"

Celine's pulse jumped.

"I don't know."

A lie.

A terrible one.

Adrian stepped closer.

"Try again."

She lifted her chin.

"I came alone."

"I didn't ask if you came alone."

His voice sharpened.

"I asked who he is."

Thunder exploded outside.

The windows rattled violently.

Still neither looked away.

The standoff continued.

Until suddenly—

The lights went out.

Darkness consumed the study.

Instantly.

Completely.

For one heartbeat nobody moved.

Then alarms erupted across the estate.

A deafening siren.

Red emergency lights flashed through the mansion corridors.

SECURITY BREACH.

SECURITY BREACH.

SECURITY BREACH.

The computerized warning echoed everywhere.

Adrian cursed audibly.

The first emotion she'd seen from him all night.

Then his phone rang.

He answered immediately.

"What happened?”

Silence.

Then his expression changed.

For the first time since meeting him—

Celine saw fear.

Real fear.

"I'm coming."

The call ended.

"What happened?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Adrian looked at her.

And for a second he seemed conflicted.

Then—

"Someone broke into the underground archive."

Her stomach dropped.

Archive?

"What archive?"

Adrian didn't answer.

He was already moving.

Crossing the study.

Opening the door.

Then stopping.

Turning back toward her.

Their eyes met.

For one long moment.

"You wanted answers."

His voice was cold.

"Congratulations."

A beat.

"You may be about to get them."

Then he grabbed her wrist.

And pulled her into the hallway.

Chaos had taken over the mansion.

Security teams rushed in every direction.

Radios crackled.

Alarms screamed.

Rain hammered the roof.

Celine struggled to keep pace with Adrian as he strode through corridor after corridor.

Neither spoke.

The tension between them felt almost tangible.

Finally they reached a restricted elevator hidden behind a stone wall.

Adrian pressed his palm against a scanner.

The doors slid open.

The elevator descended.

Ten seconds.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Far deeper than any basement should exist.

When the doors finally opened—

Celine forgot how to breathe.

Rows.

Endless rows.

Metal shelves.

Thousands of files.

Boxes.

Photographs.

Documents.

Records.

The underground archive stretched farther than she could see.

"What is this?"

Adrian's expression darkened.

"My father's secrets."

The words echoed through the room.

Celine stared.

"What the fuck!”

Adrian looked away.

As though he already regretted saying it.

Before she could ask another question—

A shout erupted nearby.

"Sir!"

Several guards stood around an open vault door.

The steel lock had been destroyed.

Not picked.

Destroyed.

Adrian approached immediately.

The sight waiting inside made every guard in the room visibly uneasy.

The vault was empty.

Completely empty.

Except for a single sheet of paper resting on the floor.

Adrian picked it up.

Read it.

Then froze.

Celine watched something impossible happen.

The color drained from his face.

"What is it?" she asked.

No response.

"Adrian."

Slowly—

Very slowly—

He handed her the note.

The message contained only six words.

SHE FINALLY FOUND YOUR SON.

Nothing else.

No signature.

No explanation.

Just six words.

Celine's blood ran cold.

Because the message wasn't addressed to Adrian.

It was addressed to Victor Kane.

And suddenly a terrifying possibility entered her mind.

What if tonight wasn't about her?

What if she wasn't the target?

What if Adrian was?

The realization struck at the exact same moment Adrian reached the same conclusion.

His eyes snapped toward her.

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Everything changed.

Every assumption.

Every theory.

Every certainty.

Because if the note was true—

Someone had been searching for Adrian.

Not Celine.

For years.

And that someone had finally found him.

A sharp metallic sound echoed behind them.

Click.

Every guard spun around.

Too late.

The archive doors slammed shut.

Automatically locking.

The lights flickered.

Then died.

Darkness swallowed the room.

Several guards reached for weapons.

The emergency lights turned on seconds later.

A deep crimson glow flooded the archive.

Then came a voice.

Female.

Calm.

Distorted through the speaker system.

"Hello there, Adrian."

Every muscle in his body stiffened.

The woman laughed softly.

Not kindly.

Not warmly.

Like someone greeting an old enemy.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever discover the truth."

The entire archive fell silent.

Nobody dared moved.

The air went still.

Adrian stared upward.

"Who are you?"

The woman ignored the question.

Instead she said something that shattered the room.

"Ask him where Sebastian Wolfe really died."

Celine felt her heart stop.

Completely stop.

Her gaze snapped toward Adrian.

His face had turned white.

The woman continued.

"Oh."

A cruel smile seemed hidden inside her voice.

"He never told you that part, did he?"

The silence became unbearable.

"Interesting."

Another laugh.

Softer this time.

"Then let's make tonight unforgettable."

The emergency lights flickered again.

And every monitor in the archive suddenly turned on.

Hundreds of screens.

All at once.

Displaying the same image.

A photograph.

Old.

Grainy.

Taken ten years ago.

The night Sebastian Wolfe died.

Celine stumbled forward.

Her breath vanished.

Because standing beside Sebastian in the photograph—

Very much alive—

Was Victor Kane.

But he wasn't alone.

A second man stood beside him.

Partially obscured by shadows.

His face hidden.

Yet one detail remained visible.

A distinctive silver wolf-shaped ring.

The exact same ring Celine had discovered earlier inside Adrian's secret file.

The woman spoke one final sentence.

And this time her voice sounded almost sympathetic.

"You've both been hunting the wrong monster."

The screens went black.

The speakers died.

Silence crashed over the archive.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

Then Adrian slowly reached into his jacket.

Removed his phone.

And stared at a new notification that had just appeared.

One message.

One image.

One sentence.

His expression changed instantly.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Horror.

Celine stepped toward him.

"What is it?"

For several seconds he couldn't answer.

Then he turned the screen toward her.

And the world stopped.

Because staring back at them was a recent photograph.

Taken less than twenty-four hours ago.

A photograph of a man stepping out of a black car.

A man who was supposed to have been dead for ten years.

A man whose funeral had been attended by thousands.

A man whose grave existed in a cemetery.

A man named—

Sebastian Wolfe.

Celine's father.