CHAPTER 9 — THE RED QUEEN
Khloe’s mother, Celeste Cole, had died when Khloe was nine.
The official story was simple.
A late-night car accident.
Rain.
A failed brake line.
No survivors.
Khloe remembered only fragments from the funeral.
Black umbrellas.
A closed coffin.
Gabriel refusing to leave her side.
And Evelyn Thorne wearing a red coat while everyone else wore black.
When Gabriel saw the message on the hidden phone, he went completely still.
“What does it mean?” Khloe asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
Gabriel looked toward Elaine.
“Give us the room.”
After Elaine left, Khloe stared at her uncle.
“Tell me.”
Gabriel sat near the bed.
“Your mother believed someone was following her before the accident.”
“Who?”
“She never gave me a name. Only a nickname.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“What nickname?”
“The Red Queen.”
Khloe remembered Evelyn’s red coat.
“Was it Marcus’s mother?”
“I suspected her.”
“But?”
“But your mother left me a letter after she died. It said the Red Queen was not a member of the Thorne family.”
Khloe frowned.
“Then who was she?”
“The letter ended before naming her.”
“Ended?”
“The final page was missing.”
Khloe looked toward the hidden phone.
Someone knew about her mother.
Someone had been inside the hospital.
Someone had sent an assassin disguised as a nurse.
Gabriel stood.
“I’m moving you to a secure floor.”
“No.”
“This is not negotiable.”
“I’m done being moved like property.”
“Khloe—”
“I want the original file from my mother’s accident.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Those records were sealed.”
“By whom?”
He looked away.
Khloe’s voice hardened.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
The answer stunned her.
“Why would Dad seal the investigation?”
Gabriel walked toward the door.
“Because three days after your mother’s funeral, he received a photograph.”
May you like
He turned back.
“In it, your mother was alive.”
