Chapter 2
I did not believe him immediately.
People facing consequences become creative.
Derek saw that.
“He’s telling the truth.”
I looked at him.
“You’ve had a difficult evening with truth.”
He shut his mouth.
Good.
Edmund continued.
Six weeks after Daniel’s burial, someone contacted him through an old casino intermediary.
No name.
No meeting.
Just instructions.
Go to the Voss family crypt.
Open Daniel’s coffin.
Retrieve the braided wedding band.
Bring it to the private casino room.
Payment after delivery.
“Who gave you access?”
I asked.
Edmund hesitated.
That mattered.
“The crypt wasn’t locked.”
Impossible.
Voss burial grounds were private.
Two gates.
Family guards.
One underground entrance.
Daniel’s crypt had been sealed after I placed my hand on the lid myself.
Rafe, my bodyguard, understood the same thing.
“Inside help.”
Edmund nodded.
When the Langs arrived, they found the outer crypt undisturbed.
The coffin itself was different.
One seal had already been broken.
They opened it.
Daniel was there.
My stomach tightened.
I hated needing to ask.
“Was he…”
I stopped.
Edmund understood.
“Everything looked untouched.”
Except the ring.
Still on Daniel’s hand.
They removed it.
Then noticed the inner braid had already been opened.
Whatever Daniel concealed inside was gone.
“So why keep the ring?”
Derek answered.
“Because whoever hired us still wanted it.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Then Edmund looked at my children.
That was his mistake.
I stepped between his eyes and them.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“The ring was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That we reached him.”
My breathing slowed.
Even dead.
They needed to prove they could reach Daniel.
Not sentimental desecration.
Message.
Then Derek said:
“Your husband knew someone would come for it.”
I turned.
“How?”
“He told one of the casino men.”
I looked over my shoulder.
The oldest enforcer stepped forward.
Samuel Crane.
Fifty-six.
Daniel’s former floor chief.
He lowered his head toward me.
“Mrs. Voss.”
I had known Samuel for years.
I did not know he worked here.
“Explain.”
His jaw tightened.
“Three days before Daniel died, he told me that if his wedding band ever appeared inside this casino…”
A pause.
“…I was to place every man in the room under your authority.”
May you like
I stared at the ring.
Daniel had planned for this moment before his death.
