The Bible in the Glass Case
Chapter 06 - The Bible in the Glass Case
Ava could not enter the museum without attracting attention.
Her wedding arrest had made her the most recognizable woman in the state.
Miriam Cross arranged for Daniel Reyes, an investigative journalist banned from Mercer events, to enter disguised as a catering supervisor. Rose accompanied him as a museum donor’s guest.
The inaugural Bible rested beneath glass in the Hall of Governors.
Nathan had once told Rose that powerful people hid crimes in symbols no one dared touch.
At eight forty, the trustees gathered upstairs for dinner.
Rose distracted a curator by asking about the damaged binding. Daniel used a maintenance release to open the display.
Inside the back cover was a thin copper key and a folded note.
Julian,
If you find this, decide whether being the second son made you free or merely obedient.
The note had been written by Nathan.
Daniel photographed it.
Before they could leave, museum security sealed the hall.
Julian stepped from the shadows.
Rose raised her cane.
“Have you come for your grandmother?”
“No.”
“Then prove it.”
Julian had followed them after tracing Miriam’s calls. He admitted Evelyn ordered him to retrieve the key but had not told her he found them.
He held out his hand.
“Give it to me. The vault is inside Mercer Bank. You cannot enter without a family biometric.”
Rose replied, “Lily can.”
As Nathan’s daughter, Lily’s DNA could activate the succession vault.
That was why Evelyn needed custody.
Julian finally understood the full plan. Evelyn would use Lily to open the vault, remove the evidence, then argue the child was an impostor.
Ava called from outside.
“Help us get her out.”
Julian closed his eyes.
For most of his life, obedience had been rewarded as loyalty. Now every path required betrayal—of Evelyn, of Nathan, or of the woman he almost married.
He disabled the museum alarm and gave Daniel his access badge.
“I can enter St. Catherine’s.”
Rose did not trust him.
“Your brother trusted you once.”
Julian accepted the wound.
“He should not have.”
They left through the loading dock.
Upstairs, trustees continued eating beneath portraits of governors financed by the Commonwealth Circle.
May you like
None knew the evidence hidden inside their ceremonial Bible had just left the building.
Or that the groom they expected to defend the dynasty had taken his first step away from it.
