Chapter 7 - Brooke Calls at 2:13 A.M.
At 2:13 in the morning, Adrian's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He nearly ignored it.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
Breathing.
Then a woman's voice.
"Don't say my name."
Adrian sat up.
"Brooke."
"Oh my God."
"You called me."
"I said don't—"
"Fine. Talk."
She whispered, "Are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Is anybody recording?"
"Not intentionally."
"That's not funny."
"I wasn't joking."
Brooke was silent for a moment.
Then, "I need immunity."
"From me?"
"From everyone."
Adrian stood and walked into the study.
"You need a lawyer."
"I have one."
"Then why are you calling me?"
"Because she told us you'd turn on us."
"Who?"
"You know who."
"Say it."
Brooke's breath trembled.
"Corinne."
Adrian sat behind his desk.
"What did she tell you?"
"That you'd protect the company before you'd protect your daughter."
His fingers tightened around the phone.
"And you believed her?"
"I don't know what I believed."
"That's convenient."
"I deserve that."
"No, Brooke. You deserve much worse than a sarcastic sentence."
She began crying.
Adrian felt nothing.
He hated that.
He wanted to feel sympathy.
But all he could see was Lila's fingers on steel.
"What happened on the bow?"
Brooke whispered, "She pushed her."
Adrian closed his eyes.
There it was.
No ambiguity.
No three-year-old confusion.
No accident.
"Why did you laugh?"
Brooke made a choking sound.
"I didn't."
"You did something."
"I panicked. Sloane laughed first. Tessa laughed. I—I made this noise. I don't even know what came out of me."
"You pointed."
"Sloane pointed."
"You did nothing."
"I know."
"My daughter was hanging over the ocean."
"I know."
"You watched."
"I know."
"You let my wife walk toward her."
"I know."
Adrian slammed his palm against the desk.
"STOP SAYING YOU KNOW."
Brooke sobbed.
He stood, shaking.
After a long silence, he said, "Why?"
Brooke didn't answer.
"Why, Brooke?"
"We weren't supposed to..."
She stopped.
Adrian's heart slowed.
"Supposed to what?"
"It wasn't supposed to happen like that."
His skin went cold.
"What was supposed to happen?"
"Corinne said she was going to scare her."
"Scare my three-year-old daughter?"
"She said she'd make it look like Lila wandered too close. Then she'd grab her."
Adrian couldn't speak.
Brooke continued rapidly.
"She said you needed a shock. Something big enough to make you stop thinking about work."
"What?"
"She said grief—or fear—was the only thing stronger than your need to control everything."
"Grief."
Brooke realized what she'd said.
"I didn't mean—"
"Did she expect Lila to fall?"
"She told us there was a safety platform below."
"There is no platform below the bow."
"I know that now."
"You were on the yacht."
"I'd never been on that yacht before."
"Sloane?"
"I don't know."
"Tessa?"
"I don't know."
Adrian forced himself to breathe.
"What did Halcyon promise you?"
Brooke stopped crying.
That silence answered enough.
"Brooke."
"My event company is failing."
"How much?"
"Two million."
"Jesus."
"They offered contracts. Corporate retreats. Launches. Enough to save me."
"In exchange for what?"
"Being around."
"That's not an answer."
"For making things feel normal."
Adrian stared at the wall.
"What does that mean?"
"Corinne said you trusted rooms more when familiar people were in them."
He almost laughed again.
Instead he felt sick.
Brooke said, "She studied you."
"Who?"
"Corinne."
"Since when?"
"I don't know."
"You were photographed with her and Hale before she met me."
Brooke went silent.
"How long, Brooke?"
"Maybe a year."
"A year before we met?"
"Adrian—"
"HOW LONG?"
"Eleven months."
He gripped the phone so hard his hand hurt.
"Did she ever love me?"
Brooke cried harder.
"I don't know."
It was probably the most merciful answer she could give.
Then she whispered, "There's something else."
"What?"
"The camera."
He waited.
"Corinne gave Sloane her phone before you kissed her."
Adrian didn't move.
"Why?"
"She said, 'Do it when he goes inside.'"
Adrian's mouth went dry.
Brooke continued.
"I didn't know what she meant. Sloane tapped something and put the phone back."
"The camera."
"Yes."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because Corinne called me tonight."
"What did she say?"
Brooke's voice shook.
"She said if one of us talks, all four of us go down."
"That sounds like a threat."
"It was."
Adrian looked at the clock.
2:27 a.m.
"Brooke."
"What?"
"Call Detective Ruiz."
"No."
"Now."
"I'm scared."
"So was Lila."
Silence.
Then Brooke whispered, "That's not fair."
Adrian's voice went flat.
"No."
"It isn't."
He hung up.
At 2:41, Ruiz texted him.
Brooke Ellis just contacted counsel and requested an interview.
A second message followed.
Do not contact any of the witnesses again.
Then a third.
May you like
We may have a conspiracy.
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