Chapter 3 — Thomas Had Removed Lucas From the Gala
The Riverside Gala mattered deeply to Eleanor.
She had volunteered with the children’s foundation for twenty-one years.
That evening, the organization planned to recognize her service.
Both sons were originally invited.
Then Thomas contacted Richard.
He asked that Lucas’s invitation be canceled.
Richard stared at him now.
“You told me there was a serious family issue.”
Thomas nodded.
“There was.”
“You didn’t tell me it was an unproven accusation about a ring.”
Thomas’s expression tightened.
“Lucas refused to tell me where it was.”
Emily asked:
“Did your mother ask you to remove him?”
Thomas went quiet.
That answer was enough.
“No.”
Richard folded his arms.
“Did she know you removed him?”
“Not at first.”
Eleanor found out two weeks later.
She became furious.
She told Thomas:
“You do not get to decide which of my sons attends an event honoring me.”
Thomas replied that Lucas could attend after returning the ring.
Eleanor stared at him.
Then said something Thomas did not understand:
“You are going to feel very foolish.”
But she still did not reveal where the ring was.
Thomas took her silence as further protection of Lucas.
Lucas eventually heard his invitation had been canceled.
He sent Thomas one text:
Fine. Enjoy controlling the guest list.
Then stopped responding.
“So Lucas knows he’s not invited?” Emily asked.
“Yes.”
“Yet the register says Lucas checked in.”
“Exactly.”
Richard called the entrance attendant who had been working at 6:38.
The attendant remembered the check-in.
“Was it a man?” Richard asked.
The attendant thought.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
Thomas froze.
“What?”
“A woman.”
She had approached the desk wearing a dark green evening dress.
She said she was collecting the badge for Lucas Cole.
The attendant assumed she was his guest.
Because the printed badge had already been restored to the registration system that afternoon.
Richard frowned.
“Restored by who?”
Emily checked the change log.
Someone had reactivated Lucas’s invitation at 4:51 PM.
Using a guest-services authorization code.
Thomas stared at Richard.
“Who has that code?”
Richard answered:
“Only senior event staff.”
Then Emily looked toward the ballroom.
A woman in a dark green evening dress was walking quickly away from them.
Thomas recognized her.
“Maya.”
His niece.
Lucas’s daughter.