Chương 3 - The House With No Locks
Dominic Vale did not take Emily to a mansion.
He took her to a fortress pretending to be one.
The limestone estate stood north of Chicago behind iron gates, thermal cameras and enough armed security to invade a small country.
By 2:00 a.m., Lily and Grace had been examined by a private pediatrician.
Grace’s core temperature had stabilized.
Lily had mild frostbite on two fingers.
Both were dehydrated, exhausted and frightened.
Neither wanted Emily to leave.
Grace held her hand during the examination.
Lily refused to sleep until Emily sat beside her bed.
Dominic watched from the doorway.
The powerful man from the newspapers seemed strangely helpless inside his daughters’ bedroom.
“Will Emily be here tomorrow?” Grace asked.
Emily opened her mouth.
Dominic answered first.
“Yes.”
Emily glared at him.
Grace smiled and closed her eyes.
Outside the room, Emily confronted him.
“You need to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Deciding things for me.”
“You currently have no apartment to return to.”
“I have friends.”
“You have one close friend, Rachel Sloan, who lives in Oak Park with her fiancé.”
Emily stared.
Dominic understood his mistake.
“You investigated me.”
“I protected you.”
“In the last forty minutes?”
“I have efficient people.”
“That is not comforting.”
For the first time, something almost like amusement touched his face.
It disappeared quickly.
Dominic led her downstairs.
A man waited in the library.
Early forties.
Gray suit.
Broken nose.
“Emily Parker, this is Anthony Russo. My attorney.”
Anthony extended his hand.
“Sorry about the circumstances.”
Emily ignored it.
“What circumstances?”
Anthony looked at Dominic.
Dominic poured water into a glass.
“Tell her.”
Anthony opened a folder.
“Calvin Miller was found dead twenty minutes ago.”
Emily’s anger vanished.
“What?”
“Your manager.”
“I know who Calvin is.”
Her voice cracked.
She grabbed the back of a chair.
“He left before this happened.”
“Apparently he returned.”
“No.”
Anthony’s silence confirmed it.
Emily sat.
Calvin had been annoying, cheap and incapable of making coffee without burning it.
He had also given Emily extra shifts when her mother was dying.
He had quietly paid her electric bill once.
Now he was dead.
“Why?”
“We don’t know,” Dominic said.
Emily looked at him.
“Yes, you do.”
Dominic did not answer.
“Because of those girls?”
“Possibly.”
“Because of me?”
“Possibly.”
Emily stood.
“I’m going to the police.”
Anthony spoke gently.
“You can.”
Dominic looked irritated.
Anthony continued anyway.
“But understand that whoever kidnapped Lily and Grace had access to Dominic’s internal security schedule. Someone knew the route, vehicle, driver and exact window when the girls would be moving between properties.”
Emily remembered Lily’s words.
Mr. Reed told him where we were going.
“Who is Reed?”
Dominic stared into the fireplace.
“Samuel Reed ran my security division.”
“Ran?”
“He disappeared yesterday.”
“Then find him.”
“We are.”
Emily studied Dominic.
“You think he killed Calvin?”
“I think Reed is cleaning up witnesses.”
“Then the police need to know.”
“They do.”
That surprised her.
“You contacted them?”
“My attorney did.”
Anthony nodded.
Emily rubbed her forehead.
Her entire life had become unrecognizable in two hours.
Thirty-eight dollars.
That was what she had worried about.
Thirty-eight stupid dollars.
Now Calvin was dead.
Her apartment had been destroyed.
Two traumatized children were sleeping upstairs.
And Chicago’s most notorious billionaire was standing ten feet away looking like he had not slept since Tuesday.
“I need coffee.”
Dominic blinked.
Anthony laughed.
It was the first normal sound Emily had heard all night.
The kitchen was enormous.
Emily found the coffee machine incomprehensible.
Dominic entered several minutes later.
She pointed at it.
“You own ships but apparently hate people who need caffeine.”
He walked over and pressed two buttons.
Coffee appeared.
Emily stared.
“Show-off.”
He handed her the cup.
She took it.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dominic said, “Thank you.”
Emily looked at him.
“For what?”
“My daughters.”
“You already said that.”
“No. I didn’t.”
She realized he was right.
He had said she kept them alive.
He had never actually thanked her.
Dominic leaned against the counter.
“When their mother died, Grace was eighteen months old. Lily was twenty minutes older and somehow decided that made her responsible for everyone.”
Emily smiled despite herself.
“That sounds like Lily.”
“I promised them nothing would happen to them.”
“That was an impossible promise.”
“I don’t make impossible promises.”
“You did that time.”
His jaw tightened.
Emily immediately regretted it.
Then Dominic nodded.
“Yes.”
No defensiveness.
No threat.
Just agreement.
It changed something.
Emily studied him.
“Why would your security chief betray you?”
“That is the question.”
“No. The question is why he thought kidnapping two children would get him whatever he wanted.”
Dominic looked at her differently.
“What?”
“You didn’t ask what Reed demanded.”
Emily realized he was right.
“What did he demand?”
“Nothing.”
She frowned.
“No ransom?”
“No call.”
“Then maybe kidnapping them wasn’t the objective.”
Dominic straightened.
Emily thought aloud.
“Maybe they were supposed to disappear permanently.”
His face darkened.
“Or maybe somebody wanted you distracted.”
Silence.
Dominic’s phone rang.
Anthony appeared in the doorway simultaneously.
“Dominic.”
Something in his expression made both of them turn.
“What?”
“Pier seventeen.”
Dominic answered his phone.
His gaze hardened.
“When?”
He listened.
Then ended the call.
Emily waited.
Dominic looked at Anthony.
“The customs warehouse burned.”
Anthony cursed.
Emily frowned.
“What was inside?”
Dominic did not answer.
Anthony did.
“Records.”
“What kind?”
“Shipping manifests. Financial documents. Security logs.”
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
The kidnapping.
The fire.
Calvin.
Her apartment.
None of it felt random anymore.
A small voice interrupted them.
“Emily?”
Grace stood in the doorway clutching a blanket.
Emily immediately crouched.
“Hey. Nightmare?”
Grace nodded.
Emily opened her arms.
The child ran into them.
Dominic watched.
Grace whispered against Emily’s shoulder.
“The wolf said Daddy would never find the red book.”
Emily looked over her head at Dominic.
He had gone pale.
“What red book?” Emily asked.
Dominic did not answer.
Grace did.
May you like
“The one Mommy hid before she died.”
And for the first time that night, Emily saw Dominic Vale look genuinely afraid.
