Chapter 6 - The Man Who Sold His Loyalty
"Victor!"
Dominic pressed both hands against the wound.
Victor groaned, his face pale beneath the dust.
"Don't move," Dominic ordered.
"Wasn't planning on it."
Dominic almost laughed. Almost.
He shouted for the driver and dragged Victor behind the stone altar as another shot struck the wall.
The gunman outside had chosen his position carefully. The chapel's broken windows offered several clear firing angles, but the darkness concealed his face.
Dominic pulled his weapon.
"Stay down."
He moved through the side corridor, using the old stone pillars for cover. By the time he reached the rear exit, the shooter was gone.
Only tire tracks remained in the mud.
Dominic returned to Victor.
An ambulance was on its way, but Victor caught his wrist.
"The recording," he rasped. "You heard Elena's voice."
"Yes."
"Then listen to me."
Dominic's expression was merciless.
"You have thirty seconds."
Victor swallowed.
"Your father ordered me to falsify a report six years ago. He said Elena and the baby were dead. He showed me photographs. I believed him."
"You signed the death certificate."
"I signed the statement confirming the hospital's report. I never saw the body."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Anthony threatened my wife and son."
Dominic went still.
Victor's family had been placed under protection after a kidnapping attempt years earlier. Dominic had personally arranged it.
"You told me the threat was over."
"I thought it was."
Victor's eyes filled with shame.
"Three months ago, I received a photograph of my son leaving school. The message said that if I ever told you what happened at the hospital, he'd disappear."
Dominic's anger didn't lessen.
But it changed.
"Who sent it?"
"I don't know. The messages came through anonymous accounts. I traced the payments to a company connected to Vivienne."
Dominic stared at him.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because I was afraid."
For a long moment, the chapel held only the sound of Victor's ragged breathing.
Then Dominic said, "You should have trusted me."
"I know."
"I could have protected your family."
"I know."
"And now somebody has tried to kill you because you finally told the truth."
Victor closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry, boss."
Dominic looked away.
He wanted to hate Victor. It would have been easier than admitting that fear could corrupt even the most loyal man he knew.
But he couldn't afford to forgive him yet.
Not while Lily's life remained in danger.
The ambulance arrived, and Dominic ordered two guards to escort Victor to a secure hospital. Then he drove north with another team, following Elena's address.
The cottage stood at the end of a narrow country lane, surrounded by bare trees and an overgrown garden. It looked abandoned.
Dominic approached the front door.
"Elena?"
Silence.
He tried the handle.
Unlocked.
Inside, dust covered the furniture. A half-finished knitting project lay on the sofa. A child's height had been marked against a doorframe, with dates written beside the pencil lines.
Someone had lived here.
Someone had loved a child here.
Dominic moved through the rooms, searching for anything that might prove Elena had survived.
In the bedroom, he found a small wooden box beneath the floorboards.
Inside were birthday cards addressed to Lily.
One for her first birthday.
One for her second.
One for every year until her sixth.
The latest card had never been sealed.
My darling Lily,
I hope someone has taught you that the world can be cruel without making you any less precious. I hope you have friends. I hope you laugh. I hope you never believe the lies told about your mother.
Dominic's eyes blurred.
At the bottom, Elena had written a single sentence.
I'm coming for you soon.
The date was six months earlier.
He heard a floorboard creak behind him.
Dominic spun around.
A woman stood in the doorway.
She was thinner, older, and had a pale scar near her hairline. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders, and a silver crescent moon rested against her throat.
Dominic forgot how to breathe.
"Elena?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Dominic."
He crossed the room in two strides, then stopped just short of touching her.
"You were alive."
She nodded.
"You let me bury an empty coffin."
"I had no choice."
"You let me believe our daughter was dead!"
"I was trying to keep her alive."
He looked at the birthday cards.
"You were here all this time?"
"Not all the time."
"What does that mean?"
Elena's face crumpled.
"Anthony found us once. I had to move Lily."
"Where is she now?"
Elena looked at him as though the answer might destroy them both.
"Dominic, I need you to tell me something first."
"What?"
"Did you bring Lily with you?"
"No. She's safe at the orphanage."
Elena closed her eyes in relief.
Then she whispered, "Thank God."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Tell me everything."
She opened her mouth.
A phone rang from the next room.
Elena flinched.
Dominic drew his weapon and moved toward the sound. The phone lay on a table beside an open notebook.
Its screen displayed a live video feed.
Lily was sitting in her wheelchair inside the orphanage's playroom.
A gloved hand reached into the frame and placed a white envelope in her lap.
Dominic heard Elena gasp behind him.
Then a distorted voice came through the phone.
May you like
"Bring the mother to us, Moretti. Or the little girl dies."
The screen went black.
