Chapter 7 - THE ROOM UNDER THE FOUNDATION
At 11:48 p.m., Dominic entered Bellhaven alone.
Or so everyone believed.
He had turned off his phone.
Left his security detail behind.
And walked into the abandoned construction site through the east gate.
Snow covered the concrete.
The unfinished towers rose like skeletons against the night.
Dominic found the foundation room exactly where Michael had described it.
A hidden steel door beneath a maintenance platform.
Inside were shelves.
Files.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And one wall covered in names.
Dominic stepped closer.
The names belonged to judges.
Contractors.
Politicians.
Police officials.
Business executives.
But beneath them were smaller names.
Workers.
Tenants.
Families.
People who had been forced out of homes.
People whose claims had been buried.
Dominic understood.
Bellhaven had not been about hiding money.
It had been about controlling leverage.
His father had collected secrets.
Then someone had inherited them.
A voice came from behind him.
“You finally found it.”
Dominic turned.
Helena Voss stood in the doorway.
She was holding a gun.
Dominic stared.
“You?”
“I told you to stop.”
“You fired Elena.”
“I protected the company.”
“You destroyed her life.”
“I protected you.”
Dominic laughed once.
“You killed Michael?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Helena lowered the gun slightly.
“Your father.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“He was already dead.”
“I mean before his death.”
She stepped inside.
“Michael discovered that your father planned to expose everyone involved. He was going to testify.”
“And?”
“Arthur panicked.”
“Arthur?”
“He arranged the accident.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you stop him?”
“Because your father had already threatened my family.”
Dominic's anger faltered.
Helena continued.
“After Michael died, your mother found the records. She wanted to expose everything.”
“But she didn't.”
“She tried.”
“Why did she stop?”
Helena looked at him.
“Because someone threatened you.”
Dominic went still.
“Me?”
“You were twenty-eight.”
Helena's voice broke.
“They told your mother that if she went public, you would die.”
Dominic suddenly understood.
His mother's silence.
Her fear.
Her insistence that he stay away from Bellhaven.
Her decision to let him believe the empire was cleaner than it was.
“She sacrificed herself.”
“No,” Helena said.
“She sacrificed the truth.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Dominic turned.
Arthur appeared.
He was holding a phone.
“You always were sentimental, Helena.”
Helena raised her gun.
Arthur smiled.
“You won't shoot me.”
“Try me.”
Arthur looked at Dominic.
“Your mother made the same mistake.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“What do you want?”
Arthur laughed.
“Nothing.”
Then he pressed a button.
The room's monitors came alive.
A live video appeared.
Elena and Lily were sitting in a dark room.
Dominic's blood ran cold.
Arthur smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“For now.”
Arthur continued.
“You're going to sign over controlling ownership of Moretti Group.”
Dominic looked at him.
“And then?”
“Then the records disappear.”
“You'll kill them anyway.”
Arthur smiled.
“Probably.”
Helena fired.
The bullet struck Arthur's shoulder.
He fell.
The phone dropped.
The screen went black.
Dominic ran toward the door.
But before he reached it, an explosion shook the building.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust filled the room.
Helena screamed.
Dominic covered his head.
A beam collapsed behind them.
The exit disappeared.
Dominic looked at Helena.
Then at the files.
They were trapped.
And somewhere in the city, Elena and Lily were waiting.
He reached for his phone.
No signal.
Then he noticed the old emergency radio mounted beneath the desk.
He switched it on.
Static.
Then a voice.
“Dominic?”
Marco.
Dominic almost laughed.
“You disobeyed me.”
“I've been doing that for twenty years.”
“Find Elena.”
“Already did.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“She called me.”
“Where?”
Marco's voice became urgent.
“Dominic, she's not with the kidnappers.”
Silence.
“What?”
“She disappeared before they arrived.”
Dominic stared at the dead screen.
Marco continued.
“She took Lily.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Then another voice came over the radio.
A woman's voice.
Elena.
“Because I finally found the last letter.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
“Where are you?”
May you like
Her answer came softly.
“Inside your mother's grave.”
