Chapter 1 - The Little Girl Who Noticed What Six Men Missed
Dominic Vale stared at the small girl standing beside his injured leg.
“What do you mean, wrong?”
Ellie Rowan glanced at her mother, then at the black brace beneath Dominic’s trousers.
“The shiny part,” she whispered. “It was outside before.”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
The brace had three principal straps, each fitted with a metal locking tab. His orthopedic specialist had explained the arrangement several times. The lower strap supported the unstable portion of his knee, while the upper straps limited movement during rehabilitation.
Ellie pointed again.
“Now it’s inside.”
Vincent Hale stepped forward.
“That’s enough, sweetheart. Let your mother take you downstairs.”
But Dominic raised one hand.
Vincent stopped.
“Bring me a chair,” Dominic ordered.
A guard hurried to comply. Dominic sat, set his cane against the armrest, and pulled the fabric of his trousers above the brace.
The lower strap looked normal.
He pressed the metal tab.
A sharp flash of pain traveled through his calf.
His jaw tightened.
Clare Rowan covered her mouth.
“Mr. Vale, please. I know she shouldn't have touched it. I'll make sure it never happens again.”
Dominic barely heard her.
He had felt that same pain every morning for three weeks. The sensation had become so familiar that he'd accepted it as part of his recovery.
Now, with the strap exposed, he noticed something he'd never examined closely.
The buckle sat at an unnatural angle.
The locking tab was positioned on the inner side of the brace, where the pressure could force it against the swollen tissue surrounding his knee.
It wasn't supposed to sit there.
Dominic reached for his phone.
“Call Dr. Bennett. Tell him I want him here immediately.”
Vincent's expression hardened.
“Your orthopedic surgeon?”
“Do you know another doctor who manages my leg?”
“No, boss.”
“Then make the call.”
Behind the glass conference-room doors, a man in a navy suit appeared and tapped his watch impatiently.
Arthur Voss.
Dominic's longtime business adviser had spent the past month arguing that his injury made him unfit to supervise the organization. Arthur had arranged the emergency council meeting, drafted the transfer documents, and personally assured the other six men that temporary leadership would protect the Vale businesses from instability.
Dominic looked at him through the glass.
Arthur smiled.
It was a perfectly reasonable smile.
That was what made Dominic distrust it.
“Postpone the meeting,” Dominic said.
Vincent leaned closer. “Arthur won't like that.”
“Arthur doesn't have to like anything.”
Dominic turned toward Ellie.
“What's your name?”
“Ellie.”
“And how did you know the strap was wrong?”
She held up her little wooden latch toy. It had a small metal catch that clicked open when she pushed it from one side.
“Like my door.”
Dominic studied her.
“Your door?”
“The door at Grandma's house. The little shiny thing goes on the outside.” She frowned at his brace. “Someone put yours backward.”
Clare looked as though she wanted the marble floor to swallow her.
“She notices everything,” she admitted. “Locks, buttons, buckles. She watches me mend things, and she remembers how they work. But she's only four, Mr. Vale.”
Dominic looked down at the child.
Four years old.
And she'd noticed what two medical appointments, a physical therapist, a personal assistant, and six members of his security team had failed to question.
“Clare,” he said.
She straightened.
“Yes, sir?”
“Take your daughter somewhere comfortable. Give her something to eat.”
Clare blinked.
“Am I being dismissed?”
“No.”
“Am I in trouble?”
Dominic's gaze moved to the brace.
“Not unless you know who touched this.”
“I don't. I swear.”
He believed the fear in her voice.
“Then you're not in trouble.”
For the first time since she'd entered the room, Clare took a full breath.
Dominic watched her lead Ellie toward the kitchen corridor.
At the doorway, the little girl turned around.
“Mr. Dominic?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You should sit down more.”
One of the guards coughed to hide a laugh.
Dominic almost smiled.
Almost.
Then his phone rang.
Dr. Bennett was on his way.
May you like
And Dominic Vale had the unsettling feeling that a four-year-old child had just uncovered the beginning of something far more dangerous than a badly fitted brace.
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