Chapter 4 - The BetrayalThe dead doctor had left behind a storage unit.
Dominic's men opened it.
Inside were medical files.
Photographs.
Hospital records.
And one folder labeled:
S. MORETTI
Dominic opened it.
His hands trembled.
There were photographs of Sofia.
Pregnant.
Entering the hospital.
Then leaving.
But one photograph stopped him.
Sofia was holding a second ultrasound.
Two babies.
Twins.
Dominic stared at it.
"She told me there was only one."
I examined the medical notes.
"The second baby was alive at twenty-four weeks."
"Then what happened?"
I kept reading.
There was no record of miscarriage.
No procedure.
No fetal death report.
Nothing.
Dominic's face turned white.
"Someone took my child."
A sound behind us made me turn.
One of Dominic's men had entered.
His name was Vincent.
Dominic's most trusted lieutenant.
"We need to leave."
Dominic looked at him.
"Why?"
"Police are coming."
Dominic's expression changed.
"How do you know?"
Vincent froze.
"I have people watching."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Who told you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
Vincent reached inside his jacket.
Dominic moved faster.
A gun appeared.
I stepped backward.
"Stop!"
Both men froze.
I looked at Dominic.
"Not here."
Vincent lowered his weapon.
Dominic didn't.
"Who do you work for?"
Vincent laughed.
"You really think you're untouchable?"
Dominic's voice was quiet.
"No."
He looked toward the files.
"I think someone made a mistake."
Vincent's eyes flicked toward the folder.
That tiny movement told me everything.
Dominic saw it too.
"You knew."
Vincent said nothing.
"You knew about Sofia."
Still nothing.
"And you knew about my second child."
Vincent's face hardened.
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
"From the truth."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Where is my daughter?"
My heart stopped.
Daughter.
The missing twin was a girl.
Vincent looked away.
"She's alive."
Dominic's breathing changed.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Who has her?"
Vincent finally spoke.
"Your uncle."
Dominic went completely still.
"Marco?"
Vincent nodded.
Marco Moretti.
Dominic's uncle.
A man believed to have left Chicago years earlier.
But apparently he hadn't gone anywhere.
Marco had taken Sofia's second child.
Why?
Because the baby was leverage.
An heir.
A weapon.
A bargaining chip.
Before Vincent could explain further, gunshots erupted outside.
Glass shattered.
Dominic pulled me down.
His men returned fire.
The storage unit became chaos.
"Stay behind me!"
"I know!"
A bullet struck the metal wall.
Dominic grabbed my hand.
We ran through a back exit.
Outside, rain hammered the pavement.
A black SUV waited.
We climbed inside.
Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice came through.
"Hello, nephew."
Dominic's face went blank.
"Marco."
"Congratulations."
Dominic tightened his grip on the phone.
"You took my daughter."
"She was never yours."
"Where is she?"
"Alive."
Dominic's voice dropped.
"If you touch her—"
"You're going to do exactly what I ask."
"What?"
"Leave Chicago."
Dominic laughed bitterly.
"You think I'll abandon my family?"
Marco chuckled.
"Then perhaps you should ask yourself what happens if you don't."
A photograph arrived.
It showed a little girl.
She was about three years old.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
And around her wrist was a silver bracelet.
Dominic stared.
"My daughter."
Then Marco said:
"And she's not the only person I have."
The call ended.
Dominic looked at me.
"What does he mean?"
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed.
A message.
A photograph.
My apartment.
My front door.
Someone had been inside.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were six words:
You should have stayed out of this.
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