Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Vanished
Dominic Rainer had built his life around one principle.
Information arrived before danger.
That was why governments hired his companies.
Why billionaires trusted Rainer Global Security with their homes, aircraft and children.
Why men with enemies slept comfortably after Dominic installed the locks.
Now a surveillance device had been attached to his son.
And the missing woman connected to it had once worked inside his house.
Dominic hated coincidences.
He hated this one most.
“Satellite phone,” he said.
Victor handed it over.
Dominic called New York.
His security director answered.
“Sir?”
“Pull everything on Emily Bennett.”
A pause.
“Former employee?”
“Everything.”
“Timeline?”
“Yesterday.”
Dominic disconnected.
Leah stared.
“You can find my mom?”
“I can find information.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No. I can't promise I can find her.”
Leah nodded.
He respected that she preferred an unpleasant truth to a comforting lie.
Maya climbed onto the seat beside Leo.
The toddler was awake now, studying the baby with solemn interest.
“Baby okay?”
Leo blinked.
Maya handed him her rabbit.
Leah immediately reached for it.
“Maya, that's Bun.”
“Baby scared.”
Her sister stopped.
Leo wrapped both hands around the rabbit.
For the first time all flight, he smiled.
Dominic watched.
Something tightened in his chest.
His wife, Elena, had died eleven months earlier.
An aneurysm.
No warning.
One morning she was laughing because Dominic had burned toast.
That evening he was signing hospital paperwork he could not remember reading.
Leo had been seven months old.
Since then Dominic had become both father and fortress.
Doctors.
Nannies.
Security.
Schedules.
Every possible danger calculated.
Except grief.
There was no security system for grief.
The satellite phone rang.
“Rainer.”
His security director spoke for two minutes.
Dominic said nothing.
Then:
“Send it.”
He opened the encrypted file.
Emily Bennett.
Thirty-six.
Systems engineer.
Specialty: covert detection and counter-surveillance.
Former Rainer Global employee.
Resigned six months earlier.
Reason listed: family obligations.
But attached to the personnel file was an internal complaint.
Dominic opened it.
His expression hardened.
“What?” Victor asked.
Dominic read.
Emily had reported unauthorized access to the company's prototype micro-trackers.
The complaint had been closed.
By Victor.
Dominic slowly looked up.
“You handled this?”
Victor's face changed.
“Yes.”
“Why wasn't I informed?”
“The investigation found nothing.”
“Apparently it found my son.”
Victor looked at the glass.
Dominic's voice became colder.
“Who closed the investigation?”
“I did.”
“Who told you to?”
Victor hesitated.
That was answer enough.
Dominic stood.
“Who?”
“Gabriel.”
Dominic's younger brother.
Leah watched both men.
“Who's Gabriel?”
“My uncle,” Leo's father said.
Technically Leo's uncle.
But the distinction did not matter.
Gabriel Rainer was Dominic's only living sibling.
Chief operating officer of Rainer Global.
Best man at Dominic's wedding.
Leo's godfather.
One of six people authorized to access Dominic's private aircraft.
Dominic called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
“Find him.”
Victor stepped away.
Leah said, “You think he hurt my mom?”
“I don't know.”
“You think he put that thing on Leo?”
“I don't know.”
“You say that a lot.”
“Because lying to you won't make the truth arrive faster.”
That silenced her.
Twenty minutes later, the pilot contacted the cabin.
Weather over Rome had worsened.
The aircraft would divert to Paris.
Dominic immediately refused.
“London.”
“Sir, Paris is closer.”
“London.”
Victor understood.
Rainer Global had a secure operations center outside London.
Dominic wanted his own ground.
Leah stood.
“We're supposed to go to Rome.”
“You're coming with us.”
“No.”
“Leah—”
“No.”
Her voice rose.
Maya looked frightened.
Leah lowered it immediately.
“Aunt Celia is waiting.”
Dominic crouched until they were eye level.
“If someone is tracking you, Rome may be the first place they'll look.”
“Aunt Celia can protect us.”
“From the people who took your mother?”
Leah flinched.
Dominic regretted the phrasing.
But she considered it.
“What happens in London?”
“We identify the device. We contact your aunt safely. Then we decide.”
“We?”
“You.”
He corrected himself.
“You decide.”
Leah studied him.
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
“Adults break promises.”
“I don't.”
Victor looked away.
Dominic noticed.
So did Leah.
“What?”
Victor said nothing.
Leah's eyes narrowed.
“He thinks you do.”
“Victor?”
His security chief sighed.
“Your brother is missing.”
Dominic stood.
“Since when?”
“His driver hasn't seen him since yesterday morning.”
Dominic felt the aircraft beneath his feet.
The locked cabin.
The Atlantic.
His son.
The girls.
Everything suddenly seemed very far from safety.
Then the flight attendant approached Leah.
“Sweetheart, there's something you should see.”
She held out Leah's backpack.
“What?”
“I was moving it from your original seat.”
The attendant opened the outer pocket.
Inside was a phone.
Not Leah's.
She stared.
“I've never seen that.”
Dominic took it with gloved hands.
The screen illuminated.
One unread message.
No sender.
He opened it.
LEAH: IF YOU ARE READING THIS, DO NOT GO TO ROME. CELIA IS NOT YOUR AUNT.
Leah's face emptied.
“No.”
Another message arrived.
TRUST THE MAN WITH THE BABY. YOUR MOTHER DID.
Dominic went still.
Then a photograph loaded.
Emily Bennett stood beside Elena Rainer.
Dominic's dead wife.
The image had been taken inside his own home.
May you like
And beneath it appeared one final line.
ELENA KNEW EVERYTHING.
