Chapter 4 - The Secret Elena Kept
Dominic stared at his dead wife.
The photograph was three years old.
He knew because Elena was wearing the green dress from Leo's christening weekend, though Leo had not yet been born.
Emily stood beside her in Dominic's private library.
On the desk between them lay a black disc.
Dominic's hands went cold.
“My mother knew your wife?” Leah whispered.
“Yes.”
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
Leah looked almost relieved.
For once, the powerful adult knew no more than she did.
They landed outside London forty-three minutes later.
Dominic's security team surrounded the aircraft.
No one approached until Victor authenticated every face personally.
Leah held Maya's hand.
Dominic carried Leo.
The two children still shared the rabbit.
“Mine,” Maya reminded him.
Leo hugged it.
“Later.”
Maya considered this betrayal.
Leah almost smiled.
They entered the operations center through an underground garage.
The black disc went directly to a secure laboratory.
Within an hour, technicians confirmed it.
Prototype Rainer technology.
Not a tracker.
Something worse.
An acoustic relay.
It recorded conversations, compressed them and transmitted when within range of a paired receiver.
Dominic stared through the laboratory glass.
“How many exist?”
“Officially?” the engineer asked.
“Don't say officially.”
The engineer swallowed.
“Twelve.”
“Where are they?”
“Six destroyed after testing. Three in evidence storage. Two assigned to government demonstrations.”
“And number twelve?”
“Missing.”
“Since?”
“Seven months.”
Emily had reported the breach six months ago.
Dominic turned.
“Find Gabriel.”
No one moved quickly enough.
“Now.”
Leah sat in an adjoining conference room with Maya asleep against her.
Dominic joined her.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I don't sleep much.”
“Neither does Mom.”
The word landed between them.
Dominic sat opposite her.
“Tell me about Celia.”
Leah shrugged.
“Mom's cousin.”
“Have you met her?”
“Video calls.”
“In person?”
“No.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“How long have you known her?”
“Two years.”
“Did your mother ever talk about her before that?”
Leah thought.
“No.”
“What did Celia say when you told her you were coming?”
“I didn't.”
Dominic looked up.
“Why?”
“Mom's note said not to call. Just go.”
“Where is the note?”
Leah pulled a folded page from her shoe.
Dominic almost smiled.
“Good place.”
“Mom taught me.”
He read it.
Leah—if I don't come home, take Maya to Celia. Use the old travel letter. Don't call. Don't tell anyone. Rome. You know the address. Keep Maya safe. I love you both more than anything. —Mom
Dominic turned the paper over.
Nothing.
“May I photograph this?”
“No.”
He handed it back immediately.
Leah blinked.
“You aren't going to argue?”
“You said no.”
Apparently this was unusual enough to require thought.
The door opened.
Victor entered.
“We found Celia.”
Dominic stood.
“Who is she?”
“Celia Moretti. Real name. Fifty-eight. Lives at the Rome address.”
Leah relaxed.
Victor continued.
“She isn't Emily's cousin.”
Leah's relief vanished.
“What is she?”
Victor looked at Dominic.
“Former Rainer employee.”
Dominic frowned.
“Department?”
“Personal security.”
“When?”
Victor hesitated.
“Elena's.”
The room went silent.
Dominic took the tablet.
Celia Moretti had been assigned to Elena for four years.
Dismissed two months before Elena's death.
By Elena herself.
Dominic remembered Celia vaguely.
A quiet woman.
Competent.
He had assumed Elena simply wanted fewer guards after becoming pregnant.
“Why did Elena dismiss her?”
“No record.”
Dominic called Celia.
She answered immediately.
“Leah?”
“No.”
Silence.
“Dominic Rainer.”
The line went dead.
Dominic called again.
Nothing.
Then Leah's hidden phone rang.
A video call.
She looked at Dominic.
“Answer.”
Celia appeared.
Older than Leah remembered.
Terrified.
“Leah, listen to me. Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Is Maya there?”
“Yes.”
Celia closed her eyes.
“Thank God.”
“Where's Mom?”
Celia's face crumpled.
“I don't know.”
Leah went pale.
“You were supposed to.”
“I was supposed to get you out.”
“Why?”
Celia looked beyond the camera.
“Because Emily found what Elena died trying to expose.”
Dominic stepped into view.
Celia froze.
“My wife's aneurysm?”
“That is what the hospital found.”
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying Elena knew someone inside Rainer Global was selling surveillance technology.”
Dominic's voice became dangerous.
“Who?”
“She never proved it.”
“You said she died trying.”
“She collected records. Access logs. Payments.”
“Where?”
Celia hesitated.
“She hid them.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic's fist closed.
Celia looked at Leah.
“Emily found them.”
“How?”
“Because Elena sent her a key before she died.”
Leah suddenly moved.
“My kitchen.”
Everyone turned.
“What?” Dominic asked.
“The button.”
Her eyes widened.
“It wasn't under the table.”
“But you said—”
“I lied.”
Dominic waited.
Leah looked ashamed.
“Mom told me never to tell anyone where I found things.”
“Where did you find it?”
“Inside the kitchen table.”
Dominic frowned.
“How?”
“There's a loose piece underneath.”
Celia's face changed.
“Leah.”
“What?”
“Did Emily ever give you something from that compartment?”
Leah thought.
Then reached toward Maya's rabbit.
Dominic followed her gaze.
The stuffed animal.
Maya's rabbit.
Leah picked it up carefully.
“Mom fixed Bun the night before she disappeared.”
She turned it over.
The seam across its back was newer than the rest.
Dominic brought scissors.
Maya woke immediately.
“No!”
Leah held her.
“It's okay.”
“Bun!”
“I'll fix him.”
Dominic cut three stitches.
Inside the stuffing was a tiny brass key.
And a memory card.
Victor exhaled.
Dominic inserted the card into an isolated computer.
One folder appeared.
E.R.
Elena Rainer.
He opened it.
A video began.
His wife appeared on the screen.
Alive.
Smiling sadly.
Dominic stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this,” Elena said, “then I wasn't paranoid.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“And Dominic, if it's you—I'm sorry I didn't tell you.”
His eyes burned.
Elena continued.
“The person stealing from Rainer Global is someone you love.”
A pause.
“I thought it was Gabriel.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“But I was wrong.”
Victor went still.
Elena looked frightened now.
“The person who authorized the first transfer was—”
The video froze.
The file corrupted.
Dominic slammed his palm against the desk.
“No.”
Technicians rushed in.
Then another file opened automatically.
A spreadsheet.
Payments.
Dates.
Device serial numbers.
At the bottom was a name.
Not Gabriel.
Not Victor.
Dominic stared.
May you like
Because the authorization belonged to someone who had supposedly died eleven months ago.
Elena Rainer.
