Chapter 6 - THE SISTER WHO NEVER DIED
Dominic had met Vanessa Whitmore at a charity auction four years earlier.
She had been elegant, funny, and apparently fearless.
She told him her parents were dead.
She told him her only sister had died young.
She told him she understood what it meant to lose family.
Now he wondered whether any of it had been true.
By morning, Dominic's attorney, Claire Donovan, had obtained a court-authorized copy of the original hospital admissions ledger.
Room 614.
Rebecca Whitmore.
Age nineteen.
Admitted with severe injuries after an alleged fall.
Transferred to an unidentified private facility three days later.
No death certificate.
No discharge summary.
No forwarding address.
Claire placed the documents on Dominic's desk.
“Someone deliberately removed this woman from the system.”
“Who authorized the transfer?”
“The signature is illegible.”
“Can you trace the facility?”
“I'm working on it.”
Hannah stood near the window.
“Was my mother assigned to Rebecca?”
Claire nodded.
“Her name appears on both charts.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
“She was trying to protect two people.”
Dominic looked at the photograph of Margaret.
“And she paid for it.”
A knock interrupted them.
Walter entered.
“Sir. There's a visitor.”
“Who?”
“Vanessa.”
Dominic stood.
“Send her in.”
Vanessa entered wearing a dark green coat and oversized sunglasses.
Her face looked tired.
She stopped when she saw Hannah.
“You.”
Hannah did not move.
Dominic gestured toward a chair.
“Sit down.”
Vanessa remained standing.
“I came for my belongings.”
“Your belongings can be delivered.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Rebecca.”
The name changed everything.
Vanessa's lips parted.
For several seconds, she could not speak.
“Don't,” she whispered.
Dominic watched her.
“Your sister didn't die.”
Vanessa gripped the back of a chair.
“You don't know anything.”
“Then explain it.”
She looked toward Hannah.
“Get her out.”
“No.”
“Dominic, please.”
Hannah spoke quietly.
“My mother cared for your sister.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Your mother should have minded her own business.”
Hannah flinched.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Watch yourself.”
Vanessa gave a bitter laugh.
“You think you're protecting her? You have no idea what your father did.”
“Then tell me.”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“He promised my family money.”
“For what?”
“Silence.”
“About Rebecca?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She was pregnant.”
Hannah stared.
“At nineteen?”
“Yes.”
“Who was the father?” Dominic asked.
Vanessa looked at him.
“Your brother.”
The room went silent.
Dominic's older brother, Adrian Moretti, had died eleven years earlier.
At least, that was what Dominic had been told.
A boating accident off the coast of Michigan.
No body had been recovered.
Dominic felt a familiar coldness spreading through his chest.
“Adrian died before Rebecca was hospitalized.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No. That's what Salvatore wanted everyone to believe.”
Dominic gripped the edge of his desk.
“Explain.”
“Rebecca was dating Adrian. She got pregnant. Your father ordered them to separate.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian had discovered something about the shipping business.”
Dominic's voice hardened.
“What?”
Vanessa looked down.
“Illegal medical shipments.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Prescription drugs?”
“Not just drugs.”
“What else?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know everything.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Where is Rebecca?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“I don't know.”
“You've been taking money from the trust.”
“That money pays for her care.”
“Where?”
“I've never been allowed to visit.”
“Who controls the trust?”
Vanessa whispered a name.
“Charles Voss.”
Dominic recognized it immediately.
Voss had been Salvatore's private attorney.
He was now chairman of the Moretti Shipping board.
And the man who had arranged Dominic's engagement to Vanessa.
Hannah suddenly understood.
“Your engagement wasn't an accident.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“No.”
Dominic stared.
“Voss introduced us.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Because he needed someone close to you.”
Dominic felt something inside him fracture.
“Were you spying on me?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Vanessa looked away.
“I wanted to believe I could get out.”
Dominic's expression remained cold.
“So you drugged my mother?”
Vanessa shook her head violently.
“I gave her the wine because Voss told me it contained something to calm her down.”
“You watched Hannah stop her.”
“Yes.”
“And then you beat her.”
Vanessa covered her face.
“I panicked.”
Hannah spoke.
“You didn't panic when you hit me the second time.”
Vanessa lowered her hands.
Hannah continued.
“Or the third.”
No one spoke.
Finally, Vanessa whispered, “I'm sorry.”
Hannah looked at her.
“Sorry doesn't erase what you did.”
Dominic turned to Claire.
“Call the police. Vanessa can give her statement to them.”
Vanessa backed toward the door.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Voss has Hannah's father.”
Hannah froze.
Vanessa continued.
“And he knows about the recorder.”
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
A video.
He pressed play.
Hannah's father sat tied to a chair in a dimly lit room.
His face was bruised.
Behind him stood a man wearing black gloves.
The man leaned toward the camera.
“Mr. Moretti. You have until midnight to surrender Margaret Reed's recording.”
He paused.
“Or you'll lose the second person who saved your life.”
The video ended.
Dominic looked at Hannah.
She was trembling.
But he was focused on one sentence.
The second person who saved your life.
He turned toward Vanessa.
“Who was the first?”
Vanessa whispered, “Margaret.”
“And the second?”
Vanessa began shaking her head.
“Don't make me say it.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who?”
May you like
Tears streamed down her face.
“Rebecca Whitmore.”
