Chapter 8 - The Price of a Daughter
“BRING ME THE LEDGER, DOMINIC, OR YOUR LITTLE GIRL WILL NEVER SEE HER FIFTH BIRTHDAY.”
Richard Voss's voice echoed through Michael's phone.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Let me speak to her.”
Voss laughed softly.
“Always making demands.”
“She's four years old.”
“And you're a very powerful man. Imagine what happens when someone discovers how powerless you really are.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
He could hear Grace crying in the background.
“Daddy?”
The tiny voice nearly brought him to his knees.
He gripped the phone.
“Grace?”
A pause.
“Who is this?”
Dominic's throat tightened.
“Sweetheart, my name is Dominic.”
“Are you my daddy?”
He couldn't breathe.
“Yes.”
The child began crying harder.
“Mama Rebecca said you'd come.”
Dominic looked at Michael.
His brother's eyes were wet.
“I'm coming, sweetheart.”
Voss took the phone.
“Touching. Now listen carefully.”
Dominic's voice hardened.
“If you hurt her—”
“Don't waste my time.”
Voss gave him an address.
An abandoned medical research building outside Hartford.
“Tomorrow. Eight p.m. Bring the ledger. Come alone.”
The call ended.
Dominic stood motionless.
Michael looked at him.
“We don't have the ledger.”
Dominic turned.
“Then we find it.”
They returned to the mansion before dawn.
Daniel was waiting.
The brass key lay on the desk.
“I had it examined,” he said.
Dominic picked it up.
“What did you find?”
“It's a safe-deposit key. Not a storage key.”
“Which bank?”
“An old private bank in Manhattan. The branch closed three years ago, but its boxes were transferred to a successor institution.”
Michael stepped closer.
“Elena knew.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Knew what?”
“That Antonio had hidden the original ledger in a private vault.”
Daniel nodded.
“I can request access if we can establish the account holder.”
Dominic turned the key over.
Tiny letters were engraved near the base.
E.M.
Elena Moretti.
“She opened the box.”
Daniel looked up.
“Possibly.”
Dominic held the key tightly.
“Get the court order.”
By noon, they had located the box.
Inside was a sealed metal case.
The case contained a hard drive, several financial ledgers, and a letter.
Dominic opened the letter first.
My dearest Dominic,
If you have found this, then I hope you have finally learned why I couldn't trust the people around you.
I wanted to tell you everything.
But every time I tried, Antonio found a way to stop me.
Michael helped me gather the evidence.
Rebecca helped me protect Grace.
And I tried to protect Sophie by keeping her away from the danger.
Dominic swallowed.
The letter continued.
I know you will be angry that I kept our second daughter from you.
You have every right to be.
But I was afraid that if Antonio discovered you knew about Grace, he would use her to force you into silence.
Dominic closed his eyes.
He remembered Elena's final months.
Her distance.
Her fear.
Her desperate attempts to speak with him.
He'd mistaken terror for betrayal.
The last paragraph made his hands shake.
If you ever find me, please don't ask why I left.
Ask why I was never allowed to come back.
Dominic lowered the letter.
Michael stood beside him.
“She loved you.”
Dominic stared at the paper.
“I know.”
For the first time, he truly did.
Daniel connected the hard drive to an isolated computer.
The files contained years of financial transactions.
Payments to shell companies.
Transfers to offshore accounts.
Medical records.
And a series of photographs.
One file was labeled:
ELENA MORETTI — TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION.
Dominic opened it.
A scanned document appeared.
Patient name: Elena Moretti.
Facility: Blackwood Behavioral Health Center.
Admission date: November 21.
Four years earlier.
Dominic froze.
“She was admitted to a hospital?”
Michael leaned closer.
“Blackwood?”
Daniel searched the name.
The facility had closed two years earlier after a state investigation into patient abuse and falsified records.
Dominic stared.
“Elena was there?”
Michael looked horrified.
“I didn't know.”
Daniel opened another document.
A transfer order.
Elena had been moved to a second facility.
Then a third.
The last recorded transfer was dated six months earlier.
Destination:
UNKNOWN.
Dominic gripped the desk.
“She didn't leave us.”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
“She was taken.”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“And someone kept moving her.”
Dominic stood.
“We get Grace first. Then we find Elena.”
That evening, he prepared to meet Voss.
Caleb coordinated with law enforcement.
Detective Bennett had already contacted federal investigators after reviewing the financial records.
Dominic agreed to cooperate fully.
He didn't care what happened to the Moretti empire anymore.
He cared about his daughters.
At 7:55 p.m., he entered the abandoned research building carrying the metal case.
Voss waited in a laboratory.
Beside him stood Vanessa.
Dominic stopped.
“You.”
Vanessa looked exhausted.
Her hair was tangled.
Her expensive clothes were stained.
“Dominic…”
He ignored her.
“Where's Grace?”
Voss smiled.
“First, the case.”
Dominic placed it on the table.
“Show me my daughter.”
A door opened.
Rebecca Shaw stepped into the room.
She was holding Grace.
The little girl wore a pink sweater.
Her dark curls framed a frightened face.
Dominic stopped breathing.
She looked like Elena.
And Sophie.
And him.
Grace stared.
“Daddy?”
Dominic's eyes filled.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
She reached toward him.
Voss grabbed her arm.
Dominic stepped forward.
“DON'T TOUCH HER.”
Voss lifted a gun.
“Stay where you are.”
Dominic froze.
Rebecca began crying.
“Please. She's just a child.”
Voss pointed toward the case.
“Open it.”
Dominic obeyed.
Voss examined the contents.
Then smiled.
“Finally.”
He reached for the hard drive.
At that moment, Vanessa stepped forward.
“Richard, you promised you'd let the girl go.”
Voss ignored her.
“Richard!”
He turned.
Vanessa's voice shook.
“You promised.”
Voss laughed.
“You really are naive.”
Dominic watched her.
For the first time, Vanessa seemed genuinely terrified.
Voss pointed the gun toward Rebecca.
“Take the child outside.”
Rebecca tightened her hold on Grace.
“No.”
Voss's expression hardened.
“Do it.”
Then Vanessa did something Dominic never expected.
She stepped between the gun and the little girl.
“NO. YOU'VE TAKEN ENOUGH FROM THIS FAMILY.”
Voss stared.
“Move.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I won't let you hurt another child.”
The room went silent.
Dominic looked at her.
“Another?”
Vanessa began crying.
Voss's face changed.
“Shut up.”
But Vanessa turned toward Dominic.
Her voice broke.
May you like
“ELENA WASN'T THE FIRST WOMAN HE MADE DISAPPEAR.”
Before she could say another word, Voss fired.
