Chapter 2 - THE MAN WAITING IN THE GREENHOUSE
The old greenhouse stood behind the eastern garden, hidden by overgrown hedges and a row of cypress trees.
Dominic Moretti had not entered it in four years.
Elena had loved that place. She grew roses there, even during Chicago winters, and once joked that the glass walls were the only things in the mansion that let sunlight in without asking permission.
After her death, Dominic had ordered the doors locked.
He told himself he couldn't bear to see the plants she'd cared for slowly die.
The truth was worse.
He couldn't bear to stand somewhere she had been happy and remember that he had failed to bring her home.
Now, as he approached the greenhouse, he could hear the wind rattling the glass.
Daniel walked several yards behind him, his hand close to the concealed weapon beneath his jacket.
“Sir,” Daniel said through his earpiece, “the security team is in position.”
Dominic didn't slow down.
“I told you to stay back.”
“And I heard you,” Daniel replied. “I also heard the threat against Sophie.”
Dominic stopped.
For a moment, the two men stared at each other.
Then Dominic gave a curt nod.
“Stay outside. Nobody enters unless I call.”
Daniel reluctantly stepped away.
Dominic took the silver key from his pocket and unlocked the door.
The smell of damp soil and dead leaves greeted him.
Moonlight spilled through the glass roof. Most of the plants had withered, but one rosebush still clung to life beside the far wall.
A figure stood near it.
Michael Moretti.
Dominic's uncle wore a charcoal overcoat and held a silver-tipped cane he rarely needed. His hair had turned almost entirely gray, but his posture remained straight, his expression composed.
For six years, Michael had been Dominic's adviser, confidant, and the closest thing he had left to a father.
“Dominic,” Michael said. “I'm glad you came alone.”
Dominic remained near the entrance.
“You threatened my daughter.”
Michael's expression tightened.
“I didn't.”
“Someone sent me photographs of Sophie and Hannah. Someone told me Sophie would lose her remaining parent if I kept digging.”
“Then someone is trying to frighten you.”
“Are you?”
Michael looked toward the dying rosebush.
“I came here because Elena asked me to.”
Dominic's heart struck hard against his ribs.
“When?”
“The night she died.”
The greenhouse seemed to grow colder.
Dominic stepped forward.
“You were here that night?”
Michael nodded slowly.
“She called me. She said she'd found evidence involving your father's death. She was frightened, and she wanted someone to listen.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I tried to.”
“When?”
“After the funeral. You were barely speaking. You threatened to destroy anyone who suggested Elena's death wasn't an accident.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“So you decided to protect me by lying?”
“I decided to wait until you could hear the truth without destroying yourself.”
Dominic gave a bitter laugh.
“You don't get to decide what I can survive.”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“No. I suppose I don't.”
Dominic took Elena's letter from his coat and held it up.
“She said the person who killed my father wasn't necessarily the person who killed her.”
Michael stared at the paper.
Then he whispered, “She was right.”
Dominic's fingers tightened.
“Tell me what happened.”
Michael took a slow breath.
“Your father discovered that Richard Sterling was moving money through companies connected to the family trust. He confronted him. Two days later, your father suffered a cardiac collapse.”
“The doctors said it was natural.”
“The doctors were given incomplete records.”
“By whom?”
Michael looked at him.
“Your father had been prescribed medication for a heart condition. Someone replaced the medication in his hospital room. I discovered it afterward, but by then the original bottles had disappeared.”
Dominic felt the room tilt.
“Who had access?”
“Several people. Nurses. Hospital staff. Family.”
“And you?”
Michael's face hardened.
“I was there that night. I entered the room after a nurse left. I found your father unconscious.”
“Why didn't you tell the police?”
“Because I found a note in his desk the next morning. It said if anything happened to him, you would be blamed for the missing money. The accounts had been arranged to make it appear that you were stealing from the family.”
Dominic stared at him.
“You let me believe my father died naturally while someone framed me?”
“I thought I could uncover the truth before it reached you.”
“And Elena found out.”
“Yes.”
“Then she died.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I arrived at the greenhouse that night because Elena told me to meet her here. She never came.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Where were you when she died?”
Michael looked directly at him.
“At the hospital, visiting your father’s old physician. I have the visitor log. I have the parking receipt. I have records that can be checked.”
“Convenient.”
“I know how it sounds.”
Dominic reached into his pocket and removed the silver key's tag.
“Why did Elena hide this key for me?”
Michael's gaze dropped to it.
“Because she didn't trust anyone else.”
“Not even you?”
A long silence followed.
“Especially not me,” Michael admitted. “She told me she suspected someone in the family was passing information to Richard. She didn't know who.”
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message from Daniel.
Sophie is safe. Hannah is with her. We found a second vehicle outside the north gate. No driver.
Another message arrived from an unknown number.
A photograph of the greenhouse.
Taken from outside.
The image showed Dominic standing inside with Michael.
Beneath it were six words:
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
Dominic looked toward the glass walls.
Someone had been watching them.
Michael followed his gaze.
“Dominic, listen to me. Whoever sent that message doesn't want you to know what happened to Elena.”
“Then they'll have to stop me.”
He turned toward the door.
Michael caught his arm.
“One more thing. Elena said she had arranged for someone to keep the original evidence safe. Someone who wasn't a Moretti.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Who?”
Michael hesitated.
“She never gave me a name.”
“Then what did she tell you?”
Michael's voice dropped.
“She said if anything happened to her, the person protecting the evidence would come looking for Sophie.”
Dominic's phone rang.
Daniel.
He answered immediately.
“What's happened?”
Daniel's voice came through strained and urgent.
“Sir, Sophie is asking for you.”
“Put her on.”
A small, frightened voice filled the line.
“Daddy?”
Dominic's expression softened.
“I'm here, sweetheart.”
“There's a man outside my window.”
Dominic went completely still.
“Where's Hannah?”
“She's here.”
“Stay with her. Don't open the door. I'm coming.”
He ended the call and ran.
Behind him, Michael stood beside Elena's rosebush, staring at the place where the last surviving flower had begun to open.
Then Michael reached into his coat and removed a second phone.
He typed a message.
He's found the key. We have to move before he finds the girl.
He stared at the screen before sending it.
For the first time that night, his hands were shaking.
Because the person who had sent the threat wasn't the person Michael had expected.
And the person he was warning wasn't Richard Sterling.
It was someone Dominic had loved since childhood.
May you like
Someone who still had a key to the mansion.
Someone who had never been suspected of anything at all.
