Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Dominic reached Sophie's bedroom in less than three minutes.
Two guards stood outside the door. Daniel was beside the window, examining the garden below.
Hannah sat on the floor with Sophie in her arms.
Mr. Buttons was pressed between them.
“Daddy!”
Sophie ran to him.
Dominic dropped to one knee and caught her.
“I'm here. You're safe.”
She clung to his neck.
“There was a man outside.”
“I know.”
“He looked at me.”
Dominic held her tighter.
“Did he try to come inside?”
Sophie shook her head.
“No. He just stood there. Then he went away.”
Dominic looked toward Hannah.
“Did you see him?”
“I heard something outside the window,” Hannah said. “When I pulled the curtain back, I saw a man near the garden wall. He ran when I called for security.”
“Did you recognize him?”
“No.”
Daniel approached.
“We found footprints near the hedge, but the ground is wet. The trail disappears near the service road.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Double the guards. Nobody approaches Sophie without my permission.”
Sophie looked up.
“Daddy, is Mommy in trouble?”
The question struck him harder than any threat.
He brushed her hair back.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Then why is everyone scared?”
Dominic glanced at Hannah.
She gave him a small, encouraging nod.
He took Sophie's hands.
“Sometimes grown-ups make mistakes. Sometimes they hide things because they're afraid. But none of that is your fault.”
Sophie studied his face.
“Did Mommy make a mistake?”
Dominic swallowed.
“I think your mommy was trying to protect us.”
Sophie looked down at Mr. Buttons.
“She told me to be brave.”
Dominic kissed her forehead.
“She was right.”
When Sophie finally settled into bed, Hannah remained beside her until she fell asleep. Dominic waited outside the room, staring at the hallway where Elena's photographs still hung.
Hannah joined him a few minutes later.
“She asked me whether her mother was angry with her,” Hannah said quietly.
Dominic closed his eyes.
“Why would she think that?”
“Because she thinks she should have protected the bear better.”
His face tightened.
“She was six years old. She shouldn't have had to protect anything.”
“I know.”
He looked at Hannah's bandaged hand.
“You saved the bear. You may have saved the only evidence Elena left us.”
Hannah glanced toward Sophie's room.
“I wasn't thinking about evidence. I saw a little girl losing something she loved.”
Dominic studied her for a moment.
“You remind me of Elena.”
Hannah stiffened.
“I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to—”
“Don't apologize.” His voice softened. “You remind me of her kindness. Not her face. Not her history. Just the way you noticed what mattered when everyone else dismissed it.”
Hannah didn't know what to say.
Before she could answer, Daniel hurried toward them.
“Sir, the security footage is ready.”
They entered the study.
On the monitor, the man outside Sophie's window appeared for a few seconds. He wore a dark cap and kept his face turned away from the cameras.
Daniel enlarged the image.
Dominic leaned closer.
“Can you identify him?”
“Not yet.”
The man moved toward the garden wall, then paused.
He looked up at the camera.
For a fraction of a second, his face was visible.
Dominic recognized the scar beneath his left ear.
His expression changed.
“Where have I seen him?”
Daniel frowned.
“I don't know, sir.”
Dominic replayed the clip.
The scar.
The shape of the jaw.
The way the man held his left shoulder slightly higher than his right.
Then he remembered.
A photograph from a security briefing years earlier.
A former driver named Peter Walsh had been dismissed after Elena's death. He'd worked for the Moretti family for nearly a decade, then disappeared after claiming he was moving out of state.
Dominic turned to Daniel.
“Find Peter Walsh.”
Daniel was already reaching for his phone.
“On it.”
Dominic opened the family security database.
Peter's file contained a photograph, employment history, and a list of addresses. His last known address was an apartment in Cicero.
But the file had been modified.
The dismissal date had been changed.
The exit interview was missing.
And the person who approved the changes was listed as Vanessa Sterling.
Dominic stared at the screen.
“She altered his file.”
Daniel looked over his shoulder.
“Why would she have access?”
“She shouldn't have.”
He called Vanessa.
She didn't answer.
He called again.
This time, she picked up.
“Dominic?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“At my father's house.”
“Why did you modify Peter Walsh's employment record?”
Silence.
Then Vanessa said, “I don't know what you're talking about.”
Dominic's voice hardened.
“Don't lie to me.”
“I didn't change anything.”
“Your name is on the file.”
“Then someone used my credentials.”
“Who?”
“I don't know!”
Dominic heard movement on her end of the line.
Then a man's voice in the background.
Richard Sterling.
“Who are you talking to?”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“I have to go.”
“Vanessa—”
She hung up.
Dominic stared at the phone.
Daniel said, “We should bring her in.”
“Not yet. If she's involved, she'll know we're watching her. If she's being used, she'll be in danger.”
Hannah stood near the door, pale.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Dominic looked at her.
“What is it?”
She hesitated.
“Peter Walsh. Was he working here when your wife died?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know Elena well?”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“He drove her everywhere.”
Hannah's expression changed.
“Then perhaps he knows something about that night.”
Dominic looked back at the screen.
“Find him,” he ordered Daniel. “Before Richard does.”
Daniel left.
Dominic turned to Hannah.
“You should get some rest.”
“I can stay with Sophie.”
“You've already done enough.”
Hannah looked at him steadily.
“With respect, sir, Sophie is frightened. I won't leave her alone just because the adults in this house are finally admitting something is wrong.”
For a moment, Dominic looked as if he might argue.
Then he nodded.
“All right.”
Hannah started toward the door.
“Miss Collins?”
She turned.
Dominic hesitated.
“Thank you for not giving up on my daughter.”
Hannah's expression softened.
“Someone should have been listening to her from the beginning.”
She left.
Dominic remained alone with the security footage.
He replayed the moment Peter Walsh looked at the camera.
Then he noticed something in the man's hand.
A small object.
Silver.
Round.
Dominic enlarged the image.
It was a coin stamped with a rose.
The same symbol Elena had carved into the underside of her blue jewelry box.
Dominic's blood ran cold.
Peter hadn't come to threaten Sophie.
May you like
He'd come to deliver a message.
And whatever that message was, it had been meant for Dominic.
