Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Had Been Watching the House
“Michael Carbone.”
The name remained in Dominic’s head even after the screen went dark.
Michael had been Dominic’s older cousin.
Victor’s son.
Dead for five years.
Officially, a motorcycle accident.
Dominic stared at the blank monitor.
Luca broke the silence.
“Victor said Lily’s father was Michael.”
Dominic nodded.
“That makes Lily his granddaughter.”
“And your family.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
The little girl who had marched into his entrance hall demanding an apology was not simply the maid’s daughter.
She was a Carbone.
More importantly, she was Victor’s granddaughter.
Which meant Victor had just kidnapped his own blood.
“Why would he threaten Lily?”
“Because Elena matters,” Bennett said.
Dominic looked at him.
“And Elena matters because of Evelyn.”
He grabbed the Evelyn Russo file.
Inside were financial charts, bank transfers, shell companies, and copies of sealed investigative documents.
Evelyn had spent years tracing Victor’s money.
She had worked quietly.
Patiently.
And apparently from inside the Carbone household.
Anna’s nanny.
Dominic finally understood how Anna found the archive.
Evelyn had shown her.
“Victor thought Evelyn was dead,” Luca said.
“Maybe everybody did.”
Dominic found another page.
A death certificate.
Evelyn Russo.
Vehicle fire.
Nine years earlier.
No recoverable remains.
Dominic almost laughed.
Another empty coffin.
Another convenient death.
“How many people in my life are actually dead?”
No one answered.
They returned to the mansion before dawn.
Arthur waited in the entrance hall.
Dominic walked directly toward him.
“Tell me everything.”
Arthur removed his gloves.
“The woman arrived around midnight.”
“Description.”
“Late fifties. Dark hair with gray. Green coat.”
“You recognized her immediately?”
“No.”
“When?”
“When she spoke.”
“What did she say?”
Arthur looked uncomfortable.
“She called me Artie.”
Dominic frowned.
“Only one person ever called me that.”
“Evelyn.”
Arthur nodded.
“She worked here before you moved into this property?”
“Yes.”
“What was she like?”
“Quiet. Very intelligent. Your father trusted her.”
“My father trusted nobody.”
“He trusted her with Anna.”
That mattered.
“Why did Elena leave with her?”
“Evelyn showed her a photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“I only saw part of it.”
“Describe it.”
“Michael holding a baby.”
Lily.
Dominic exhaled.
Elena had likely known Michael was Lily’s father.
But perhaps she had believed Michael’s death was an accident.
Perhaps Evelyn’s photograph proved otherwise.
“What did Elena say?”
“She asked Evelyn one question.”
“What?”
“Did he know?”
“Who?”
“She didn’t say.”
Dominic understood anyway.
Victor.
Did he know Lily existed?
The answer was clearly yes.
Dominic called Sebastian at the hospital.
This time Sebastian answered.
“Tell me about Michael.”
Silence.
“Sebastian.”
“You found out.”
“Was he Lily’s father?”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor know?”
“No.”
Dominic paused.
“But he knows now.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Michael hide Elena and Lily?”
“Because he found out what Victor had done to Anna.”
Dominic’s grip tightened.
“Keep going.”
“Michael wanted out.”
“Out of what?”
“Victor’s operation.”
“Which was?”
“The archive wasn’t just blackmail. Victor used it to control people. Contracts. Elections. investigations. He built a private network from your father’s files.”
“And Michael discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He tried to give evidence to Evelyn.”
“His mother-in-law.”
“Yes.”
“Victor found out.”
Dominic’s voice went cold.
“And Michael died.”
Sebastian said nothing.
That silence was enough.
Dominic ended the call.
There was only one question now.
Where had Evelyn taken Elena and Lily?
The answer arrived through the mansion intercom.
A woman’s voice.
“Dominic.”
Every security officer froze.
The voice came from speakers throughout the house.
“I know you can hear me.”
Dominic stepped toward the wall panel.
“Evelyn?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“Victor is with them.”
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
“I saw him.”
“You saw a recording.”
“He touched Lily.”
“A recording.”
Dominic looked at Luca.
“Timestamp?”
Luca checked the archive feed remotely.
“No timestamp.”
Evelyn continued.
“Victor wanted you to think he had them.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted you away from the mansion.”
Dominic felt something cold move through him.
“Why?”
“Because what he needs is still inside your house.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
A click.
Then silence.
Luca turned toward the security screens.
“Movement.”
“Where?”
“Second floor.”
A figure crossed the old library.
Dominic ran.
He reached the library with Bennett behind him.
The door stood open.
Inside, a woman faced the bookshelves.
Green coat.
Dark hair threaded with gray.
“Evelyn.”
She turned.
Elena’s eyes.
Older.
Harder.
But unmistakable.
“Where are they?”
“Your kitchen.”
Dominic blinked.
“What?”
“Arthur is making Lily pancakes.”
Dominic stared at her.
“You brought them back?”
“I never took them off the property.”
“How?”
“Service tunnel.”
Dominic almost laughed from disbelief.
“There’s a tunnel?”
“Your father liked exits.”
“Apparently.”
Evelyn studied him.
“You really didn’t know any of this.”
“No.”
“Anna believed you did.”
“I know.”
“That destroyed her.”
“It destroyed me too.”
For the first time, Evelyn softened.
“I know.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Where is Anna?”
Evelyn’s expression changed again.
“She’s deciding whether she can trust you.”
“She called me.”
“Because she wanted to.”
“Then tell her to come home.”
“This was never home to her after what happened.”
“What happened?”
Evelyn walked toward a bookshelf.
She pulled one volume.
A section of shelving moved.
Behind it was a narrow stairwell.
Dominic stared.
“How many secret rooms did my father build?”
“Enough to hide his sins.”
She descended.
Dominic followed.
The stairwell led to a small chamber beneath the library.
Inside were three filing cabinets and an old projector.
Evelyn inserted a tape.
A video appeared on the wall.
Dominic’s father sat behind a desk.
Victor stood across from him.
Anna was visible near the door.
Younger.
Twenty-six.
Exactly as Dominic remembered.
His father spoke.
“Shut the system down.”
Victor laughed.
“You built it.”
“And I’m ending it.”
“You don’t get to decide that.”
“It belongs to me.”
“Not anymore.”
Anna stepped forward.
“I copied everything.”
Victor turned.
His face changed.
“You what?”
“If anything happens to me, it goes public.”
Dominic watched his sister.
His heart hurt.
Victor approached her.
“You think Dominic will protect you?”
Anna said, “He already knows.”
Dominic whispered, “No.”
Evelyn glanced at him.
On the recording, Victor smiled.
“You told him?”
Anna hesitated.
Victor continued.
“Interesting. Because Dominic told me you were becoming unstable.”
Dominic’s stomach turned.
It was a lie.
A perfect lie.
Anna’s face changed.
Victor had planted doubt in a single sentence.
The video ended.
Dominic stared at the blank wall.
“That’s how he did it.”
Evelyn nodded.
“He made each of you believe the other had betrayed you.”
“Why didn’t my father correct it?”
“He planned to.”
“What stopped him?”
“He died.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My father died from a stroke.”
“No.”
The word echoed.
Evelyn opened a cabinet.
Inside was a medical report.
Toxicology.
A chemical compound.
Dominic did not recognize it.
“He was poisoned.”
“By Victor?”
“I believe so.”
“Believe?”
“The original proof disappeared.”
“Where?”
“Michael had it.”
Dominic understood.
“And Michael died.”
“Yes.”
“Then Lily?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Michael left something for her.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“He told Elena there would be a key when Lily was old enough.”
“What kind of key?”
“Not metal.”
Dominic thought of Lily.
Her green dress.
Her yellow socks.
Her stubborn little voice.
Then he remembered something.
The cream-colored bow around her waist.
When she had been in the warehouse, the bow had been tied differently.
“Her dress.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What?”
Dominic ran upstairs.
He found Lily sitting at the kitchen island eating pancakes.
Elena sat beside her.
Arthur stood nearby.
Dominic stopped.
Lily looked up.
“You found Grandma.”
“Yes.”
“She’s bossy.”
Evelyn entered behind him.
“I heard that.”
Lily grinned.
Dominic crouched.
“Lily, can I look at the ribbon on your dress?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I think your daddy gave you something.”
Elena froze.
Lily looked at her mother.
“Mama?”
Elena’s face turned white.
“The bow.”
Dominic carefully examined the cream-colored sash.
There was a seam that did not match the others.
Arthur brought scissors.
Dominic opened the stitching.
Something tiny fell into his palm.
A brass cylinder.
Not a key.
A data capsule.
Engraved on the side were three numbers.
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“The clock.”
Before anyone could speak, every door in the mansion locked at once.
The lights dimmed.
The security monitors changed.
Victor’s face appeared on all of them.
He smiled.
“Thank you, Dominic.”
Dominic looked at the capsule.
Victor continued.
“I’ve spent five years looking for that.”
Then the kitchen door handle began to turn.
From the other side.
May you like
Slowly.
Someone was already inside the house.
