Chapter 3 - A Debt Written in Blood
Dominic opened the door fast.
The hallway was empty.
Marco rushed left.
Luis went right.
Riley remained beside Dominic.
“You heard him.”
“Yes.”
“That was Tony.”
“Yes.”
“But Tony is—”
“Apparently having a remarkable recovery.”
They found a phone on the floor.
A recording had played Tony’s voice.
Dominic stared at it.
A message appeared.
BRING THE LEDGER TO PIER 17. MIDNIGHT.
Then another.
OR WE BURN HER SHOP WITH HER INSIDE NEXT TIME.
Riley read it.
Her expression barely moved.
Dominic noticed.
“You should be afraid.”
“I’m getting tired of men telling me what I should feel.”
“This isn’t Tony anymore.”
“Then who?”
“My uncle.”
Victor Castelli had spent thirty years standing behind more powerful men.
Dominic’s father.
Then Dominic.
People mistook patience for weakness.
Dominic never had.
Victor controlled trucking, docks, and several unions. He knew which containers disappeared and which inspectors looked elsewhere.
But Dominic had never understood why Victor tolerated being second.
Now he did.
Victor had been building something long before Dominic inherited anything.
They returned to one of Dominic’s safe houses.
Riley refused to surrender the ledger.
Dominic didn’t force her.
That unsettled Marco.
“She held a knife to you three hours ago.”
“She also found something we’ve been missing for twenty years.”
“She found it because her father hid it.”
Riley looked up.
“Say what you’re thinking.”
Marco did.
“Maybe her father wasn’t innocent.”
Riley stood.
Dominic expected anger.
Instead she said, “He probably wasn’t.”
That silenced them.
She had loved Ethan Hayes.
But love wasn’t evidence.
Her father had hidden cash.
Burned papers.
Known Dominic’s father.
Whatever truth remained, Riley wanted all of it.
Dominic sat across from her.
“My father was murdered.”
Riley looked at him.
“Public story was a heart attack.”
“Like mine.”
“Yes.”
The connection settled between them.
“Saint Agnes,” Riley said.
Dominic nodded.
“They both died after being admitted there.”
“Years apart.”
“Same attending physician.”
He showed her a name.
DR. SAMUEL KLINE.
Riley remembered it.
Her father’s death certificate.
Same doctor.
Marco located Kline.
Retired.
Alive.
Living outside the city.
They drove there before dawn.
Kline opened the door and saw Dominic.
His face collapsed.
“No.”
Dominic didn’t threaten him.
He showed him Ethan’s photograph.
Kline began crying.
“They told me the families would die.”
“What did you do?”
“I changed reports.”
“How did my father die?”
Kline looked at Riley.
Then Dominic.
“Poison.”
Riley’s throat tightened.
“And my father?”
Kline closed his eyes.
“The same.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who ordered it?”
Kline shook his head frantically.
“I never met him. Victor brought the instructions.”
Riley gripped the edge of a chair.
Dominic remained eerily calm.
“What was Project Harbor?”
Kline’s eyes opened.
That frightened him more than the murders.
“You have the ledger.”
“Part of it.”
Kline backed away.
“Destroy it.”
“Why?”
“Because Harbor wasn’t money.”
“What was it?”
Kline looked toward his dark hallway.
A floorboard creaked.
Someone else was in the house.
Kline’s face went white.
He whispered one word.
May you like
“Run.”
Then the bedroom door behind him opened...
