Chapter 6 - Someone Inside Her Apartment
Dominic answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a woman whispered, “Come home, son.”
The line went dead.
Meline watched him.
“Was that her?”
“No.”
But he didn’t sound certain.
Costello House was different from Dominic’s mansion.
Older.
Abandoned.
The family estate had been empty for twelve years.
Dominic insisted on going alone.
Meline ignored him again.
“You have a problem with instructions.”
“You have a problem giving terrible ones.”
Harper stayed with security while Meline followed Dominic inside.
Dust covered the furniture.
Portraits lined the walls.
One showed Dominic as a boy beside his parents.
His mother was beautiful.
Meline stared.
“I’ve seen her.”
Dominic turned sharply.
“Where?”
“In my father’s files.”
They searched the house.
In the library, Meline found a hidden architectural panel.
Behind it was a narrow room.
A woman’s belongings remained inside.
Letters.
Photographs.
One photograph showed Dominic’s mother with Thomas Hayes.
Another showed Evelyn Hayes.
Meline’s aunt.
The three of them were smiling.
“They knew each other.”
Dominic opened a letter.
Arthur,
Crown knows about Evelyn. Thomas says we have days, perhaps hours. If anything happens to me, protect Dominic from the organization. He must never inherit what we built to destroy.
Signed:
Isabella.
Dominic sat down.
“My mother wanted me out.”
Meline sat beside him.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“What were you told?”
“That she was killed by a rival family.”
“Maybe that’s what Crown wanted you to believe.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, Meline saw the boy beneath the feared man.
A child who had inherited a war based on a lie.
She reached for his hand.
He let her.
The moment lasted until a floorboard creaked upstairs.
Dominic rose instantly.
They climbed.
A bedroom door moved.
He kicked it open.
Victor sat inside.
Alive.
Wounded.
Dominic lowered his gun.
“Victor.”
Victor collapsed.
They caught him.
His shirt was soaked with blood.
“Crown,” he whispered.
“Who?” Dominic demanded.
Victor struggled to breathe.
“Your father knew.”
“Arthur?”
Victor nodded.
“He tried to stop it.”
“Who is Crown?”
Victor’s eyes moved toward Meline.
“Her mother.”
Meline froze.
“No.”
Victor lost consciousness.
They rushed him to Dominic’s private doctor.
Meline stood outside the treatment room.
“My mother is a school librarian.”
Dominic said nothing.
“She makes terrible lasagna. She watches British detective shows. She calls me every Sunday.”
“Meline.”
“No.”
“We don’t know what Victor meant.”
“He said my mother.”
“Yes.”
“My mother was kidnapped.”
“Or appeared kidnapped.”
Meline turned on him.
“You think she staged it?”
“I think we need facts.”
She hated him for sounding reasonable.
Then her phone rang.
Her mother.
Meline answered.
“Mom?”
“Meline.”
Her voice sounded weak.
“Where are you?”
“Listen carefully. You need to leave Dominic.”
Meline looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because Victor is lying.”
“How do you know Victor is alive?”
Silence.
Meline’s heart stopped.
Her mother whispered, “Come to me alone.”
“Where?”
“I’ll send you an address.”
“Mom—”
“And Meline?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell Dominic.”
The call ended.
A location arrived.
Meline stared at it.
Dominic watched her.
“What did she say?”
Meline remembered the photograph.
DON’T TRUST A COSTELLO.
She also remembered Dominic throwing himself over her when bullets flew.
She made her choice.
“She wants me alone.”
Dominic nodded.
“We’ll make her think you are.”
Two hours later, Meline entered an abandoned church in Brooklyn.
Dominic watched remotely.
Her mother stood near the altar.
“Meline.”
Meline wanted to run to her.
Instead, she stopped.
“Who is Crown?”
Her mother’s face broke.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“Answer me.”
“I’m not Crown.”
“Victor said—”
“Victor meant my mother.”
Meline stared.
“Your mother?”
Her mother nodded.
“Evelyn Hayes.”
Everything shifted.
Evelyn was not her aunt.
She was her grandmother.
“Then Dad—”
“Thomas was raised as Evelyn’s younger brother. She was seventeen when she had me. The family hid it.”
“Where is she?”
Her mother looked toward the confessional.
“She’s been closer than you think.”
The curtain moved.
A hand appeared.
Then a woman stepped out.
Silver hair.
Elegant posture.
The same eyes as Meline.
Evelyn Hayes.
Alive.
She smiled.
“My granddaughter.”
Meline backed away.
Evelyn’s smile vanished.
“You brought Dominic.”
Meline said nothing.
Evelyn looked directly toward the hidden camera.
Then she spoke the words that made Dominic stand up miles away.
May you like
“Hello, Dominic. I killed your mother.”
And somewhere behind Meline, a gun was cocked...
