Chapter 4 - The Secret in the Cream Handbag
The door opened three inches.
Dominic moved instantly.
He shoved his shoulder against it before whoever stood outside could enter.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
He pulled the door wider.
An empty hallway stretched beneath the fluorescent lights.
Mara stared from the bed.
“Dominic?”
He stepped into the corridor.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No nurse.
No doctor.
Only the distant sound of a cart rolling across the polished floor.
Dominic looked down.
A small black button lay beside the door.
He picked it up.
It was expensive.
Dark metal.
Engraved with a tiny silver letter.
V.
Mara's voice came from behind him.
“What is that?”
Dominic turned.
“Stay inside.”
She looked at him.
“I can't exactly run.”
He walked back into the room.
His eyes remained on the button.
Mara watched him closely.
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I know the family crest.”
He placed the button on the table.
“This isn't mine.”
Mara swallowed.
“Then whose is it?”
Before he could answer, the hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then returned to normal.
Dominic's hand moved instinctively toward the gun beneath his jacket.
Mara noticed.
“You brought a gun into the hospital?”
“I bring one everywhere.”
“You're unbelievable.”
“I've been called worse.”
For the first time that night, the corner of Mara's mouth moved.
Almost a smile.
It disappeared quickly.
Dominic noticed anyway.
Then the intercom crackled.
“Security to the east corridor.”
A pause.
“Security to the east corridor immediately.”
Dominic looked toward the hallway.
Someone had triggered an alarm.
He picked up his phone.
“Get my security team here.”
Mara frowned.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“Don't bring more people.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone is watching us, they'll know we're scared.”
Dominic studied her.
“You've been doing this alone for eight months.”
“Yes.”
“And you survived.”
“Barely.”
He lowered his phone.
Mara looked toward the table.
The envelope was still there.
Dominic had not opened it.
“You should read it.”
He picked it up.
The paper was thick.
Expensive.
He tore it open.
Inside was a photograph.
Dominic stared.
Mara watched his face.
“What is it?”
He turned the photograph toward her.
It showed two newborn babies lying inside identical hospital bassinets.
One wore a blue bracelet.
The other wore a white one.
Written across the bottom was a date.
Twenty-nine years earlier.
Dominic stopped breathing.
“That was the year I was born.”
Mara looked at the photograph.
“Who are they?”
“I don't know.”
But his voice said otherwise.
He turned the photograph over.
Three words had been written on the back.
ONE WAS YOURS.
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Dominic shook his head.
“I don't know.”
A knock came at the door.
Both of them froze.
A nurse entered.
This time it was an older woman with silver hair tied tightly behind her head.
She carried a tray.
“Medication.”
Dominic stepped between her and Mara.
“Who are you?”
The nurse looked at his face.
Then smiled.
“Someone who remembers your mother.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“My mother died sixteen years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then how do you know her?”
The nurse placed the tray down.
“She brought you here.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“When you were born.”
Mara sat straighter.
The nurse looked at her.
“And she wasn't alone.”
Dominic's voice became quiet.
“You need to explain.”
The nurse glanced toward the hallway.
Then closed the door.
“Your mother gave birth to twins.”
Dominic stared at her.
“I was told my brother died.”
“He did not.”
“Who told you?”
“Your father.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“My father said he died.”
The nurse nodded.
“Your father lied.”
Silence.
Mara felt a chill move through her.
“Why?”
The nurse looked at Dominic.
“Because one of the babies was taken.”
Dominic's face went pale.
“Taken by whom?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Your father.”
Mara stared.
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“He was terrified someone would discover the truth.”
“What truth?”
The nurse's eyes shifted toward Mara's belly.
“That your family had another heir.”
Dominic looked at Mara.
Then at the nurse.
“Why would my father hide his own son?”
“Because that child wasn't supposed to inherit anything.”
“Why?”
The nurse lowered her voice.
“Because your father believed the boy wasn't really his.”
Dominic went still.
Mara whispered,
“Then whose was he?”
The nurse didn't answer.
Dominic grabbed the edge of the table.
“You're saying my father believed one of us wasn't his son?”
“Yes.”
“And he hid the child?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
The nurse looked toward the photograph.
“That is what your mother spent the rest of her life trying to discover.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“You knew my mother?”
“I was her nurse.”
“When?”
“The night you were born.”
Mara's breath caught.
“Then you saw both babies?”
“Yes.”
“Which one was Dominic?”
The nurse looked at him.
“The one wearing the blue bracelet.”
Dominic looked down at the photograph.
“And the other?”
The nurse's expression changed.
“I don't know.”
“You just said he was taken.”
“He was.”
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic slammed his palm against the table.
“Then why are you telling me this now?”
The nurse flinched.
“Because someone contacted me tonight.”
“Who?”
“I wasn't told.”
“What did they want?”
The nurse reached inside her uniform.
She pulled out a small memory card.
“They told me to give you this.”
Dominic took it.
“What is on it?”
“A recording.”
“From who?”
The nurse looked directly at him.
“Your father.”
Mara's heart began racing.
Dominic stared at the memory card.
His father's voice.
After twenty-nine years.
It couldn't be coincidence.
“Where did you get this?”
The nurse's hands trembled.
“It was delivered to my home this morning.”
“By whom?”
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
“I never saw her face.”
Dominic looked at Mara.
She suddenly remembered something.
“The cream handbag.”
“What?”
“Celeste.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“What about it?”
“She had something inside.”
He remembered.
The bulky shape.
The papers.
The way she had hidden the bag when he looked at it.
Dominic turned toward the door.
“I need to find her.”
Mara grabbed his wrist.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
“Don't go alone.”
Dominic looked down at her hand around his wrist.
Then back at her face.
“I'll be back.”
Mara shook her head.
“That isn't what I mean.”
“What?”
“I don't trust her.”
“Neither do I.”
“I think she knows more than she's telling us.”
Dominic nodded.
“She does.”
“Then don't confront her yet.”
He stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because if she's connected to whoever threatened me, she'll disappear.”
Dominic considered that.
Mara's fingers tightened around his wrist.
“We need proof.”
He slowly nodded.
“Okay.”
The nurse watched them.
Then said quietly,
“There is one more thing.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
The nurse looked frightened.
“Your wife wasn't the only person followed before the crash.”
Mara froze.
“Who else?”
The nurse looked at Dominic.
“You.”
He frowned.
“I wasn't followed.”
“Yes, you were.”
“By whom?”
The nurse pointed toward the window.
“Look outside.”
Dominic crossed the room.
He pulled the curtain aside.
Rain streaked the glass.
The hospital parking lot was nearly empty.
Except for one black SUV.
Its engine was running.
Dominic stared.
The vehicle sat beneath a dead streetlight.
No headlights.
No visible driver.
Mara whispered,
“Is that one of yours?”
“No.”
Dominic reached for his phone.
The SUV suddenly pulled away.
Fast.
He memorized the license plate.
Then he looked at the nurse.
“How long has it been there?”
“Since you arrived.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Why didn't security remove it?”
The nurse swallowed.
“Because it belongs to the hospital.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
She nodded.
“It has a hospital parking permit.”
He looked at Mara.
Then at the nurse.
“Whose vehicle?”
The nurse shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic immediately called his head of security.
“Find the registration for a black SUV outside the east entrance. Hospital permit. I need the owner now.”
He ended the call.
Mara stared at him.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“Check the photograph again.”
He turned.
She pointed toward the newborns.
“Look at the bracelets.”
Dominic walked closer.
The blue bracelet had a small printed number.
017.
The white bracelet had another.
018.
Mara whispered,
“They weren't just numbered.”
Dominic looked at her.
“They were twins.”
“Then why number them?”
The nurse's face suddenly drained of color.
“Because those weren't the only babies born that night.”
Dominic slowly turned.
“What?”
The nurse stepped backward.
“There were three.”
The room went silent.
Mara stared at her.
“Three?”
The nurse nodded.
“One was your husband.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“One was his brother.”
Then she looked toward Mara's newborn daughter.
“And the third child…”
Her voice broke.
Dominic stepped forward.
“What third child?”
The nurse opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, Dominic's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His security chief.
He answered.
“What did you find?”
There was a long silence.
Then the man's voice came through.
“Boss…”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What?”
“We ran the license plate.”
“And?”
“The SUV is registered to St. Vincent's Hospital.”
Dominic frowned.
“I already know that.”
“No, boss.”
The security chief's voice dropped.
“It isn't registered to the hospital anymore.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who owns it?”
Another pause.
Then:
“Celeste Arden.”
Mara's blood ran cold.
Dominic looked toward the table.
The cream handbag was gone.
His eyes widened.
“Where is Celeste?”
The security chief answered.
“We found her car.”
“Where?”
“At the old Vascari estate.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“What is she doing there?”
“We don't know.”
“Get everyone there.”
“Already did.”
Dominic turned toward Mara.
She saw something in his face.
Something worse than anger.
Fear.
“Dominic?”
He didn't answer.
The security chief spoke again.
“Boss, there's something else.”
“What?”
“We found blood on the front gate.”
Dominic's fingers tightened around the phone.
“Whose?”
“We're testing it now.”
Then the man went silent.
Dominic heard him breathe.
“Say it.”
“Boss…”
“What?”
“We found another thing.”
Dominic waited.
“A hospital bracelet.”
His eyes moved slowly toward the photograph.
The blue bracelet.
The white bracelet.
The third baby.
Then the security chief whispered,
“It has your wife's name on it.”
Mara's face went white.
Dominic turned toward her.
May you like
Before either could speak, the hospital lights went out.
And from somewhere inside the darkness, a newborn baby began crying.
