Chapter 5 - The Woman Salvatore Buried
Dominic raised his gun.
“Show yourself.”
The woman stepped into the candlelight.
Mid-forties.
Dark hair.
Black coat.
A scar crossed the side of her mouth.
Elena Voss.
Sophia stared.
“You took Lily.”
Elena nodded.
“Only long enough to get her inside the mansion.”
“Why?”
“To force Dominic to start asking questions.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“You used my daughter.”
“I protected your daughter.”
“You knocked Marco unconscious.”
“No.”
Marco frowned.
“Someone did.”
Elena looked toward Antonio.
“Salvatore’s man.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Start talking.”
Elena sat in the nearest pew.
“Three years ago, Salvatore ordered me killed.”
“Why?”
“Because I learned he planned to sell the organization.”
Dominic laughed once.
“He murdered my father for trying to dismantle it, and now he wants to sell it?”
“Not dismantle.”
Elena shook her head.
“Sell.”
“To whom?”
“A syndicate operating through Eastern Europe.”
Sophia’s face changed.
“He wanted the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the ledger proves ownership of several hidden accounts.”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
“How much?”
She whispered, “Hundreds of millions.”
Dominic absorbed it.
Salvatore had not protected the Moretti empire.
He had stolen it.
His father had died trying to end it.
Sophia had disappeared trying to expose it.
Lily had grown up without him because of it.
Dominic felt something inside him settle.
Not rage.
Purpose.
“Where is Salvatore now?”
Elena looked toward the windows.
“He’s going to the mansion.”
Dominic grabbed his phone.
No signal.
Elena continued.
“He jammed communications before we arrived.”
“Why the mansion?”
“Because the last thing he needs is there.”
“What?”
Sophia suddenly looked toward Dominic.
“The safe.”
Dominic understood.
His private study.
Sophia’s photograph.
Documents his father had left behind.
But something else occurred to him.
“The original trust.”
Isabella looked stunned.
“What trust?”
“My father transferred legitimate Moretti holdings to me before his death.”
Antonio nodded.
“Salvatore needs your signature to access them.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“He’ll never get it.”
Elena looked at him.
“He doesn’t need your permission if you’re dead.”
They drove back immediately.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Guests had been evacuated.
Security guards were missing.
Dominic entered through the kitchen.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Marco found a guard unconscious.
Alive.
They moved toward the study.
The door stood open.
The safe had been emptied.
A message lay on Dominic’s desk.
Bring Sophia to Pier 14 before 3:00 a.m.
Come alone.
Or the old woman dies.
Dominic crumpled the paper.
“Teresa.”
Sophia went pale.
Dominic checked the time.
2:12 a.m.
Forty-eight minutes.
Sophia picked up her coat.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He has my mother.”
“He wants you.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic stood in front of her.
“He won’t get you.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You don’t get to protect me by deciding everything for me.”
The irony struck both of them.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“You’re right.”
Sophia’s eyes softened.
“We do this together.”
They formed a plan.
Marco and Elena would approach from the water.
Antonio would contact old loyalists.
Isabella would remain with Lily.
Dominic knelt before his daughter.
She looked sleepy.
“Are you leaving?”
“For a little while.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
Dominic touched her hair.
“And I’m keeping that promise.”
“Will Mommy come back?”
Dominic looked at Sophia.
She knelt beside them.
Lily stared at her.
For several seconds she seemed unable to believe what she saw.
Then her face crumpled.
“Mommy?”
Sophia pulled her into her arms.
The sound she made was half sob, half laugh.
Dominic turned away, overwhelmed.
Lily clung to her mother.
“You came back.”
“Yes, baby.”
“Were you hiding?”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Grandma said hiding keeps people safe.”
Sophia looked at Isabella.
For four years, the women had carried secrets Dominic had never understood.
Sophia kissed Lily’s forehead.
“I have to go somewhere with Dominic.”
Lily grabbed her dress.
“No.”
“I’m coming back.”
“Promise?”
Sophia looked at Dominic.
Then answered.
“I promise.”
At Pier 14, fog covered the water.
Dominic entered the warehouse alone.
Sophia remained hidden nearby.
Salvatore stood beside Teresa.
Her hands were tied.
Salvatore held a gun.
“You disappoint me, Dominic.”
“You murdered my father.”
“He betrayed us.”
“You threatened Sophia.”
“She complicated things.”
“You stole four years from my daughter.”
Salvatore smiled.
“That bothers you most, doesn’t it?”
Dominic’s expression went cold.
“Yes.”
Salvatore pointed toward a table.
“Sign.”
Documents waited.
Transfer agreements.
Dominic glanced down.
“You forged everything else. Why not my signature?”
“Because the banks require biometric confirmation.”
Dominic laughed softly.
“You planned carefully.”
“I always do.”
“Except tonight.”
Salvatore frowned.
Dominic looked toward the warehouse ceiling.
A red laser dot appeared on Salvatore’s chest.
Marco.
Another appeared on the gun.
Elena.
Salvatore smiled.
“You think I didn’t anticipate them?”
Men emerged behind Teresa.
Dominic’s heart sank.
Then Antonio entered.
Hands raised.
“I brought what you asked for.”
Salvatore looked pleased.
“The ledger?”
Antonio held it up.
Dominic stared.
“Antonio.”
Antonio did not look at him.
Salvatore extended his hand.
Antonio approached.
Then stopped.
“I opened one door for you five years ago.”
Salvatore smiled.
“Yes.”
Antonio’s voice hardened.
“I won’t open another.”
He threw the ledger into a barrel of burning oil.
Salvatore screamed.
“No!”
He fired.
Antonio fell.
Chaos exploded.
Dominic charged.
Sophia ran toward Teresa.
Marco and Elena fired from cover.
Dominic struck Salvatore’s gun away.
They crashed onto the concrete.
Salvatore was older.
Dominic stronger.
But rage made the old man dangerous.
He grabbed a knife.
Dominic caught his wrist.
“You should have stayed obedient,” Salvatore hissed.
“You should have left my family alone.”
Dominic slammed his wrist against the floor.
The knife dropped.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Salvatore froze.
Dominic smiled.
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“My father’s ledger wasn’t the only copy.”
Elena stepped forward.
“I sent everything to federal investigators thirty minutes ago.”
Salvatore stared at her.
For the first time, he understood.
It was over.
He reached for a hidden gun.
Sophia shouted.
“Dominic!”
A shot rang out.
Salvatore fell.
Dominic turned.
Antonio lay on the floor, blood spreading beneath him.
His smoking gun remained pointed toward Salvatore.
Marco ran to his father.
“Dad.”
Antonio looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Save your breath.”
“I opened the wrong door.”
Marco pressed his hands against the wound.
Antonio looked at Dominic.
“Close it.”
Then his eyes shut.
Paramedics rushed inside.
They carried Antonio away alive.
Salvatore was arrested.
Teresa was freed.
Sophia stood beside Dominic.
The sky beyond the pier had begun turning gray.
Almost sunrise.
Dominic looked at her.
“Come home.”
Sophia’s expression tightened.
“We don’t know if it’s safe yet.”
“Salvatore’s finished.”
“He wasn’t working alone.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
Elena approached holding Salvatore’s phone.
“There’s one message you need to see.”
She handed it to him.
The newest text had been sent minutes before the raid.
It contained only six words.
If Salvatore fails, take the child.
Dominic looked at the sender.
No name.
Only a number.
Then his own phone rang.
Isabella.
Dominic answered.
His mother was crying.
“Dominic…”
“What happened?”
The line crackled.
May you like
Then Isabella whispered:
“Lily is gone.”
