Chapter 6 - The Last Lie
Dominic stared at Victor.
“Unlock the door.”
Victor did.
Immediately.
“I locked it because this conversation should stay private.”
“Then talk.”
Victor looked at Elena.
“You promised.”
Elena shook her head.
“I promised until Grace was safe.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Who is my biological father?”
Victor sat.
“Me.”
Dominic didn't react.
Not at first.
Then he laughed.
A single disbelieving sound.
“No.”
Victor looked at him.
“Yes.”
Dominic stared.
“My mother?”
“Catherine and I were together before she married Alexander.”
“You're his brother.”
“Half brother.”
“That makes it better?”
“No.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“Nothing makes it better.”
Dominic walked to the window.
His entire identity seemed to be collapsing in pieces.
“Did Alexander know?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“From the beginning.”
“And he raised me anyway?”
“He loved your mother.”
Dominic turned.
“He spent eight years destroying the woman I loved.”
“Yes.”
“Because of Elena's investigation?”
“Partly.”
“What was the other part?”
Victor hesitated.
“Me.”
Dominic stared.
“Alexander believed history was repeating itself. He thought Elena would take you away from the family the way Catherine wanted to leave him for me.”
“So he punished Elena for something my mother did?”
“He punished everyone.”
Dominic looked toward Grace.
She slept peacefully.
A child surrounded by adult sins she had never created.
“Where is my mother?”
Victor's eyes changed.
“Alive.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Of course.
Another dead person who wasn't dead.
“Where?”
“Maine.”
“For how long?”
“Twelve years.”
“Does she know about me?”
“Yes.”
“And Grace?”
“No.”
Dominic walked toward Victor.
“Why didn't she contact me?”
“Because Alexander threatened you.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be everyone's favorite excuse.”
“Dominic—”
“No. Every person in my life decided what I was allowed to know.”
Victor said nothing.
“Elena was taken from me because people made decisions for us. Grace lost her father because people made decisions for her. And now you're telling me my mother has been alive for twelve years because someone decided I couldn't handle the truth.”
Victor looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Dominic turned away.
Elena reached for his hand.
He let her take it.
For the first time that night, Dominic understood something.
Truth did not automatically repair damage.
Sometimes truth merely showed you exactly how deep the damage went.
But it also showed you where to begin.
The next morning, federal investigators interviewed Elena.
The payment records were devastating.
Nathan Cole had maintained dozens of shell corporations.
Alexander had created the original laundering structure.
Victor had secretly collected evidence against both.
The forged photograph was authenticated as a digital composite.
The overseas relocation records were fraudulent.
The supposed letter from Elena ending their relationship had been copied from genuine handwriting samples.
Every lie could now be proven.
Dominic sat across from Elena in the hospital.
“I believed it.”
“You were supposed to.”
“I should have known.”
“So should I.”
He looked at her.
“You believed the photograph of me.”
“You believed mine.”
They were silent.
Then Elena smiled sadly.
“We were both idiots.”
Dominic laughed.
“Apparently.”
Grace entered carrying three cups of terrible hospital cocoa.
“One for Mom.”
She placed it down.
“One for me.”
Then she looked at Dominic.
“And one for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You don't look like you drink cocoa.”
“I don't.”
“You do now.”
Dominic accepted it.
Elena smiled.
Grace climbed into the chair beside him.
“Are you really my dad?”
Dominic's chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Would you have wanted me?”
Dominic answered immediately.
“Yes.”
Grace studied his face.
“How much?”
He put down the cocoa.
“More than anything.”
Grace nodded as if confirming an important business transaction.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
Then she hugged him.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Elena watched them.
For a few seconds, eight years disappeared.
Later, Marcus entered.
“We found Alexander.”
Dominic stood.
“Where?”
“Old Vale warehouse.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Not yet.”
Dominic looked at Elena.
She understood.
“Go.”
Dominic drove there with Marcus and federal agents.
Alexander sat inside the empty warehouse.
He did not run.
He looked exhausted.
Dominic approached.
“It's over.”
Alexander nodded.
“I know.”
“Cole talked.”
“I expected he would.”
“You're going to prison.”
“Probably.”
Dominic studied him.
“Why did you stay?”
Alexander smiled faintly.
“I wanted to see you once more.”
“You've seen me.”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned away.
“Dominic.”
He stopped.
“I did love you.”
Dominic looked back.
“You don't get to call what you did love.”
Alexander's face fell.
“You took Elena because you wanted to control me. You hid my daughter because you wanted to control me. You threatened my mother because you wanted to control her. Love doesn't erase someone's choices.”
Alexander nodded slowly.
“No.”
Agents approached.
Before they took him, Alexander said, “There's one more thing.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“There always is.”
“Cole wasn't the person who ordered Elena moved from St. Catherine’s.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Who did?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Alexander reached into his pocket.
Agents immediately raised weapons.
He slowly removed a folded paper.
“A nurse gave me this.”
Dominic opened it.
A medical transfer authorization.
Elena Marlowe.
Destination blank.
Authorized by an electronic signature.
Dominic Vale.
Dominic stared.
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
Marcus took the paper.
“Someone used your credentials.”
Dominic's phone rang.
The hospital.
He answered.
“Vale.”
Silence.
Then a nurse said, “Mr. Vale, we have a problem.”
Dominic's blood went cold.
“What happened?”
“Elena Marlowe's room is empty.”
Dominic couldn't breathe.
“And Grace?”
The nurse hesitated.
“She's gone too.”
Dominic turned toward the warehouse entrance.
A black car was waiting outside.
Its rear door slowly opened.
A woman stepped out.
Dominic had not seen her in twelve years.
May you like
His mother looked directly at him and said:
“If you want Elena and Grace alive, get in the car.”
