Chapter 5 - The Night Maisie Disappeared
Dominic had been a father for less than an hour.
His daughter was already gone.
He stood in the greenhouse staring at the photograph until Grace burst through the side door.
“Maisie!”
She saw Bunny.
Saw Dominic's face.
“No.”
Dominic caught her before her knees hit the ground.
“No, no, no.”
“They took her.”
Grace ripped the phone from his hand.
She read the message.
Her entire body went still.
“Matteo.”
“Maybe.”
“It has to be.”
“He wants Sofia.”
Grace looked at him.
“Then we give him Sofia.”
Dominic stared.
Grace's expression changed.
“I didn't mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
“She is our daughter.”
“Our daughter.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Dominic couldn't process how naturally the words had come.
Our daughter.
Four years of anger stood between them.
None of it mattered now.
“Where is my mother?”
Grace touched an earpiece hidden beneath her hair.
“Elena?”
Static.
Then Elena's voice.
“We're safe.”
“Where?”
“South gate.”
“Is Sofia with you?”
“Yes.”
Grace looked at Dominic.
“Don't move.”
Dominic grabbed her wrist.
“You think they'll obey?”
“We don't have a better option.”
He looked at Bunny.
Then felt something inside.
Hard.
He squeezed the rabbit.
Grace noticed.
“What?”
Dominic opened the seam she had cut earlier.
The plastic capsule was gone.
But something else remained deeper inside.
He pulled out a folded strip of waterproof paper.
Grace stared.
“I've never seen that.”
Dominic opened it.
Coordinates.
And three words.
IN CASE THEY TAKE HER.
Grace's face drained.
“Sofia knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Maisie might be taken.”
Dominic's rage sharpened.
“Then we're done protecting secrets.”
He called Elena.
“Sofia gets on the phone.”
“Dominic—”
“Now.”
A pause.
Then Sofia.
“I'm here.”
“What are these coordinates?”
Silence.
Dominic read them.
Sofia exhaled.
“An old winery.”
“Whose?”
“Matteo's.”
“You expected him to take Maisie.”
“I prepared for every possibility.”
“You hid directions in her toy?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell Grace?”
“Because anyone can break under pressure.”
Grace heard.
Her face hardened.
Dominic said, “Meet us there.”
“No.”
“That wasn't a request.”
“Dominic, if Matteo wants me, bringing me directly—”
“He has my daughter.”
Sofia became quiet.
Dominic's voice shook.
“For eighteen years, everyone in this family made decisions for me. You. Carlo. Matteo. Grace. It ends tonight.”
Grace flinched.
He hadn't meant to include her.
But it was true.
He continued.
“Meet us at the winery.”
Sofia whispered, “All right.”
The coordinates led twenty miles into the hills.
Dominic drove Grace's old SUV.
Rain battered the windshield.
Neither spoke for ten minutes.
Finally Grace said, “I should have told you.”
Dominic kept his eyes on the road.
“Yes.”
“I was afraid.”
“I know.”
“That doesn't make it right.”
“No.”
“I wrote you letters.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Dozens.”
“Where?”
“I never sent them.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“That helps.”
“I know.”
She wiped her eyes.
“I told Maisie about you.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“What did you tell her?”
“That her father was brave.”
Dominic swallowed.
“That he loved her before he knew her.”
“How could you know that?”
“Because I knew you.”
He stared through the rain.
Grace continued.
“She knows your picture.”
Dominic looked at her.
“That explains why she wasn't afraid of me.”
Grace nodded.
“She calls you the man from Mommy's drawer.”
Despite everything, Dominic laughed.
A single broken sound.
Grace smiled through tears.
Then the phone rang.
Unknown.
Dominic answered.
“Where is she?”
Maisie's voice came through.
“Daddy?”
Dominic almost drove off the road.
Grace gasped.
He gripped the wheel.
“Maisie?”
“Daddy, Bunny gone.”
Dominic couldn't speak.
Daddy.
She had never called him that before.
He forced his voice steady.
“I have Bunny.”
“Bring Bunny?”
“Yes.”
A man's hand took the phone.
Matteo.
“Touching.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“If you hurt her—”
“I haven't.”
“Let her go.”
“Bring Sofia.”
“You get Sofia after I see Maisie.”
Matteo laughed.
“You don't set terms.”
“I do if you want that card.”
Silence.
Dominic guessed correctly.
Matteo didn't know Grace had snapped a decoy.
Grace's eyes widened.
Matteo said, “You still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Grace broke it.”
“Grace broke the duplicate.”
Another silence.
Dominic looked at Grace.
She understood and played along.
Matteo said, “Winery. Thirty minutes.”
“We're twenty away.”
“Come alone.”
“No.”
“Then she dies.”
Grace grabbed the phone.
“Matteo, if you touch my daughter, I'll burn every document before you ever see it.”
“You already tried running once, Grace.”
“Try me.”
Matteo hung up.
Grace breathed hard.
Dominic said, “Good.”
“I wanted to kill him through the phone.”
“Also good.”
They reached the winery.
An abandoned stone building sat among dark vineyards.
Sofia and Elena arrived moments later.
Sofia stepped from the car.
Dominic walked directly toward her.
“You knew this could happen.”
“I knew Matteo would eventually learn about Maisie.”
“What else aren't you telling me?”
“This isn't the time.”
“That sentence is why we're here.”
Sofia looked at Grace.
Then Bunny.
“There's a tracker.”
Dominic stared.
“Where?”
“Inside the left paw.”
Grace ripped the seam.
A tiny device blinked.
Dominic looked at Sofia.
“You tracked my child.”
“I protected her.”
“No. You monitored her.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Fight later.”
Dominic looked toward the winery.
“She's right.”
They approached.
The front door opened.
A man stepped out.
Not Matteo.
Carlo DeLuca.
Dominic stopped.
His father looked twenty years older than he had that morning.
Blood stained one sleeve.
“Dad?”
Carlo stared at Grace.
Then Sofia.
Then Dominic.
“He took Maisie.”
“You knew?”
“I've been tracking Matteo for months.”
Sofia said coldly, “And you failed.”
Carlo looked at her.
Eighteen years of grief passed between them.
“You're alive.”
Sofia's face cracked.
Carlo took one step.
She stepped back.
“Not now.”
He stopped.
Dominic said, “Where is Maisie?”
Carlo pointed inside.
“Cellar.”
“Matteo?”
“With her.”
“Evelyn?”
Carlo's expression darkened.
“She owns the winery.”
Grace whispered, “Of course.”
Dominic looked at his father.
“You didn't order Grace killed.”
Carlo shook his head.
“No.”
“Why did you let me believe you did?”
“I didn't know you believed that.”
Dominic almost hit him.
Carlo continued.
“Matteo intercepted communications. By the time I found out Grace was pregnant, she had vanished.”
Sofia said, “Because I hid her.”
Carlo stared.
“You kept my granddaughter from me.”
“You kept my son inside a criminal empire.”
They might have continued forever.
Maisie's scream echoed from beneath the building.
Everyone froze.
Dominic ran.
The cellar stairs descended beneath the winery.
He ignored Grace shouting behind him.
At the bottom, a steel door stood open.
Inside was a long barrel room.
Matteo stood at the far end.
Maisie sat on a chair beside him.
She was crying but unharmed.
Dominic moved forward.
“Daddy!”
Matteo put a hand on her shoulder.
Dominic stopped.
“Take your hand off her.”
“Bring Sofia.”
She entered behind Dominic.
“I came.”
Matteo smiled.
“Sister-in-law.”
Carlo appeared.
Matteo's smile faded.
“You too.”
Carlo said, “It's over.”
“No. It's finally mine.”
Evelyn stepped from behind a barrel.
Gun raised.
“No, Matteo.”
Matteo looked shocked.
Evelyn aimed at him.
“You were useful.”
Dominic's stomach sank.
This had never been a hostage exchange.
It was a cleanup.
Evelyn smiled.
“Thank you for bringing everyone together.”
Behind them, the cellar door slammed shut.
May you like
Locks engaged.
Then Dominic smelled gasoline.
