Chapter 1 - My Mommy Couldn't Come
Lily climbed into the stranger's booth and whispered:
"My mommy couldn't come, so I'm her date."
Dominic Moretti looked down and noticed a folded restaurant reservation card in her hand.
A phone number had been written across the back.
His private number.
Dominic suddenly realized Lily had not found his table by accident.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Dominic Moretti had spent most of his adult life watching grown men lose their confidence when he entered a room.
Lily Bennett was five.
She appeared completely unimpressed.
She placed a tiny pink purse beside herself, climbed farther onto the leather booth, and looked at the untouched place setting in front of her.
"Do I get a menu?"
Dominic stared at her.
Across the restaurant, two of his security men had already noticed what was happening. One began moving toward the booth.
Dominic raised one finger.
The man stopped.
Lily didn't notice.
She was busy examining the folded napkin.
"What's your name?" Dominic asked.
"Lily."
"Lily what?"
"My mommy says not to tell strangers my last name."
Dominic almost smiled.
"That's probably good advice."
"But you're Dominic."
The smile disappeared.
Lily finally looked up.
"My mommy has a picture of you."
Dominic's hand stopped beside his coffee cup.
"What picture?"
"An old one."
"Where?"
"In her drawer."
Lily leaned closer as though sharing the least important secret imaginable.
"Under the socks."
Dominic studied her face.
She had brown eyes, long brunette hair pulled partly back with a pink flower bow, and the absolute confidence of a child who believed every adult would eventually become her friend.
There was nothing rehearsed about her.
That made the situation more troubling.
A waiter appeared nervously.
"Mr. Moretti?"
Lily immediately pointed toward a dessert being carried to another table.
"I want that."
The waiter looked at Dominic.
Dominic nodded.
"Bring her one."
"With extra whipped cream," Lily added.
The waiter disappeared.
Dominic leaned back.
"Where is your mother?"
"Working."
"And she sent you here?"
Lily shook her head.
"She doesn't know."
That answer changed everything.
Dominic's eyes moved toward the entrance.
"Who brought you?"
"I walked."
"From where?"
"Our apartment."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Manhattan was not a place where a five-year-old should be wandering alone after dark.
"How far?"
Lily shrugged.
"Not very."
Children had strange definitions of distance.
Dominic reached toward his phone.
Lily suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
"Don't call Mommy yet."
"Why?"
"Because she'll be mad."
"She should be."
Lily considered this.
"Probably."
Dominic almost laughed.
The dessert arrived.
Lily's entire attention shifted.
She wrapped both hands around the white bowl while the waiter placed a spoon beside it.
"Thank you."
The waiter nodded and escaped.
Lily took one enormous spoonful.
Whipped cream touched the corner of her mouth.
Dominic watched her for a moment.
Then he looked at the reservation card again.
"Where did you get this?"
"Mommy's drawer."
"The same drawer with my photograph?"
"Yes."
Dominic turned the card over.
His private telephone number was written in black ink.
Only twelve people had that number.
None were named Bennett.
"What does your mother look like?"
"Pretty."
"That narrows it down."
Lily giggled.
"She has brown hair."
"So does half of Manhattan."
"She gets a little line here when she's worried."
Lily touched between her eyebrows.
Dominic's amusement faded.
Something about the gesture triggered a memory.
A woman standing outside a courthouse six years earlier.
Brown hair.
Angry eyes.
A small line between her eyebrows.
Dominic had seen her for perhaps thirty seconds.
But he remembered faces.
Especially frightened ones.
"What is your mother's first name?"
Lily hesitated.
Apparently the rule about strangers was returning.
Dominic pushed the dessert slightly closer.
"I'm not asking for your last name."
Lily took another bite.
"Claire."
Dominic went still.
Claire.
He knew exactly one Claire who might possess an old photograph of him.
Claire Bennett.
The investigative journalist who had disappeared from public reporting five years earlier.
Dominic looked at Lily again.
Five years.
The timing was uncomfortable.
"Your mother's Claire Bennett?"
Lily's eyes widened.
"You know Mommy!"
Dominic didn't answer.
He knew of her.
That was different.
Claire Bennett had spent eighteen months investigating financial crimes involving politicians, developers, police officials, and several organized crime families.
His family's name had appeared repeatedly in her research.
Then she had abruptly abandoned the investigation.
No final article.
No explanation.
She simply disappeared.
Until now.
"Does your mother know you're here?" Dominic asked again.
"No."
"Then how did you know I would be here?"
Lily proudly pointed toward the card.
"It says Friday, seven o'clock, Beluchi's."
Dominic examined it.
She was right.
Someone had written the information beneath his number.
Someone who apparently expected Claire to understand it.
"When did your mother get this?"
"I don't know."
"Was it recently?"
Lily shrugged.
"Maybe."
Dominic glanced toward one of his security men.
The man understood immediately.
He quietly left the restaurant.
Lily continued eating.
"What does your mother do now?"
"She writes things."
"What things?"
"Computer things."
"Does she still work for newspapers?"
"I don't know."
Dominic tried another direction.
"Why did you come here?"
Lily stopped eating.
Her expression changed.
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
"Mommy's sad."
Dominic waited.
"She thinks I don't know."
"Know what?"
"That she's scared."
The answer landed differently.
"Scared of what?"
Lily lowered her spoon.
"Men calling."
"What men?"
"They don't say."
Dominic leaned forward.
"Lily."
She looked up.
"What do they say to your mother?"
Lily thought.
"Mostly they tell her to stop."
Dominic's fingers tightened around the coffee cup.
"Stop what?"
"I don't know."
"Anything else?"
Lily nodded.
"One man said she should've burned the envelope."
Dominic didn't move.
"What envelope?"
"The brown one."
"Where is it?"
"In Mommy's room."
"What's inside?"
Lily smiled.
"Pictures."
Dominic felt the first real flicker of danger.
"Pictures of what?"
"You."
His expression changed.
Lily noticed.
"Did I say something bad?"
"No."
"Mommy says secrets make people sad."
"Sometimes secrets keep people alive."
Lily stared at him.
Dominic regretted the sentence immediately.
She was five.
He softened his voice.
"Forget I said that."
"Okay."
She returned to her dessert.
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message from Marco, his security chief.
CLAIRE BENNETT. CONFIRMED. LIVES FOUR BLOCKS AWAY. NO VEHICLE REGISTERED. CURRENT EMPLOYMENT UNKNOWN.
Dominic typed:
CHECK WHO HAS BEEN WATCHING HER.
The response came quickly.
ALREADY DOING IT.
Dominic put the phone down.
Lily was studying him.
"Are you really a bad guy?"
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"Who told you that?"
"Mommy."
That surprised him.
"What exactly did she say?"
"She said you're dangerous."
"That's not exactly the same thing."
"Isn't it?"
Dominic almost smiled again.
"No."
Lily took another spoonful.
"Mommy says dangerous people aren't always bad."
Dominic stopped.
"She said that about me?"
"No. She said it about herself."
Before Dominic could ask what that meant, the restaurant doors opened hard enough to draw several glances.
A woman rushed inside.
Brown hair.
Dark coat.
Terrified eyes.
Dominic recognized her instantly.
Claire Bennett.
She scanned the restaurant.
Then she saw Lily.
Relief hit her first.
Then she saw him.
Every trace of color disappeared from her face.
"Lily."
The little girl turned.
"Mommy!"
Claire crossed the restaurant quickly.
Dominic's guards shifted position.
He signaled them back.
Claire reached the booth and grabbed Lily's shoulders.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"What were you thinking?"
"I wanted to help."
"You left the apartment alone!"
Lily's smile disappeared.
"I'm sorry."
Claire pulled her into a hug.
Dominic watched.
Whatever Claire Bennett was hiding, her fear for her daughter was genuine.
Claire finally looked at him.
"Mr. Moretti."
"Claire."
Her eyes sharpened.
"I never told you my name."
"Lily did."
Claire closed her eyes briefly.
Of course she had.
Dominic slid the reservation card across the table.
Claire saw it.
Her expression changed again.
"Where did you get that?"
"Your daughter."
Claire snatched it.
"Lily, where did you find this?"
"Your drawer."
"You went through my bedroom?"
"I wanted to find somebody who could help you."
Claire stared at her daughter.
"Help me with what?"
"The scary calls."
Silence.
Dominic watched Claire carefully.
"Interesting calls?"
Claire looked at him.
"No."
"Lily mentioned an envelope."
Claire's face hardened.
"She's five."
"Five-year-olds are remarkably observant."
"She's also leaving."
Claire took Lily's hand.
Dominic didn't stop them.
But he asked one question.
"Why do you have my private number?"
Claire froze.
"I don't."
"The card says otherwise."
"I've never called you."
"That's not what I asked."
Claire turned slowly.
Dominic could see calculation behind her fear.
"I didn't write that number."
That answer felt truthful.
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Then why keep it?"
Claire looked at Lily.
"Because I couldn't figure out who sent it."
Dominic stood.
Claire instinctively moved Lily behind herself.
That bothered him more than he expected.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"I know what your family is capable of."
"My family isn't here."
"That's exactly what worries me."
Dominic studied her.
"You investigated us."
"I investigated everyone."
"Then you stopped."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Claire's eyes flickered.
"Because I became a mother."
Dominic looked at Lily.
Five years.
Again.
Something wasn't fitting.
His phone vibrated.
Marco.
Dominic checked the message.
His expression changed immediately.
CLAIRE'S BUILDING HAS BEEN UNDER SURVEILLANCE FOR AT LEAST THREE DAYS.
SECOND MESSAGE:
WE IDENTIFIED ONE OF THE MEN.
Dominic opened the attached photograph.
He recognized him.
Not one of his people.
Worse.
A man connected to someone Dominic had believed was gone permanently.
He looked at Claire.
"You can't go home."
Claire's grip tightened around Lily.
"Excuse me?"
"Someone's watching your apartment."
She went pale.
"How do you know?"
"My people checked."
"Why?"
"Because your daughter walked into my dinner carrying my private number."
Claire pulled out her phone.
"I'll call the police."
Dominic shook his head.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because the man watching your building used to be a detective."
Claire stopped.
Dominic turned his phone toward her.
She looked at the photograph.
Her entire body stiffened.
"You know him," Dominic said.
Claire didn't answer.
"Who is he?"
She whispered one name.
"Raymond."
Dominic knew the name.
Raymond Shaw.
A former NYPD detective who had disappeared after being accused of selling information to criminal organizations.
Dominic had once believed Raymond was dead.
Apparently not.
Claire grabbed Lily's coat.
"We have to leave."
"Not through the front."
"I don't take orders from you."
"This isn't an order. It's the reason you'll get your daughter home alive."
Claire stared at him.
Dominic signaled Marco.
"Use the kitchen exit."
Marco nodded.
They moved quickly.
Lily held Claire's hand.
As they passed the kitchen, Lily looked back toward Dominic.
"Are you coming?"
Dominic hesitated.
"Yes."
Lily smiled.
Claire did not.
They reached the service corridor.
Marco opened the rear exit.
Then stopped.
A brown envelope lay on the floor outside.
Claire stared at it.
Her name was written across the front.
Dominic crouched and picked it up.
"Don't," Claire whispered.
He turned it over.
The seal had already been broken.
Something hard was inside.
Dominic reached into the envelope.
He removed an old photograph.
Claire made a strangled sound.
Dominic looked at the picture.
It showed Claire five years earlier.
She was leaving a hospital.
A newborn baby was in her arms.
Dominic turned the photograph over.
Four words were written on the back.
HE STILL DOESN'T KNOW.
Dominic looked at Claire.
She couldn't meet his eyes.
May you like
Then Lily whispered:
"Mommy... what doesn't he know?"
