Chapter 3 - The Secret Claire Buried
Dominic moved Claire behind him.
The door opened three inches.
Then six.
Then completely.
Nobody stood there.
Lily was still asleep.
Dominic entered first.
Window locked.
Bathroom empty.
Closet empty.
No intruder.
Claire rushed to Lily.
"Baby."
Lily stirred.
"Mommy?"
Claire hugged her.
Dominic examined the room.
On the bedside table sat a small black phone.
It wasn't theirs.
Dominic picked it up.
A prerecorded voice had played through it.
Someone had planted it before they arrived.
Which meant his townhouse had already been compromised.
Marco appeared moments later.
"Perimeter's clean."
"Not clean enough."
Dominic handed him the phone.
"Find out who placed this."
Marco's expression darkened.
"Understood."
Claire watched them.
"You said this place was safe."
"It was."
"Was?"
Dominic looked at her.
"Someone knew I would bring you here before I decided to bring you here."
Claire understood immediately.
"Someone close to you."
"Yes."
For the first time, Dominic Moretti looked genuinely angry.
By morning, the townhouse had become an investigation center.
Dominic's people reviewed cameras.
Claire sat with Lily at the kitchen island.
Lily ate pancakes.
She appeared remarkably recovered.
Children sometimes adapted faster than adults because they didn't understand the full dimensions of danger.
Dominic entered.
"We found something."
Claire stood.
"What?"
"The phone was placed in the room yesterday afternoon."
"Before Lily came to the restaurant?"
"Four hours before."
Claire stared at him.
"Then they knew."
"Yes."
"Knew what?"
"That your daughter would find me."
Claire shook her head.
"That's impossible."
Dominic placed the reservation card on the counter.
"No. Someone made sure she would."
Claire looked at it.
"The card."
"Exactly."
Someone had placed the card where Lily could find it.
Someone knew Lily.
Someone knew Claire.
Someone knew Dominic's schedule.
This wasn't coincidence.
It was orchestration.
"Why?" Claire whispered.
Dominic had no answer.
Lily looked between them.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Claire immediately crouched.
"No."
Dominic joined her.
"Absolutely not."
"But I found the card."
"Someone wanted you to find it," Dominic said gently. "That's not your fault."
Claire looked at him.
He stood again.
"We need to know who had access to your apartment."
"Landlord. Superintendent. Babysitter."
"Babysitter?"
"Mrs. Alvarez. She's sixty-eight."
"Anyone else?"
Claire hesitated.
"My sister."
Dominic noticed.
"Name?"
"Rachel."
"Where is she?"
"Boston."
"How long?"
"Three years."
Dominic texted Marco.
Claire frowned.
"Don't investigate my sister."
"I'm investigating everyone."
"She's family."
"So were half the people who've tried to kill me."
Lily looked up from her pancakes.
"People tried to kill you?"
Claire glared at Dominic.
He cleared his throat.
"Figure of speech."
Lily accepted that.
Marco entered ten minutes later.
His face told Dominic the news wasn't good.
"What?"
"Rachel Bennett doesn't live in Boston."
Claire stood.
"Yes, she does."
"No."
Marco placed a tablet on the counter.
"She left three years ago."
"Where?"
"No verified address since."
Claire shook her head.
"I speak to her."
"How?"
"Phone."
"Video?"
Claire stopped.
No.
Never video.
Rachel always claimed her camera was broken or she was busy.
Dominic saw the realization hit.
"When did you last see her in person?"
"Three years ago."
"Before she moved?"
Claire nodded.
Marco continued.
"There's more."
He displayed a security photograph.
A woman entering Claire's building two days earlier.
Claire leaned closer.
Her face drained.
"Rachel."
Dominic looked.
The woman wore sunglasses and a hood, but Claire recognized her.
"Your sister is in Manhattan."
"Why wouldn't she tell me?"
Dominic answered quietly.
"That's what we're going to find out."
Claire called Rachel.
Disconnected.
Again.
Disconnected.
Then Lily spoke.
"Aunt Rachel called me."
Claire turned.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"What?"
"She told me Mommy was busy."
Claire's heart began pounding.
"What else did she say?"
Lily thought.
"She said there was something special in your drawer."
Dominic and Claire exchanged a look.
"The reservation card," Dominic said.
Lily nodded.
"She said I should find the man in the picture."
Claire sat down slowly.
Her own sister had sent Lily to Dominic.
"Why?"
Dominic asked Lily another question.
"Did Aunt Rachel tell you anything else?"
"She said you would keep us safe."
That surprised him.
"Why would she think that?"
Lily shrugged.
"Because you're my—"
Claire moved instantly.
"Lily."
The child stopped.
Dominic looked at Claire.
"What was she going to say?"
"Nothing."
"Claire."
"She misunderstood something."
"Lily."
Dominic lowered himself to the child's level.
"What did Aunt Rachel say?"
Claire stepped between them.
"Enough."
Dominic stood.
Their eyes locked.
Claire was terrified.
Not angry.
Terrified.
Dominic suddenly understood the hospital photograph differently.
HE STILL DOESN'T KNOW.
Five years ago.
Newborn Lily.
Claire's secret.
Rachel telling Lily that Dominic would protect them.
Dominic's stomach tightened.
"No."
Claire looked away.
"No what?" Lily asked.
Dominic ignored her.
"Claire."
"Don't."
"Look at me."
She wouldn't.
"Claire."
Finally she did.
Dominic's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Is Lily my daughter?"
The kitchen went completely silent.
Lily looked between them.
Claire's eyes filled.
Dominic stopped breathing.
He had expected denial.
It didn't come.
Instead Claire whispered:
"I didn't know how to tell you."
The world seemed to narrow.
Dominic looked at Lily.
Brown eyes.
Dark hair.
Five years old.
His daughter.
He stepped backward.
"You knew?"
"I suspected."
"Suspected?"
"I confirmed it after she was born."
"And you said nothing?"
"You were Dominic Moretti."
"I still am."
"Exactly."
Dominic stared at her.
"You decided I didn't deserve to know my child existed?"
"I decided my child deserved to live."
The words struck hard.
Claire immediately regretted them.
Dominic turned away.
Lily looked confused.
"Mommy?"
Claire knelt beside her.
But before she could explain, Dominic's phone rang.
Marco.
"Dominic."
His tone was urgent.
"We found Rachel."
"Where?"
"Your old warehouse in Brooklyn."
Dominic frowned.
"Why there?"
"Because she's not alone."
"Who is with her?"
A pause.
Then Marco said a name Dominic had not heard in twelve years.
Dominic's face went cold.
Claire saw it.
"Who?"
May you like
Dominic lowered the phone.
"My father."
