Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Salvatore Moretti had been buried twelve years earlier.
Dominic had stood beside the grave.
He had watched the coffin descend.
He had inherited the organization afterward.
Now Marco was telling him that Salvatore had just appeared on camera inside a Brooklyn warehouse.
Alive.
Claire stared at Dominic.
"Your father is dead."
"Apparently he disagrees."
Dominic looked at Lily.
His daughter.
The word still felt impossible.
Everything inside him wanted answers from Claire.
But the immediate threat came first.
They moved Lily to another secure location under Marco's protection.
Claire refused to stay behind.
Dominic didn't argue.
During the drive to Brooklyn, neither spoke about Lily.
There wasn't room for that conversation yet.
The warehouse stood near the river.
Abandoned externally.
Not internally.
Dominic's men entered first.
No gunfire.
No resistance.
Dominic and Claire followed.
A single light illuminated the center of the warehouse.
Rachel Bennett sat tied to a chair.
"Rachel!"
Claire ran toward her.
Rachel lifted her head.
"Claire."
Dominic scanned the darkness.
"Where is he?"
Rachel looked at him.
"You look like him."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"Where is Salvatore?"
Rachel whispered:
"Gone."
"Why were you here?"
"Because he wanted you to find me."
Claire began untying her.
"You sent Lily to Dominic."
Rachel nodded.
"I had to."
"You sent a five-year-old across Manhattan alone!"
"I thought someone was following me. I couldn't go to you."
"You could have called!"
"They were listening."
Dominic crouched.
"Who are they?"
Rachel looked toward the darkness.
"Your father's people."
"My father doesn't have people."
"He has more than you do."
Dominic stood.
That sounded impossible.
Rachel explained.
Salvatore Moretti had never died.
He had staged his death to disappear from law enforcement and from his own enemies.
Then he had built a hidden network using Dominic's reputation as camouflage.
The shell companies Claire discovered belonged to Salvatore.
The corrupt officers belonged to Salvatore.
Raymond Shaw belonged to Salvatore.
Dominic finally understood.
Someone had spent twelve years committing crimes behind the Moretti name.
His father's name.
His name.
"Why involve Claire?"
Rachel looked at her sister.
"Because Claire found the ledger."
"And you?"
"I helped her hide it."
Claire stared.
"You told me you knew nothing."
"I lied."
"Where's the original ledger?"
Rachel shook her head.
"I don't have it."
Dominic watched.
"Who does?"
Rachel looked at Claire.
"She does."
Claire frowned.
"No, I don't."
"Yes."
"Rachel, Raymond took it."
"No. Raymond took a copy."
Claire froze.
Rachel continued.
"You were pregnant. You were terrified. I didn't trust Raymond, so I switched them."
"Where did you put the original?"
Rachel's eyes filled.
"With Lily."
Claire went pale.
"What does that mean?"
"Not physically."
Rachel explained.
She had photographed every page, encrypted the files, and hidden them inside a digital account created in Lily's name.
The password required information only Claire would know.
Salvatore had spent five years searching.
Now he knew Lily was the key.
Dominic felt something dangerous settle inside him.
"My father is after my daughter."
Rachel nodded.
"Yes."
Dominic turned toward Marco.
"Double Lily's security."
Marco reached for his phone.
It rang before he could.
He answered.
His face changed.
"What?"
Dominic knew immediately.
"Where is she?"
Marco listened.
Then looked at Dominic.
"The safe house was hit."
Claire screamed Lily's name.
Dominic grabbed the phone.
"Where is my daughter?"
The guard on the other end was injured.
"We fought them off."
Dominic exhaled.
"Is Lily safe?"
A pause.
"She was."
Dominic's blood went cold.
"What does that mean?"
"The nanny took her through the emergency exit."
"Where are they now?"
"We can't reach them."
Claire stumbled backward.
Dominic was already moving.
"Track everything."
Marco nodded.
Phones.
Cameras.
Traffic feeds.
Dominic used every resource he had.
Twenty-three minutes later they located the nanny's vehicle.
Abandoned.
Door open.
No blood.
No Lily.
Claire stared at the empty back seat.
Her daughter's pink flower bow lay on the floor.
She picked it up.
Dominic saw her hands shaking.
"We'll find her."
Claire turned.
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"Because my father wants something."
"The ledger."
"Which means Lily is leverage."
Claire's eyes filled.
"She's five."
Dominic stepped closer.
"I know."
Those two words contained something new.
Not the feared mafia boss.
A father who had learned about his child hours earlier and was now prepared to tear Manhattan apart to get her back.
Dominic's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A video.
Lily appeared on screen.
She sat inside a dark room.
She wasn't crying.
Someone off camera spoke.
"Tell Daddy hello."
Lily looked confused.
Then whispered:
"Hi, Daddy."
Dominic's jaw clenched.
Salvatore's voice followed.
"Bring me the original ledger."
Dominic answered the recording even though Salvatore couldn't hear.
"I'll bring you hell."
The video continued.
Salvatore stepped into frame.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Alive.
Dominic stared at the father he had buried.
Salvatore smiled.
"Midnight. Pier Seventeen."
Then he leaned toward the camera.
"And Dominic?"
Pause.
"You might want to ask Claire what really happened the night Lily was conceived."
The screen went black.
May you like
Dominic slowly turned toward Claire.
She couldn't look at him.
