Chapter 5 - The Dead Man Beneath Bellgrave
Dominic's expression became colder than Marin had ever seen it.
“Alessandro.”
The speaker crackled.
“Good. You remember your family.”
Marin stared.
Dominic's uncle was supposed to have disappeared years ago.
Victor was supposed to be dead.
Apparently Bellgrave had a problem keeping dangerous men buried.
Dominic stepped toward the speaker.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Then come down here.”
Alessandro laughed.
“You always had your father's temper.”
Dominic remained perfectly calm.
Marin knew enough now to understand that meant the opposite.
“Where is Victor?”
“Closer than you think.”
The speaker went silent.
Rafael immediately searched for another exit.
“There has to be ventilation access.”
Marin looked toward the cabinet.
Her father's message still played in her head.
Do not trust the first Castellano who offers to protect you.
She looked at Dominic.
He noticed.
“You can ask.”
“Did you know my father?”
“I told you—”
“You don't remember him. I heard you.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because that's different from knowing.”
Dominic exhaled.
“When I was twenty-five, my father was dying. My uncle controlled most Castellano operations. I spent months meeting accountants, lawyers, drivers, people whose names meant nothing to me.”
“So my father could've been one of them.”
“Yes.”
“You should have told me that possibility.”
“You asked whether I knew Samuel Holloway.”
“And?”
“I didn't recognize the name.”
Marin watched him.
It wasn't a perfect answer.
But it made sense.
She hated that too.
Rafael found a maintenance hatch.
They climbed through one at a time.
Marin's skirt made the process humiliating.
Dominic climbed behind her.
“Say one word and I'll kill you.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“You smiled.”
“I smile occasionally.”
“Apparently that's national news.”
He laughed quietly.
Even trapped underground in a conspiracy connected to her dead father, Marin felt the strange pull between them.
It frightened her more than the tunnel.
They emerged in an abandoned service corridor.
A guard radioed from above.
Police had arrived at the station.
Dominic frowned.
“We didn't call police.”
Rafael swore.
“Alessandro did.”
“Why?”
“To trap us.”
Minutes later they discovered why.
Bellgrave police found a dead man in a maintenance room.
The same stranger who had been shot in Marin's apartment.
Except Marin had watched paramedics take him away alive.
Dominic stared at the body.
“They killed him at the hospital.”
Rafael checked his phone.
“And moved him here.”
A police lieutenant approached.
“Dominic Castellano.”
Dominic turned.
“Lieutenant.”
“We received an anonymous report that you abducted this man.”
Marin stepped forward.
“He was shot in my apartment.”
The lieutenant looked at her.
“And you are?”
Before Marin answered, his eyes dropped to the ring.
His face changed.
Dominic said calmly, “My fiancée.”
Marin nearly choked.
The lieutenant's expression became cautious.
“Mrs.—”
“Miss Holloway.”
“Miss Holloway, were you present when this man was shot?”
“Yes.”
“By Mr. Castellano?”
“No.”
“His employees?”
“No.”
“You saw the shooter?”
“No.”
The lieutenant smiled without warmth.
“So you can't know.”
Marin understood.
This wasn't an investigation.
It was theater.
Her father had warned them about police.
Someone had paid officers.
Maybe they still had.
Dominic saw her understanding.
“Lieutenant, unless you're arresting me, we're leaving.”
The man hesitated.
Then stepped aside.
Outside, Marin whispered, “He's involved.”
“Probably.”
“How many people are?”
“That's what we're about to discover.”
They returned to the estate.
Celeste was missing.
Marin stopped in the entrance hall.
“What do you mean missing?”
Rafael spoke with a security guard.
“She left thirty minutes ago.”
“You told everyone not to leave.”
“She used the service exit.”
Marin immediately thought of the cut on Celeste's wrist.
“I told you she was afraid.”
Dominic nodded.
“Find her.”
They found Celeste's phone in a trash can near the kitchen.
One deleted message remained recoverable.
COME ALONE OR YOUR SISTER DIES.
Marin stared.
“She has a sister?”
“Sixteen years old,” Rafael said.
“Where?”
“We're locating her.”
Marin felt sick.
Celeste's cruelty suddenly looked different.
Not excused.
But different.
People became ugly when fear lived inside them long enough.
Dominic turned toward Rafael.
“Trace the message.”
“Already doing it.”
Marin sat in the leather chair in Dominic's office.
The same chair where everything had begun.
Nero curled beneath her feet.
Dominic watched her.
“You're exhausted.”
“Observant.”
“You should sleep.”
“I won't.”
“You might.”
“Not while someone has Celeste.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“She humiliated you.”
“So?”
“You care anyway.”
“That's usually how being human works.”
Dominic gave a small smile.
Marin looked down at the ring.
“Why did you really do this?”
“Do what?”
“The ring.”
“I told you.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You could've protected me without humiliating Celeste in front of everyone.”
He considered that.
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Dominic sat on the edge of his desk.
“Because she made you look down.”
Marin went still.
“I noticed.”
“She said something cruel. You looked at the floor like you were trying to become smaller.”
Marin swallowed.
Dominic continued.
“I didn't like it.”
“People have said worse.”
“I don't care.”
“Why?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“That's becoming inconveniently obvious.”
Her heartbeat changed.
“Dominic.”
He stepped closer.
“I liked that you walked into the one room everyone fears because you were chasing a dog.”
“That isn't romantic.”
“It is to me.”
“I threatened the dog with unemployment.”
“I heard.”
“You barely knew me.”
“I knew enough to want to know more.”
Marin looked away.
“What happens when this is over?”
“The investigation?”
“The fake engagement.”
His expression sharpened.
“Who said fake?”
“I did.”
“That was your mistake.”
A phone rang.
Rafael entered.
“We found Celeste.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned hotel near the river.”
“Her sister?”
“With her.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Marin stood.
Dominic stopped her.
“No.”
“You know that doesn't work.”
“This time it does.”
“Why?”
“Because the message was sent from your father's old phone number.”
Marin froze.
“My father's number hasn't existed in seven years.”
“I know.”
Rafael continued.
“And there's something else.”
He handed Dominic a photograph sent with the message.
Celeste sat tied to a chair.
Behind her stood a man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Alive.
Marin recognized him from the picture in her father's lockbox.
Victor Salerno.
Dominic stared at the image.
“The dead man is alive.”
Marin whispered, “What does he want?”
Rafael enlarged the photograph.
A handwritten sign hung around Celeste's neck.
BRING MARIN.
Dominic's face went hard.
Below the photograph was one final message.
SHE HAS SAMUEL'S EYES.
Marin stepped back.
The phone rang again.
This time the caller ID displayed a name impossible to explain.
May you like
SAMUEL HOLLOWAY.
Her dead father was calling.
