Chapter 5 - The Man Behind the Kennels
Dante opened the door only after Rosie moved Titan behind her.
Elias stood in the hallway.
He looked exhausted.
And terrified.
“You threw me out,” he said.
“I remember,” Dante replied.
“I came back because you're about to make the same mistake Elena made.”
Dante went still.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Elias looked at Rosie.
“She found Margaret's key, didn't she?”
Rosie's fingers closed around the brass key.
“How do you know about my mother?”
“Because I knew her.”
Titan growled.
Elias immediately backed away.
“I never hurt him.”
Rosie stared at his bandaged arm.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. But you should.”
He slowly removed his jacket.
A faded tattoo marked his shoulder.
A circle divided by a vertical line.
The same symbol from the files.
“I worked at Voss's facility.”
Dante's voice became cold.
“Doing what?”
“Getting dogs out.”
Elias explained.
He had been nineteen when he started working at the kennels.
At first he believed Voss rehabilitated dangerous animals.
Then he discovered the truth.
Dogs belonging to wealthy clients arrived after being abused, neglected, or deliberately made aggressive.
Records were changed.
Some animals disappeared.
Others were blamed when people needed convenient explanations.
Margaret Whittaker discovered it first.
Years later Elena uncovered what remained.
“They never knew each other?” Rosie asked.
“Not personally. Elena found Margaret's records.”
Rosie held up the note.
“My mother said not to trust Dante.”
Elias looked toward him.
“She had a reason.”
Dante didn't react.
“Say it.”
“Your father financed the original facility.”
Silence.
Dante looked as if Elias had struck him.
“Impossible.”
“It isn't.”
Elias handed him a photograph.
Dante's father stood beside Voss.
A date was printed beneath it.
Twenty-two years earlier.
Rosie understood.
Her mother had discovered that one of Baltimore's wealthiest families funded Voss.
She had assumed the Castellanos were all involved.
Maybe she had been right.
Maybe Dante had inherited more than businesses.
“Did Elena know?” Dante asked.
“Yes.”
“And she didn't tell me?”
“She was trying to find out whether you were involved.”
That hurt him.
Rosie could see it.
Elias continued.
“She learned you weren't. Then she found the person who was.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Dante stepped toward him.
“You came here with half an answer?”
“I came because Voss is moving.”
“Moving where?”
“The old kennels.”
Rosie remembered the brass key.
“What does this open?”
Elias looked at it.
“Margaret's evidence locker.”
The old Harbor facility had been abandoned for years.
They reached it after sunrise.
Dante wanted Rosie to stay behind.
Rosie laughed at him.
That ended the discussion.
Titan came too.
The old kennels smelled of rust and dust.
Rosie hated the place immediately.
Titan hated it more.
His entire body changed when they entered.
Head low.
Tail rigid.
Rosie touched his neck.
“You're not alone.”
He leaned against her.
Locker 17 stood in a forgotten treatment room.
Rosie's key fit.
Inside was a metal case.
The master ledger.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Veterinary records.
Photographs.
Enough evidence to destroy careers.
Maybe lives.
Dante turned pages.
Then stopped.
Rosie saw the name.
Castellano, Victor.
Dante's father.
Repeated payments.
But another column appeared beside each payment.
Authorized by: M.C.
Dante frowned.
“M.C.”
Rosie looked at him.
“Who?”
Dante didn't answer immediately.
Only one person in his family had those initials.
Matteo Castellano.
His uncle.
The man who had helped raise Dante and Elena after their mother died.
The man currently overseeing half of Dante's legitimate companies.
Dante sat down.
“No.”
Rosie understood the denial.
She had felt the same thing reading her mother's file.
Elias spoke.
“Matteo handled your father's accounts.”
Dante looked at him.
“He told me Elena's accident happened because she was driving too fast.”
“She wasn't driving.”
Dante froze.
“What?”
Elias swallowed.
“She was found in the passenger seat.”
Dante stood so quickly the chair overturned.
“You knew?”
“I found out later.”
“You let me believe—”
“I was trying to stay alive.”
“So was my sister.”
Rosie stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both men looked at her.
“We have evidence now. Fighting each other is exactly what whoever buried this wants.”
Dante's breathing slowed.
Rosie turned pages.
Then she found Samuel Keene.
The man Titan supposedly killed.
His entry included a notation.
WITNESS.
Another word had been added.
TRANSFERRED.
Not killed.
Transferred.
Rosie stared.
“Dante.”
He read it.
“If Samuel was transferred…”
“He may have survived Titan.”
Another page gave a destination.
St. Gabriel Long-Term Care.
They drove there immediately.
Samuel Keene was alive.
He had spent three years under another name after suffering catastrophic injuries.
But not from Titan.
From a vehicle.
His memory had been damaged.
His speech was limited.
When Titan entered the room, Samuel began crying.
The dog walked slowly toward him.
Samuel touched Titan's face.
“Good boy.”
Dante turned away.
Rosie saw his eyes.
For three years Titan had carried the blame.
Samuel pointed shakily toward Dante.
“Ellie.”
“Elena?”
Samuel nodded.
Then:
“Car.”
“Who was driving?”
Samuel struggled.
“M…”
Dante leaned closer.
“Matteo?”
Samuel became frightened.
“No.”
He pointed toward the door.
Someone stood outside.
A woman.
Rosie recognized her.
Helen Mercer.
Her former supervisor.
Helen looked terrified.
She raised one finger to her lips.
Then motioned for Rosie to follow.
Rosie stepped into the hallway.
Helen grabbed her arm.
“I know who was driving Elena's car.”
“Who?”
Helen looked past Rosie toward Dante.
“You can't tell him until you understand why.”
“Tell me.”
Helen's lips parted.
Before she could speak, Rosie's phone vibrated.
Noah.
One message.
ROSIE, SOMEONE'S IN THE HOUSE.
A second message appeared.
May you like
Then a photograph.
Dante's uncle Matteo was standing inside Noah's bedroom.
