Chapter 4 - The Secret Beneath Hayes
Beatrice did not go alone.
She intended to.
Dominic made that impossible.
“You're not walking into a cemetery after midnight because a kidnapper typed the word alone.”
“They have Chloe.”
“They expect you.”
“Exactly.”
“Which is why you don't give them what they expect.”
Evelyn stayed behind with Arthur while Dominic, Beatrice and Marco drove toward Queens.
For the first ten minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Beatrice asked, “Why did you call me your fiancée?”
Dominic looked out the window.
“To stop them.”
“Who?”
“Everyone in that ballroom.”
“You could have simply defended me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because defending you would have lasted until I walked away. Giving you my name made them wonder what would happen after.”
Beatrice frowned.
“You used fear.”
“Yes.”
“At least you're honest.”
“I try to be when dishonesty isn't necessary.”
“That is a very criminal-sounding sentence.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I'm not a mafia boss.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You have armed security, half the ballroom looked terrified of you, and newspapers have called your family organized crime royalty.”
“Newspapers also called you an attention-seeking socialite last year because you attended one charity gala.”
“That was Chloe.”
“Exactly.”
She almost smiled.
Dominic continued.
“My grandfather was a criminal. My father spent most of his life converting the legitimate businesses and dismantling the rest. I inherited enemies who prefer the old description.”
“And Liam?”
“Liam preferred the old business.”
The car stopped near the cemetery.
Marco turned.
“We have teams around the perimeter.”
Dominic nodded.
“Wait for my signal.”
Beatrice stared through the window.
Her mother’s grave stood somewhere beyond those gates.
Except her mother had never been inside it.
Dominic opened the door.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
They walked.
The cemetery was empty.
At Evelyn Hayes’s grave, a portable lamp illuminated Chloe.
She sat tied to a chair.
Her mouth was taped.
No captor was visible.
Beatrice rushed forward.
Dominic caught her.
“Wait.”
He examined the ground.
A wire.
Pressure trigger.
“Marco.”
Marco crouched beside it.
“Alarm only.”
Dominic nodded.
They approached.
Beatrice removed Chloe’s gag.
Chloe gasped.
“They took Liam.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Where’s the ledger?”
“They have it.”
Dominic untied her.
“Did you read it?”
Chloe nodded.
“What did you see?”
“Names.”
“Whose?”
Chloe looked at Beatrice.
“Dad’s.”
Beatrice’s stomach dropped.
“What else?”
“Your mother’s.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
Beatrice froze.
“What do you mean?”
Chloe began crying.
“Beatrice, Hayes isn't your mother's real name.”
Dominic turned.
“Explain.”
“The ledger had birth records. Payments. Identity changes.”
Chloe wiped her face.
“Evelyn Hayes didn't exist until 1997.”
Beatrice felt cold.
“Who was she?”
“I only saw the original surname.”
“What was it?”
Chloe looked toward Dominic.
“Russo.”
Dominic stiffened.
“No.”
“I saw it.”
“Which Russo?”
Chloe swallowed.
“Your father had a sister.”
Dominic stared.
“My father had no sister.”
“He did.”
Beatrice whispered, “Evelyn?”
Chloe nodded.
“According to the ledger, Evelyn was born Elena Russo.”
Dominic took a step backward.
Beatrice felt the world tilt.
“My mother is your aunt?”
“If the ledger is real.”
A sound came from the grave.
All three turned.
A mechanical click.
The stone panel beneath Evelyn’s name shifted.
Dominic drew a gun.
Beatrice stared.
“There's something inside.”
Marco inspected the base.
“A compartment.”
They opened it.
Inside was a metal box.
Beatrice recognized her mother’s handwriting.
FOR BEATRICE.
Her hands shook as she lifted it.
Inside lay a cassette recorder, an old key and a sealed letter.
Dominic pressed play.
Static.
Then Evelyn’s younger voice.
“If Beatrice is hearing this, Daniel is dead, and I have failed to keep the network from finding us.”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“Daniel discovered that the network wasn't controlled by criminals. Criminals were customers. The people controlling it lived inside government, finance and law enforcement.”
Dominic looked at Marco.
The recording continued.
“Arthur Davenport agreed to hide Beatrice because he owed Daniel his life. But there was one condition. Beatrice could never know who she really was until the Black Ledger was recovered.”
Beatrice whispered, “Who am I?”
On the recording, Evelyn took a breath.
“Beatrice, your father left you something more dangerous than money.”
A noise interrupted the tape.
Then Evelyn said:
“He left you ownership.”
Dominic stared at Beatrice.
“Ownership of what?”
The recording crackled.
“Daniel secretly acquired the holding company through which the network moved its legitimate assets. When he died, his shares transferred to his only child.”
Beatrice could barely speak.
“How much?”
Dominic understood before she did.
“A controlling stake.”
The tape continued.
“Arthur was supposed to protect those shares until your twenty-eighth birthday.”
Beatrice's birthday had been three weeks ago.
Chloe whispered, “Dad controls Davenport Holdings.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Apparently he doesn't.”
A phone rang.
Not Beatrice’s.
Not Dominic’s.
The sound came from inside the metal box.
There was an old cellular phone beneath the cassette recorder.
Its screen illuminated.
One incoming call.
UNKNOWN.
Dominic answered.
A man spoke.
“Congratulations, Miss Hayes.”
Beatrice leaned closer.
“Who is this?”
“You finally found your inheritance.”
“Where is Liam?”
“Alive.”
“And the ledger?”
“With me.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
Dominic took the phone.
“You don't get her.”
The man laughed.
“Oh, Dominic. You still think you're protecting a stranger.”
A pause.
“Ask Beatrice why your father left her his voting shares.”
Dominic’s face went still.
“What?”
The line disconnected.
Beatrice stared at him.
“Your father left me what?”
Dominic did not answer.
Because behind the grave, footsteps had begun approaching.
A figure emerged between the monuments.
Arthur Davenport.
He held a folder.
May you like
And when he saw Dominic standing beside Beatrice, he said the one sentence neither of them expected.
“She owns your company too.”
