Chapter 4 - Elena’s Last Recording
“Victor!”
Molly dropped to the floor.
Another gunshot cracked overhead.
Sal shouted from somewhere in the darkness.
“Down!”
Molly found Victor by touch.
Her hands moved across his chest.
No blood.
Then Victor grabbed her wrist.
“I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“The shot hit the projector.”
Emergency lights flickered on.
A man stood twenty feet away.
Dominic Hastings.
He looked like an older, rougher version of Victor.
Same dark eyes.
Same strong jaw.
But where Victor seemed carved from restraint, Dominic looked worn down by fifteen years of anger.
He held no gun.
The man beside him did.
Claude Laurent.
Molly recognized him from framed photographs in the restaurant office.
Silver hair.
Elegant coat.
Polished shoes.
The former owner smiled.
Victor stood.
“Claude.”
Laurent inclined his head.
“Victor.”
Dominic looked at Molly.
“So this is the waitress.”
Molly stood beside Victor.
“The one who ruined dinner.”
Dominic gave a bitter laugh.
“You saved his life.”
“Apparently.”
“You shouldn’t have.”
Victor stepped between them.
“Leave her out of this.”
Dominic’s smile vanished.
“There he is. The protector.”
Laurent raised the gun.
“No speeches.”
Dominic turned.
“Put it down.”
Laurent stared at him.
“We agreed.”
“We agreed Victor would hear the truth.”
“We agreed Victor would die.”
Molly watched Dominic.
Surprise crossed his face.
Victor saw it too.
“You didn’t know.”
Dominic looked at Laurent.
“What did you do?”
Laurent sighed.
“Exactly what should have been done fifteen years ago.”
He aimed the gun at Victor.
Dominic moved.
The shot hit a steel beam.
Victor tackled Laurent.
Sal and Russo’s officers stormed through the side doors.
Laurent fired wildly.
Molly ducked behind a crate.
Dominic kicked the gun away.
Russo pinned Laurent to the floor.
Within seconds, it was over.
Victor stood, breathing hard.
Dominic faced him.
Fifteen years separated them.
Ten feet remained between them.
Victor spoke first.
“Elena said you tried to save her.”
Dominic’s face twisted.
“She found something.”
“What?”
“Father was laundering money through Laurent’s businesses.”
Victor didn’t react.
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“You knew?”
“I knew about some laundering.”
“You didn’t know about the trafficking.”
Victor’s face changed.
Molly felt cold.
Dominic continued.
“Elena discovered women were being moved through shipments labeled as restaurant equipment.”
Laurent shouted from the floor.
“Liar!”
Russo tightened the cuffs.
Dominic ignored him.
“Elena copied records. She wanted to go to the FBI.”
Victor whispered, “Why didn’t she come to me?”
“She tried.”
“No.”
“She did.”
Victor stared.
Dominic’s eyes filled with something close to grief.
“You were in Chicago.”
Victor remembered.
Molly saw it.
“She called me,” he whispered.
Dominic nodded.
“Three times.”
Victor looked sick.
“I didn’t answer.”
“You were negotiating some deal for Father.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Molly thought of all the moments people believed they could revisit later.
Phone calls.
Apologies.
Warnings.
Then later never came.
Dominic continued.
“Elena called me next.”
“You were drinking.”
“Yes.”
The admission was immediate.
No excuse.
“I was drunk. I went anyway.”
Victor stared.
“She told me Laurent knew she had copied the files.”
Dominic looked toward the wrecked projector.
“We drove here to get the originals.”
“And someone followed you.”
“Laurent.”
Claude shouted, “That is absurd!”
Dominic ignored him.
“He rammed us twice.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You crashed.”
“I lost control.”
“And Elena?”
Dominic looked down.
“She was alive.”
Victor whispered, “Two hours.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did.”
Victor stared.
“No.”
“I called Father.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“He arrived before the ambulance.”
Molly felt the truth coming.
It was worse than anything they had imagined.
Victor whispered, “What did he do?”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
“He took the files.”
Victor stopped breathing.
Dominic continued.
“Elena begged him to call for help.”
“No.”
“He told her the family couldn’t survive the scandal.”
Victor’s face broke.
Molly had never seen anything like it.
“He left her there,” Dominic said.
“No.”
“He left both of us.”
Victor stepped backward.
Dominic’s voice cracked.
“I crawled to the road. A truck driver found us forty minutes later.”
Victor turned toward Russo.
The detective looked devastated.
“We were told the crash had just happened.”
Victor understood.
His father had waited.
Elena might have survived.
Molly’s eyes burned.
Victor whispered, “Father killed her.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Laurent caused the crash.”
“Our father chose the cover-up.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Laurent.
The older man’s smile had disappeared.
Russo pulled him upright.
“You’re going away for a long time.”
Laurent laughed.
“For what? A fifteen-year-old story?”
Dominic pointed toward the broken projector.
“Elena made copies.”
Laurent smiled again.
“Did she?”
Dominic froze.
Laurent looked at Victor.
“You think that recording was the only thing hidden here?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Laurent continued.
“Your father found everything.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You told me the ledger survived.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed you angry.”
Dominic stared.
Laurent smiled.
“I needed you to destroy Victor.”
The truth hit him.
Dominic had been used.
Molly understood the entire scheme.
Laurent could no longer control the Hastings organization after Victor bought the restaurant group.
So he resurrected Dominic’s hatred.
He convinced him Victor had hidden evidence.
He designed a night that could destroy both brothers.
Victor looked at Dominic.
“You planned the dinner.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“I wanted the board poisoned.”
Molly stared at him.
Dominic looked ashamed.
“Not killed.”
“What?”
“The compound was supposed to make everyone sick. Severe enough for hospitalization. Victor would be blamed.”
Victor said, “Cyanide doesn’t make people merely sick.”
Dominic looked at Laurent.
“I didn’t know he changed it.”
Laurent laughed.
“You wanted revenge. Don’t pretend morality now.”
Dominic lowered his head.
He had still planned harm.
He had still threatened Molly’s mother.
Nothing erased that.
But he had not intended mass murder.
Victor seemed to realize the same thing.
“Where is Raymond’s daughter?” he asked.
Dominic answered.
“Safe.”
Molly stepped forward.
“And my mother?”
“Laurent’s men took her. I didn’t order it.”
Molly’s anger surged.
“But you used the threat.”
“Yes.”
“You sent the messages.”
“Yes.”
“You terrified us.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes.”
No excuses.
Molly almost respected that.
Almost.
Russo began escorting Laurent away.
Laurent suddenly stopped.
“You’re forgetting something.”
Victor looked at him.
Laurent smiled.
“Midnight.”
The wall clock in the warehouse read 11:41.
“What happens at midnight?” Molly asked.
Laurent looked at Victor.
“The trust changes.”
“We know,” Victor said.
Laurent’s smile widened.
“But you don’t know why.”
Adrian had said Victor’s new estate documents took effect after midnight.
Laurent continued.
“The documents were changed last week.”
Victor frowned.
“I changed them.”
“No.”
Laurent laughed.
“Someone changed them for you.”
Victor looked at Adrian, who had arrived with medical personnel and remained near the entrance.
Adrian went pale.
Victor turned slowly.
“Adrian?”
Adrian’s lips parted.
“I can explain.”
Dominic stared.
Laurent laughed from the police doorway.
“There’s your real traitor.”
Victor approached Adrian.
“What did you change?”
Adrian shook his head.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“What did you change?”
Adrian took out his phone.
His hands trembled.
“At midnight, control doesn’t transfer to your heirs.”
“To whom?”
Adrian looked at Molly.
Everyone followed his gaze.
Molly blinked.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Adrian whispered, “Because the new beneficiary is Molly Higgins.”
No one moved.
Molly laughed once in disbelief.
“That’s impossible.”
Victor stared at Adrian.
“You put a waitress I met tonight into my trust?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Molly felt the floor disappear beneath her.
Adrian looked directly at her.
“You weren’t added tonight.”
He swallowed.
“You were added fifteen years ago.”
Then he handed Victor a photograph.
Victor looked at it.
His face went completely white.
Molly reached for the picture.
It showed Elena Hastings holding a baby.
May you like
On the back, written in faded ink, were two words:
Molly Higgins.
