Chapter 12 - The Night Clara Disappeared
Everything happened quickly.
Dominic moved.
Anthony fired.
The bullet struck the wall.
Security returned fire.
Marcus ran.
Anthony fell wounded.
Isabella survived.
But Clara vanished.
Dominic realized it less than thirty seconds later.
A side door stood open.
On the floor lay Clara’s necklace.
Marcus had taken her.
Dominic became terrifyingly calm.
Liam knew that calm.
It meant violence was coming.
“Think,” Liam said.
“I am.”
“No. You're hunting. Think.”
Dominic stared at Clara's necklace.
Then remembered Blackwood.
The old lodge.
The hidden archive.
But Marcus would expect that.
Clara knew the Russo archives better than anyone.
If she could leave a clue, she would.
Dominic examined the necklace.
Something was wrapped around the clasp.
A tiny strip of paper.
Three numbers.
4-12-7.
Archive indexing.
Dominic ran to Clara’s office.
Cabinet four.
Drawer twelve.
File seven.
A property deed.
An abandoned Mercer textile mill.
They found Marcus there.
Clara was tied to a chair.
Marcus wanted the ledger.
He blamed Dominic's father for abandoning him after decades of service.
He had helped Salvatore cover up the Higgins murders.
He had helped Charles launder money.
And now both families were prepared to sacrifice him.
“You're not leaving,” Dominic said.
Marcus pressed a gun against Clara.
“Then neither is she.”
Clara looked at Dominic.
Do not.
She did not say it.
He understood.
Dominic lowered his weapon.
Marcus smiled.
“Love made you weak.”
Dominic looked at Clara.
“No.”
Clara moved suddenly.
She drove her chair backward into Marcus's knees.
Dominic lunged.
The gun fired.
Clara screamed.
Marcus fell.
Liam secured him.
Dominic turned toward Clara.
Blood covered her dress.
His face went white.
“Clara.”
She looked down.
The blood was Marcus's.
Not hers.
Dominic dropped to his knees.
His hands shook as he untied her.
“The babies?”
“I'm okay.”
He pressed his forehead against hers.
For once he did not hide.
“I thought I lost you.”
“You didn't.”
“I can't do this again.”
She touched his face.
“Then don't shut me out again.”
“I won't.”
Police arrived.
Marcus was arrested.
Anthony survived and was returned to custody.
Every major conspirator was finally accounted for.
Then Liam approached holding Marcus’s phone.
“There’s something else.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
“A scheduled message.”
“To whom?”
Liam turned the screen toward Clara.
It was addressed to a journalist.
Attached were hundreds of Russo files.
May you like
Enough to expose decades of crimes.
And the message was scheduled to send in sixty seconds.
