Chapter 4 - The Father Who Never Existed
Elena dropped the phone.
Dominic caught it before it hit the floor.
“What happened?”
She couldn’t speak.
Her lungs refused.
Dominic grabbed her shoulders.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
“He took Jamie.”
Everything in Dominic changed.
No hesitation.
No questions.
He turned.
“Marco, car.”
Marco was already moving.
Dominic put Elena’s phone into her hand.
“Call the suite again.”
She did.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Caroline said, “Julian.”
Elena rounded on her.
“If he hurts my baby—”
“He won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
Caroline’s face twisted with guilt.
“Because Jamie is why Julian came back.”
Elena stared.
“What does that mean?”
Dominic cut in.
“Not now.”
They ran.
The elevator ride felt endless.
Elena called Sophie again.
This time Sophie answered.
“He was wearing a staff badge,” she sobbed. “He knew the room number. He said you sent him. Jamie was asleep and he—”
“Did he hurt anyone?”
“No.”
“Did Jamie cry?”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Did he say anything?”
Sophie hesitated.
“He said, ‘Tell Elena I’m sorry.’”
The elevator doors opened.
Dominic led Elena toward a waiting SUV.
Marco drove.
Caroline climbed in without being asked.
Dominic didn’t stop her.
“Where would Julian go?” Dominic demanded.
Caroline thought.
“If he has the baby, he’ll want leverage.”
“Against Elena?”
“Against whoever has the key.”
Elena pulled the brass key from her pocket.
Dominic stared.
“You brought it?”
“I wasn’t leaving it.”
“Good.”
Caroline said, “Then he’ll contact us.”
Elena’s phone buzzed.
A photo.
Jamie strapped safely into a car seat.
Eyes red from crying.
Alive.
Elena made a sound that broke in her throat.
Under the photo:
BRING KEY 417.
NO POLICE.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD FIRST UNION GARAGE.
COME WITH MORETTI.
Dominic read it.
“He wants me there.”
Caroline looked grim.
“He wants both bloodlines in one place.”
Elena turned.
“What?”
Caroline looked out the window.
“Your mother was a DeLuca.”
“Yes.”
“Dominic is a Moretti.”
“I understand surnames.”
“No. You don’t understand what your mother was trying to end.”
Caroline lowered her voice.
“The DeLucas and Morettis spent decades destroying each other. When Antonio started losing control, Rachel discovered he had built a private insurance system. Evidence on everyone. Enough to destroy the DeLucas, the Morettis, and half the people who helped either family.”
Dominic said, “My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“And helped kill Rachel?”
Caroline hesitated.
“I said he altered the report.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Caroline looked at him.
“No. Your father didn’t order Rachel’s death.”
Dominic stared.
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“That phrase again.”
Caroline ignored her.
“Your father covered up the truth because exposing Rachel’s murder would have exposed everyone.”
Dominic turned toward the window.
Something in his face closed.
Elena watched him.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“I need to know whether I can trust you.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Would you tell me if you had?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Yes.”
She wanted to believe him.
That frightened her.
At 11:52 p.m., they parked two blocks from the abandoned First Union parking structure.
The building had been closed for renovation for years.
Concrete pillars.
Broken lights.
Security fencing half removed.
Dominic gave instructions.
Marco would stay outside.
Caroline would remain in the vehicle.
Elena protested.
“I’m going in.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked surprised.
She narrowed her eyes.
“You thought I’d argue?”
“I expected it.”
“My son is in there.”
“I know.”
“You are not telling me to stay behind.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
That was the first thing he had said all night that made her trust him more.
They entered together.
Elena carried the brass key.
Dominic carried nothing visible.
“Are you armed?”
“Yes.”
“I told you—”
“Jamie is not currently beside us.”
She hated that he was right.
Their footsteps echoed.
At the center of the second level, a single work light glowed.
A man stood beneath it.
Julian.
Eric.
Whoever he was.
Elena stopped.
He looked almost exactly as she remembered.
Brown hair.
Average height.
Kind face.
That was the worst part.
He had always looked kind.
“Elena.”
She nearly lunged at him.
“Where is my son?”
“Safe.”
“Show me.”
Julian lifted a tablet.
Live video.
Jamie asleep in a portable crib.
Elena stared.
“What room?”
“Nearby.”
Dominic said, “Give her the baby.”
Julian looked at him.
“Dominic Moretti.”
“You asked for me.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because your father started this.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Everyone’s blaming dead men tonight.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“Convenient, isn’t it?”
Elena stepped forward.
“The key.”
Julian looked at it.
“Open the box.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward a door.
A faded sign read PRIVATE VAULT ACCESS.
Elena frowned.
“This bank is closed.”
“The vault was never removed.”
Dominic glanced at Julian.
“You’ve been waiting for the key.”
“For years.”
“Why not take the bag from Elena sooner?”
Julian’s face changed.
“I tried once.”
Elena felt sick.
“You mean when you dated me.”
Julian looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“You slept in my bed.”
“Yes.”
“You told me you loved me.”
“I did.”
“Don’t.”
“Elena—”
“Don’t you dare make that part real now.”
Julian lowered his eyes.
“I was assigned to find the key.”
“Then I got pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And you disappeared.”
“I was ordered to.”
“By who?”
Julian looked toward Dominic.
“Someone who would kill Jamie if they knew he existed.”
Elena went cold.
“Who?”
Julian didn’t answer.
Dominic said, “He wants the box first.”
Julian smiled.
“You were always quick.”
They entered the old vault corridor.
Dust covered everything.
Locker 417 sat near the floor.
Elena inserted the key.
Her hand shook.
Dominic crouched beside her.
“You don’t have to open it.”
“Yes, I do.”
She turned the key.
Click.
The box slid free.
Inside was a small black notebook.
A flash drive.
And a sealed letter.
To Elena.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Elena stopped breathing.
She picked it up.
Julian stepped closer.
“Open it.”
Dominic blocked him.
“Back up.”
Elena tore the envelope.
One page.
My Elena,
If you are reading this, then I failed to keep you out of this.
Trust Samuel only with what he can prove.
Do not trust Caroline until she tells you what she did the night I died.
And if a Moretti is standing beside you, ask him one question:
What happened at Harbor 19?
Elena looked at Dominic.
His face had gone white.
“What is Harbor 19?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
Julian laughed softly.
“Oh, he knows.”
Elena stood.
“Dominic.”
He looked at her.
“I was seventeen.”
“What happened?”
“My brother died.”
Elena stared.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
Julian said, “And so did Elena’s mother.”
Dominic turned on him.
“Shut up.”
Julian’s smile vanished.
“You still don’t see it, do you?”
He reached for the black notebook.
Dominic stopped him.
The lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Elena heard footsteps.
A struggle.
Dominic shouted her name.
Then a baby cried somewhere nearby.
“Jamie!”
She ran toward the sound.
A door opened at the end of the corridor.
Light spilled through it.
A woman stood there holding Jamie.
May you like
Caroline.
And she was pointing a gun at Dominic.
