Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO WASN’T SUPPOSED TO SURVIVEDominic ordered the mansion sealed before Evelyn was carried upstairs.
No employee left.
No vehicle passed through the gates.
Phones belonging to senior staff were collected in the library, and Marcus doubled the guards along the perimeter.
Graham Pike protested.
“This is insane.”
Dominic watched the paramedic insert an IV into Evelyn’s arm.
“A woman was imprisoned beneath my house.”
“I knew nothing about that.”
“Then you should be very interested in discovering who did.”
Graham’s mouth tightened.
Dominic saw it.
Fear.
But fear did not always mean guilt.
Half the people in Vale Manor were afraid of Dominic on a normal day.
Today was not normal.
Harper sat beside her mother on the bed, holding Evelyn’s fingers.
When Evelyn finally opened her eyes fully, the child climbed onto the mattress.
“Mommy!”
Evelyn began sobbing.
Dominic turned away.
There were things even men like him should not watch.
He waited in the hallway until the doctor stepped out.
“Severe dehydration. Bruising. A mild concussion. She needs a hospital.”
“No.”
The answer came from Evelyn herself.
She had heard them.
Dominic returned to the room.
“You need medical care.”
“If I leave this house, whoever did this will know where I am.”
“They already know where you are.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because now I’m with you.”
Dominic stared at her.
It was not trust he saw in her eyes.
It was calculation born from terror.
She believed his reputation could keep her alive.
He hoped she was right.
Marcus closed the bedroom door.
Dominic sat across from Evelyn.
“Start from the beginning.”
Evelyn kissed Harper’s forehead.
“Sweetheart, go with Mrs. Bennett.”
“No.”
“Just for a little while.”
Harper wrapped her arms around her mother.
Dominic crouched beside her.
“No one is taking your mother anywhere.”
The little girl studied him.
“You promise?”
Dominic had made promises before.
Some required money.
Others required blood.
This one felt heavier.
“I promise.”
Harper finally left with the nanny.
Evelyn waited until the door closed.
“Two months ago, Graham moved me from the west wing to cleaning your father’s old office.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“That room is restricted.”
“I know. But there had been water damage near the windows.”
“Continue.”
“Behind one of the bookcases, I found a loose wall panel.”
She explained that she had initially assumed the compartment contained old household documents.
Instead, she had discovered several ledgers.
Payments.
Dates.
Initials.
Copies of security schedules.
Private flight information.
And photographs.
“One picture showed your brother Julian meeting a man in Newark.”
“I saw those photographs during the investigation.”
“No. You saw altered copies.”
Dominic’s face went still.
Evelyn continued.
“The originals had another person in them.”
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see the face. Someone had cut that section out.”
Dominic leaned back.
“That proves nothing.”
“I know.”
“But you said records.”
She nodded.
“There was also an old cassette recorder.”
Dominic frowned.
His father, Salvatore Vale, had distrusted digital communications. He recorded sensitive conversations on microcassettes and locked them in safes.
Evelyn swallowed.
“I listened to one.”
“What did you hear?”
“Your father arguing with someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Evelyn closed her eyes, remembering.
“He said, ‘Julian is innocent. I know where the leak is coming from.’”
Dominic stopped breathing for a moment.
Seven years earlier, his father had died believing Julian had betrayed the family.
At least, that was what everyone had told Dominic.
“Are you certain?”
“I listened three times.”
“What happened next?”
“The other person said, ‘Then Dominic can never hear this.’”
Marcus shifted near the window.
Dominic’s gaze remained on Evelyn.
“Where is the cassette?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
She hesitated.
“I’ll tell you after Harper is somewhere safe.”
Dominic understood.
“You think I might be involved.”
Her eyes lowered.
“I didn’t know what to think.”
“Fair.”
The response surprised her.
Dominic stood.
“When did someone discover you had found it?”
“Tuesday.”
“What happened?”
“I was cleaning the upstairs hall. Graham approached me.”
Dominic looked toward Marcus.
“He asked whether I had been inside your father’s office. I lied.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing. He smiled.”
That worried Dominic more than a threat would have.
“Then?”
“After dinner I went to the staff quarters. Harper was asleep. Someone knocked.”
“Who?”
“I opened the door and…”
Her hands began trembling.
Dominic waited.
“I don’t remember. I smelled something sweet. Then I woke up downstairs.”
“Drugged?”
She nodded.
“They questioned me.”
“Who?”
“They wore masks.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Male? Female?”
“One man. I’m almost certain. The other never spoke.”
“What did they want?”
“The tape.”
“And you didn’t tell them.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at the bruises around her wrists.
She had paid dearly for that decision.
“They said if I talked, Harper would disappear.”
Marcus cursed softly.
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“Anything else?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears again.
“One of them said something strange.”
“What?”
“They said your brother ruined everything by refusing to follow the plan.”
Dominic walked to the window.
Rain had begun falling over the estate.
He thought about Julian.
Twenty-nine years old.
Reckless.
Funny.
Always late.
Always loyal—or so Dominic had believed until the evidence appeared.
The evidence had been overwhelming.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
Emails.
Security logs.
A witness.
And Dominic had turned his back on him.
Julian’s final message had been only six words.
Dom, please. You know me better.
Dominic had never answered.
Three days later Julian was dead.
Dominic pressed one hand against the windowsill.
“Who had access to the investigation records?” Evelyn asked.
Dominic turned.
Marcus answered first.
“Five people.”
Dominic already knew their names.
His father.
Dominic.
Graham Pike.
Family attorney Richard Sloan.
And Dominic’s uncle, Vincent Vale.
A soft knock interrupted them.
Marcus opened the door.
A guard stood outside.
“Sir, we found something.”
“What?”
“In Graham Pike’s room.”
Graham was brought into the library ten minutes later.
On the table sat a small key.
It matched the lock from the cellar.
Graham stared at it.
“That isn’t mine.”
Dominic stood across from him.
“It was inside your desk.”
“Someone planted it.”
“Convenient.”
“You know me.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“I thought I knew my brother too.”
Graham flinched.
That mattered.
“Where were you Tuesday night?”
“At home.”
“You live here.”
“In my quarters.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Then nobody can confirm it.”
Graham shook his head.
“This is exactly what whoever did this wants.”
Dominic studied him.
“What?”
“You found the key too easily.”
Marcus looked at Dominic.
Graham leaned forward.
“Think. Whoever imprisoned Evelyn had three days to remove everything. Why leave the key in my desk?”
Dominic said nothing.
Because Graham was right.
Then Graham added something unexpected.
“If you want to know who framed Julian, don’t search my room.”
“Where should I search?”
Graham looked toward the ceiling.
“Your mother’s chapel.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“My mother died twenty-one years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Graham swallowed.
“Because three nights before your father died, he made me hide something there.”
Dominic took one step closer.
“What?”
“A second recording.”
The chapel had remained untouched since Dominic’s mother’s funeral.
At midnight, Dominic, Marcus, Evelyn, and Graham entered it.
Dust floated beneath the stained-glass windows.
Graham walked to the altar.
“Behind the Virgin.”
Marcus moved the statue aside.
A hollow space appeared in the wall.
Inside was an envelope.
Dominic opened it.
No cassette.
Only a photograph.
Four men standing outside Vale Manor twenty years earlier.
His father.
Graham.
Uncle Vincent.
And Richard Sloan.
Across the bottom, someone had written:
ONE OF US WILL DESTROY BOTH SONS.
Dominic turned the photograph over.
On the back was another message.
This handwriting he recognized immediately.
His father’s.
If Julian is dead, Dominic is next.
Then the lights went out.
May you like
A gunshot exploded through the chapel.
And Graham Pike collapsed to the floor.
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