Chapter 4 - Grace Bennett Never ExistedEmergency lights flickered on.
Dominic aimed the gun at Grace.
The woman did not move.
The girls were crying somewhere beyond the hidden door.
“Your name.”
Grace swallowed.
“What?”
“You said you lied.”
“My name is Grace.”
“Your real name.”
Silence.
Dominic stepped closer.
“I am asking once.”
Grace looked at him.
Then she whispered:
“Evelyn Bennett.”
Dominic frowned.
“That means nothing.”
“It will.”
She reached beneath her uniform and removed an old identification card.
Dominic stared.
The photograph was younger.
But the face was unmistakable.
The name on the card read:
EVELYN BENNETT
NASSAU COUNTY SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“You're police.”
“No.”
“Then what are you?”
Evelyn placed the card on the table.
“I was a financial crimes investigator.”
“Was?”
“I left eight years ago.”
“Why?”
She looked at the recorder.
“Because people connected to your organization killed my brother.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“You came into my house for revenge.”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“To protect the girls.”
“From me?”
“From the people who killed Isabelle.”
Dominic lowered the gun slightly.
“Why did Isabelle trust you?”
“Because she discovered what my brother had discovered.”
“What?”
“A network.”
Evelyn's eyes lifted.
“Money moved through legitimate companies, shell corporations, private schools, charities, and political foundations. Your name was on some of the accounts.”
Dominic stared.
“My name?”
“Your signature.”
“I never authorized them.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because the signatures were forged.”
Dominic stepped back.
His empire suddenly looked different.
For years he had believed the money belonged to him.
Now he wondered whether he had only been the mask.
Evelyn continued.
“Your organization wasn't the operation. It was the cover.”
“Who runs it?”
“I don't know.”
“Vincent?”
“He is one of them.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Someone higher.”
Dominic glanced toward the hidden door.
“How do we get out?”
Evelyn pointed toward the floor.
“There.”
A metal hatch.
They opened it.
Another passage.
This one led outside.
They emerged behind the greenhouse.
The girls were being held by the security team.
Dominic immediately rushed to them.
Olivia grabbed his coat.
“Daddy.”
His chest tightened.
It was the first time she had spoken to him directly since Isabelle died.
“I'm here.”
Olivia whispered:
“Don't trust Mr. Vale.”
Dominic looked toward his men.
Vincent was not among them.
He turned to Evelyn.
“She said his name.”
“She remembers.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she thinks you won't believe her.”
Dominic looked at his daughter.
“Who did you see that day?”
Olivia trembled.
“Mommy was talking to someone.”
“Who?”
She closed her eyes.
“A man.”
“What man?”
“He wore Daddy's suit.”
Dominic's blood turned cold.
“My suit?”
Olivia nodded.
“And he had your ring.”
Dominic instinctively looked at his right hand.
His family signet ring was there.
The same ring his father had given him.
Olivia whispered:
“Mommy screamed when she saw him.”
Dominic crouched.
“What did he say?”
“He said…”
She stopped.
Then looked toward the mansion.
“‘Your husband already knows.’”
Dominic stood.
The security team suddenly shouted.
A black SUV had stopped at the gates.
Vincent stepped out.
Hands raised.
No weapon visible.
He smiled.
Dominic raised his gun.
Vincent called:
“You've got the wrong suspect.”
Dominic answered:
“Then who are you?”
Vincent's smile vanished.
“The man who kept you alive.”
A gunshot came from the mansion.
May you like
Vincent dropped.
And from an upstairs window, someone disappeared into the darkness.
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