Chapter 5 - The Bullet That Changed EverythingDominic ran toward Vincent.
Two security guards dragged him behind a stone wall.
“Stay down!”
Vincent was bleeding from the shoulder.
Alive.
Dominic knelt beside him.
“Who shot you?”
Vincent laughed through the pain.
“You still don't understand.”
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“Then explain.”
Vincent stared toward the mansion.
“Someone is cleaning house.”
“Who?”
“The same person who killed Isabelle.”
Dominic's grip tightened.
“You're going to tell me everything.”
Vincent's eyes shifted toward Evelyn.
“She knows more than she's saying.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
Vincent smiled.
“There she is.”
Evelyn's face hardened.
“You were following Isabelle.”
“Yes.”
“You watched her.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked between them.
“Then why aren't you the killer?”
Vincent breathed heavily.
“Because Isabelle hired me.”
Dominic went still.
“What?”
“Your wife came to me two weeks before she died.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She wanted protection.”
“From whom?”
Vincent looked at him.
“From you.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“Why?”
“Because Isabelle believed you were being framed.”
Silence.
Vincent continued.
“She knew someone was moving money through your accounts. She also knew the person had access to your security, your staff, your vehicles, your schedule.”
Dominic whispered:
“She thought someone inside my organization was controlling me.”
Vincent nodded.
“And she thought the person was close enough to become family.”
Dominic looked toward the mansion.
“Who?”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“I never found out.”
Dominic almost lost his patience.
“You said you protected me.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“Every time someone tried to kill you, I moved first.”
Dominic stared at him.
“The prison attack?”
“I arranged the warning.”
“The warehouse explosion?”
“I pulled your driver out before the blast.”
“The shooting in Queens?”
“I knew the sniper.”
Dominic's face changed.
The pieces he had dismissed as coincidence suddenly became connected.
Vincent whispered:
“Isabelle knew the truth was in your house.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic grabbed him.
“You do.”
Vincent stared at him.
“The girls.”
Dominic froze.
“What about them?”
“They saw the murder.”
“We know that.”
“No.”
Vincent's voice dropped.
“They didn't just see the killer.”
“They saw what he took.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What did he take?”
Vincent looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn whispered:
“The original ledger.”
Vincent nodded.
“Isabelle had proof that your entire empire was being used to move money for someone else.”
Dominic's phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
His three daughters asleep in their beds.
Taken ten seconds ago.
The message beneath it read:
COME ALONE.
Dominic looked around.
His security team surrounded the house.
“How did they get inside?”
Evelyn immediately took his phone.
She examined the image.
“Look at the reflection.”
Dominic leaned closer.
In the dark window behind the girls was a faint silhouette.
A woman.
Long hair.
Standing inside the nursery.
Dominic's face drained.
Evelyn whispered:
“She's still in the house.”
They ran.
Upstairs.
Toward the nursery.
Dominic threw open the door.
The beds were empty.
Blankets on the floor.
No girls.
No intruder.
Only a small cassette recorder sat on Nora's pillow.
Dominic pressed play.
Isabelle's voice emerged.
“My love…”
Dominic stopped breathing.
“If you are hearing this, then the girls have finally remembered.”
A pause.
“I'm sorry.”
Then Isabelle whispered:
“The person you are searching for isn't trying to destroy your family.”
Static.
“They are trying to replace it.”
The recorder clicked off.
Dominic stared at the empty beds.
Then Evelyn noticed something beneath the pillow.
A photograph.
On the back was one sentence.
LOOK AT THE WOMAN BESIDE YOU.
Dominic slowly turned.
May you like
Evelyn was already standing behind him.
Holding a knife.
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