Chương 5
“The company that hired him was Vale Security Consulting.”
Sophia gripped the edge of the table.
Dominic continued.
“The owner was Peter Vale.”
Her face emptied.
“The man you said died before your father.”
“Yes.”
Sophia looked toward the hallway where Lily slept.
Dominic heard footsteps approaching again.
This time they were faster.
Vincent appeared in the doorway holding an old scanned photograph on his tablet.
He did not offer it immediately.
Dominic saw his hesitation and took the device from him.
The photograph showed four men standing beside the estate’s original security panel during renovation.
One was Michael Carter, younger, thinner, wearing a tool belt.
Another was Peter Vale.
The third was Dominic’s father.
The fourth man had gray at his temples and a silver tin in his hand.
Dominic stared at him.
Sophia leaned closer.
Her breath caught.
“That’s him.”
Dominic looked at her.
“The man from the preschool?”
Sophia nodded.
“The man Lily remembered.”
Vincent’s voice dropped.
“You know him?”
Dominic enlarged the image.
The man was smiling at something outside the frame.
Dominic had not seen that face in twenty-two years.
“Yes.”
His thumb rested against the screen.
“That’s my father’s brother.”
Sophia looked from the photograph to Dominic.
“You said he was dead.”
“I said Peter Vale was dead.”
“Your uncle?”
Dominic kept staring at the image.
“Disappeared.”
Vincent shut the kitchen door behind him.
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
Dominic enlarged the photograph until the man’s face blurred at the edges.
“His name is Gabriel Moretti.”
Sophia folded Lily’s drawing once more, although it was already small enough to fit in her palm.
“What happened to him?”
Dominic set the tablet down.
“When I was eighteen, my father accused him of stealing from the family businesses.”
“How much?”
“Enough that my father stopped calling it theft and started calling it betrayal.”
Vincent leaned against the counter.
“I thought Gabriel took off before anyone could prove it.”
“That was the story.”
Sophia looked at Dominic.
“And the truth?”
“I never knew.”
“Your father didn’t tell you?”
“My father didn’t explain himself.”
The answer came too fast, carrying twenty years of old irritation with it.
Dominic glanced at the watch.
“Gabriel vanished after an argument with him.”
“Police report?”
“None.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed.
“People in your family just disappear and nobody reports it?”
Dominic met her gaze.
“Sometimes.”
She looked away first.
Vincent tapped the tablet.
“If Gabriel was alive seven years ago, Peter Vale knew it.”
“And Michael,” Sophia said.
Nobody answered her.
The word landed differently when she said her husband’s name.
Not as a contractor.
Not as a possible accomplice.
As someone who had stood in that photograph and then gone home to her.
Dominic pulled out a chair for her without comment.
Sophia did not sit.
“What was Gabriel doing here?”
Vincent said, “That’s what we need to find out.”
“No.”
Sophia shook her head.
“I mean why was he here with Michael?”
Dominic looked at the photograph again.
The security panel behind the men was open, wires exposed in tidy colored rows.
His father stood with one hand in his pocket.
Gabriel’s silver mint tin was unmistakable.
Michael Carter appeared to be listening to him.
“Maybe Michael was just working,” Dominic said.
Sophia gave him a look that was almost offended.
“You don’t believe that.”
“I don’t know enough to believe anything.”
“You believed enough to lock the gates.”
“That was after someone poisoned my son’s cake.”
“And now my husband is in a photograph with your supposedly vanished uncle.”
Her voice tightened.
“Stop talking to me like I’m staff.”
Dominic went quiet.
Sophia had never spoken to him that way in six years.
The strange thing was that he did not resent it.
Not tonight.
“Fine,” he said.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then tell me what you’re afraid the truth is.”
Vincent looked toward the door, suddenly fascinated by the trim.
Dominic’s mouth hardened.
Sophia waited.
Finally he said, “I’m afraid my father knew Gabriel was alive.”
The room seemed smaller after that.
“And?”
Sophia asked.
“I’m afraid whatever happened between them never ended.”
She studied him.
“That still isn’t the part you’re avoiding.”
Dominic looked at the photograph once more.
“My father was murdered three days after this picture was taken.”
Sophia sat down.
The chair barely made a sound beneath her.
Vincent straightened.
“You never said that.”
“I never saw this picture.”
Dominic pointed at the date in the lower corner.
“September fourteenth.”
His father had died on September seventeenth.
Sophia’s lips parted.
“Michael never told me.”
“He may not have known what was coming.”
“Or he did.”
The words seemed to hurt her as she said them.
Dominic said nothing.
She pushed the tablet away.
“I need to see Lily.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“No.”
Her eyes lifted to his.
“I need five minutes with my daughter where nobody is a suspect and nobody is dead.”
Dominic stepped aside.
She left.
Vincent waited until her footsteps disappeared.
Then he said, “You’re being gentle with her.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Be careful.”
“I’m not criticizing.”
“You’re close.”
Vincent raised both hands.
“Noted.”
Dominic picked up the gold watch again.
“Who knew Ethan had this?”
“We can find out.”
“Start with the school.”
“At this hour?”
“Call the principal.”
Vincent glanced at the clock.
“It’s almost midnight.”
“Then she’ll remember the conversation.”
Vincent reached for his phone.
Dominic stopped him.
“Not from here.”
“Why?”
“If Gabriel has been close enough to clone access credentials, I’m not assuming our internal systems are clean.”
Vincent’s face changed.
“You think the estate network is compromised?”
“I think seven years ago someone installed parts of it.”
“Most of that system was replaced.”
“Most.”
Vincent swore under his breath.
Dominic handed him the tablet.
“Take two men you trust and use the security office landline only after you physically trace it.”
“That’s going to be popular.”
May you like
“I’m not interested in popularity.”
Vincent headed for the door.
