Chương 15
“In exchange for what?”
“Proof.”
Roman’s pulse quickened.
“Proof of what?”
“That Sabrina wasn’t the person accessing your systems.”
Roman stared at the dark monitor.
“Did she provide it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She gave Elena a device log.”
Roman’s eyes closed.
The matchbox-sized reader.
The house access records.
The remote credential use.
Elena had known Sabrina was lying.
But perhaps she had also known Sabrina was not the entire threat.
“What was on the log?”
“A hardware identifier.”
“For whose device?”
Vincent said nothing.
Roman’s stomach tightened.
“Vincent.”
When the answer came, Vincent sounded older.
“Mine.”
Luis shifted.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Roman’s voice flattened.
“You accessed my credentials.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To monitor who else was using them.”
“That is the worst explanation I have heard tonight.”
“I know.”
“You manipulated the logs.”
“Some.”
“Marco’s administrator account?”
“Yes.”
Roman’s hand tightened.
“You put him at risk.”
“Yes.”
“You put Elena at risk.”
Vincent’s silence answered before he did.
“I didn’t know she was looking.”
“But when you found out?”
“I tried to scare her off.”
Roman went still.
“The SUV photographs.”
“No.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman almost shouted.
Instead he laughed once.
Everybody’s favorite answer.
Vincent said, “Roman, there is someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know the name.”
“Then what do you know?”
“That the old payment network activated six months ago.”
“For what?”
“A transfer request.”
“To move money?”
“No.”
Vincent’s voice dropped.
“To move a person.”
Roman’s blood went cold.
“Who?”
Another silence.
Then Vincent said, “Your daughter.”
For a second, Roman could not process the word.
“She isn’t born.”
“I know.”
Luis moved closer.
Daniel whispered something under his breath.
Roman’s voice became almost soundless.
“Explain.”
“The request referenced an unborn dependent tied to the Marino succession structure.”
“There is no succession structure.”
“There is in Anthony’s old trust documents.”
Roman stared at the baby shoes on his desk through the open doorway.
The tiny cream-colored pair sat exactly where he had left them.
A child who did not yet know the world had already written rules about her.
“Why would anyone care about my daughter?”
Vincent answered softly.
“Because Anthony made her the beneficiary.”
Roman froze.
“Of what?”
“The freight consortium shares he never admitted he still owned.”
Daniel sat down hard in the nearest chair.
Roman’s hand went automatically to the letter inside his jacket.
Elena had not been protecting money.
Not contracts.
Not reputation.
Not even Roman alone.
She had been protecting their child from an inheritance no one had told them existed.
The second phone rang.
Vivien.
Roman answered immediately.
“Mom.”
There was noise behind her.
Hospital voices.
A monitor.
Footsteps.
Then Elena’s voice, weak but clear.
“Roman.”
“I’m here.”
“We have a problem.”
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“What happened?”
A pause.
Then Elena said, “The baby is coming tonight.”
Roman closed his eyes.
For one second, everything else vanished.
Vincent.
Daniel.
Sabrina.
The ledger.
His father.
The dead cameras.
All of it became smaller than the sound of Elena breathing through the phone.
“Are you safe?”
“At the hospital.”
“I mean the baby.”
“They’re monitoring her.”
Her voice tightened on the last word.
Roman stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking permission.”
“And I’m not giving you an address.”
“I know what hospital you’re at.”
Vivien said something in the background that sounded very much like a curse.
Elena breathed through another contraction.
When she spoke again, she sounded exhausted.
“If you bring this mess here, I will never forgive you.”
Roman looked at Daniel.
Then at Luis.
Then at the dead portions of his security wall.
“What if I don’t bring it?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I finish something first.”
Elena was silent.
Roman pressed the phone harder to his ear.
“I need you to trust me for one hour.”
A weak, bitter laugh came through.
“That is spectacular timing.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to ask for trust because you finally discovered I was telling the truth.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get it back because you say the word sorry.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
Roman almost smiled.
“Fine.”
Another contraction interrupted her.
He heard Vivien counting quietly.
Roman looked at the baby shoes.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“I found the shoes.”
Silence.
Then softer, “Okay.”
“I read the letter.”
“I assumed.”
“You protected me.”
“No.”
Her breathing steadied.
“I protected our daughter.”
Roman swallowed.
“And you.”
Another pause.
“Even when I was angry.”
That hurt worse than accusation.
Roman closed his eyes.
“I’m going to fix the part I can.”
“You can’t fix us tonight.”
“I know.”
She made an irritated sound.
“Sorry.”
“Go.”
He hesitated.
“Elena.”
“Roman.”
He could hear fear beneath her impatience.
“I’ll come when it’s safe.”
“Make sure it is.”
The line ended.
Roman placed the phone down.
Then he looked at Luis.
“Call the police.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
Roman ignored him.
Luis did not.
“Local?”
“Local first.”
“And tell them what?”
“The truth.”
Luis actually looked surprised.
Roman noticed.
“Don’t enjoy this.”
“I’m not.”
Luis took out his phone.
Daniel stepped forward.
“You call the police with that index, everybody named on it gets warned.”
“Somebody already knows.”
“You don’t know who.”
“No.”
Roman looked toward the windows.
“But I know who is standing outside my gate.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Vincent brought me here.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s the threat.”
“No.”
Roman slipped the index into an evidence envelope from the desk.
“It means he’s one threat I can prove.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“And Sabrina?”
Roman looked at him.
“That depends on what she chooses next.”
He called Vincent.
Vincent answered immediately.
“Roman.”
“Come inside.”
A pause.
“You found it.”
Roman said nothing.
Vincent exhaled.
“You always were bad at hiding satisfaction.”
“I’m not satisfied.”
“No.”
Vincent sounded almost sad.
“I suppose not.”
“The gate will open.”
“For me?”
“For you.”
“And Daniel?”
“He stays where he is.”
Vincent went quiet.
Then, “Fine.”
Roman ended the call.
Luis lowered his phone.
May you like
“County units are coming.”
“How long?”
