Chapter 8 - HIS NAME ON THE PAGE
Dominic read the document three times.
VASCARI, DOMINIC A.
The signature looked like his. The approval code beneath it was one he had used years ago.
“I never authorized this transfer,” he said.
Ruiz pointed to the date. “It was entered while you were in Chicago.”
“I was there for a board meeting. Celeste managed my schedule and had access to scanned signatures.”
“Can you prove she used it?”
“I can tell you where to look.”
For eleven years, Celeste had made herself useful. She remembered passwords when he forgot them, handled contracts he did not want to read, and solved problems before they reached his desk. Dominic had called that loyalty.
Now he wondered how many times she had put papers in front of him and watched him sign without asking enough questions.
Ruiz sent officers to collect the office computers. Dominic gave her every password he still knew.
At dawn, the hospital called.
Mara was awake.
He reached her room before the elevator doors had fully opened. A nurse let him in but warned him to keep the visit brief.
Mara lay against the pillows, pale and exhausted. Her eyes followed him across the room. She did not smile.
“How’s the baby?” she asked.
“She’s in the NICU. Dr. Chen says she’s doing better this morning.”
“Have you seen her?”
“Yes.”
Mara shut her eyes for a moment. “Good.”
Dominic pulled up a chair, leaving space between them.
“I heard your voicemail.”
Her eyes opened.
“Celeste deleted it,” he said. “June told me about your call. I should have come looking for you long before any of this.”
Mara studied his face. “You thought I left because I didn’t love you.”
“I let myself believe it.”
“I left because I didn’t know whether I could bring a child into that house and keep her safe.”
Dominic nodded. He could see why she had been afraid.
“The signature on the payments is mine,” he said. “I didn’t sign them, but it’s my company. I’m giving Ruiz everything.”
Mara’s hand moved across the blanket. For one hopeful second, he thought she was reaching for him. She was reaching for the call button.
“There’s something the detective needs,” she said. “I hid it in my coat.”
“They cut your coat off in trauma.”
“Inside the collar. I sewed it there.”
“What is it?”
“A memory card.” Her breath caught, and she waited until the pain passed. “It has a recording from Celeste’s office.”
Dominic stood. “I’ll find Ruiz.”
Mara caught his wrist.
“She talked to the driver before the crash,” Mara whispered. “Dom, Celeste didn’t tell him to hit my car.”
“Then who did?”
May you like
Mara’s eyes filled.
“She told him to hit June’s.”
