Chapter 7 - THE SHOT THROUGH THE WINDOW
Glass exploded across the room.
Dominic covered Noah with his body.
Marcus fired toward the darkness outside.
“LIGHTS OFF!”
The mansion went black.
Clara crawled behind the sofa.
Another bullet struck the wall.
Then silence.
Marcus spoke into his radio.
“West lawn!”
“Shooter outside!”
“Seal the perimeter!”
Dominic checked Noah.
“You okay?”
Noah nodded.
Dominic turned to Clara.
Blood ran down her forearm.
“You're hurt.”
“Glass.”
He grabbed her wrist.
“Medic.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“So are half the people who've worked here today.”
Despite everything, Dominic almost smiled.
Then Marcus returned.
“No shooter.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What?”
“Position was automated.”
“A rifle mounted in the trees.”
“Remote fired.”
Dominic understood.
Vincent wasn't trying to win.
He was trying to terrify them.
A phone rang.
Not Dominic's.
Not Clara's.
The sound came from inside Noah's blue elephant.
Everyone stared.
Marcus cut open another seam.
A tiny phone had been hidden inside.
It continued ringing.
Dominic answered.
“Vincent.”
A man's voice laughed.
“Hello, little brother.”
Clara watched Dominic change.
Every emotion disappeared.
“You killed Elena.”
Vincent remained quiet.
Then he said.
“Elena killed herself.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“She should have stopped digging.”
“You're dead.”
“Technically, yes.”
“You know what I mean.”
Vincent laughed.
“Still dramatic.”
Dominic's voice lowered.
“You used my son.”
“I prepared him.”
“For what?”
“For a world without you.”
Dominic's eyes became murderous.
Vincent continued.
“You always got everything.”
“Father's respect.”
“The companies.”
“The house.”
“Elena.”
Dominic froze.
“What does Elena have to do with this?”
Vincent was silent for a beat too long.
Then he laughed.
“You still don't know.”
“Know what?”
“Elena met me before she met you.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“She knew I was alive.”
“No.”
“Oh, yes.”
Dominic looked toward Mrs. Hargrove.
She looked shocked.
Vincent continued.
“Your perfect wife had secrets.”
Dominic clenched the phone.
“You're lying.”
“Ask Hargrove what Elena was doing in Milwaukee six months before your wedding.”
Mrs. Hargrove went pale.
Dominic saw it.
“What?”
Vincent laughed.
“Enjoy the family history lesson.”
The call ended.
Dominic turned toward Hargrove.
“You know something.”
She looked down.
“Tell me.”
“Elena contacted Vincent.”
“Why?”
“She wanted him to reconcile with you.”
Dominic stared.
“You knew he was alive eleven years ago?”
“No.”
“Elena discovered it.”
“How?”
“Your father.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“My father knew?”
Mrs. Hargrove nodded.
“He helped Vincent disappear.”
Dominic looked physically ill.
“Why?”
“Because Vincent had stolen from the family.”
“Millions.”
“He had also become involved with dangerous people.”
“Your father believed a fake death would solve the problem.”
“It didn't.”
Clara asked.
“What happened when Elena found him?”
“She tried to bring the brothers back together.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“That sounds like Elena.”
Mrs. Hargrove continued.
“Vincent misunderstood her kindness.”
Dominic's face changed.
“He wanted her.”
Mrs. Hargrove nodded.
“He became obsessed.”
Dominic walked away.
Now the murder had another dimension.
Vincent hadn't only wanted the empire.
He had wanted Elena.
And she had rejected him.
Marcus entered carrying a tablet.
“We found something.”
Security footage from two years earlier appeared.
The night Elena died.
A black SUV left the estate fourteen minutes after Elena.
The driver turned toward the camera.
Vincent.
Alive.
Beside him sat Dr. Mercer.
But there was someone in the back seat.
Mrs. Hargrove leaned toward the screen.
“No.”
Dominic stared.
Clara couldn't recognize the woman.
Dominic could.
His face went completely still.
“My mother.”
Beatrice Vale.
The woman who had supposedly been living in Switzerland for the last five years.
Dominic stared at the image.
May you like
His voice was barely audible.
“My mother was in the car that killed my wife.”
