Chapter 9 - The Key
I screamed Caroline’s name into a dead phone.
No answer.
Marcus started crying.
“Mommy, why was she screaming?”
I pulled him into my arms.
Dominic stood motionless.
His face had become unreadable.
“Maybe he didn’t shoot her,” I said.
Dominic looked at me.
“He wanted us to believe he did.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“I know.”
He turned the brass key over in his fingers.
“Victor wants this badly.”
“What does it open?”
Dominic stared at it.
“I don’t know.”
Harlan approached carefully.
“Could it be a safe-deposit key?”
Dominic looked closer.
There was a number engraved on one side.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He walked toward the computer.
“Seventeen was Sofia’s number.”
“What number?”
“Everything.”
He typed.
A storage facility appeared.
Cray Private Holdings.
Locker 417.
Dominic stared at me.
“My sister owned it.”
We drove there.
The facility manager took one look at Dominic and stopped asking questions.
Locker 417 was underground.
The key opened it.
Inside sat one metal case.
Nothing else.
Dominic unlocked it.
Documents.
Photos.
Hard drives.
And a handwritten letter.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Dom,
If you’re reading this, either I finally found the courage to tell you, or Victor found me first.
Dominic stopped.
I watched his face.
He continued.
Victor is not stealing money.
He is stealing people.
He buys loyalty with secrets, recordings, threats, debt.
He controls judges, cops, doctors, accountants.
And he’s building his own organization inside yours.
The accident that damaged your hearing gave him the opportunity he needed.
I believe your deafness was intentional.
Dominic closed his eyes.
There was more.
I touched his arm.
“Keep reading.”
He did.
There is one thing Victor does not know.
I copied everything.
Every account.
Every recording.
Every name.
Enough to destroy him.
But if something happens to me, do not trust anyone in your house.
Especially not—
The letter ended.
The final page had been torn away.
Dominic looked through the case.
“Drive?”
There were three.
He plugged one into a laptop.
Encrypted.
Second.
Encrypted.
Third.
A password prompt.
Hint:
THE FIRST THING YOU HEARD.
Dominic stared.
“The first thing I heard?”
I thought about tonight.
“What did you hear first after Marcus removed the device?”
Dominic looked at me.
“His voice.”
Marcus looked up.
“My voice?”
Dominic nodded.
“What did you say?”
Marcus grinned.
“I got the bug.”
Dominic typed:
IGOTTHEBUG
Access granted.
Hundreds of folders appeared.
Payments.
Videos.
Audio.
Names.
Victor’s entire hidden empire.
Then one file opened automatically.
A recording began.
Victor’s voice.
“If Dominic starts asking questions, we move to phase two.”
Another man answered.
“And the kid?”
My heart stopped.
Victor said, “If the child removed the device, the child becomes evidence.”
Dominic looked at me.
The recording continued.
“He doesn’t leave the property alive.”
Marcus was playing with his truck.
He didn’t understand.
I did.
Dominic did.
Then footsteps sounded outside the locker.
Dominic closed the laptop.
The door handle turned.
A familiar voice called from the hallway.
“Elena?”
May you like
I froze.
It was Caroline.
