Chapter 2 - THE FIRST VOICE DOMINIC HEARD WAS A LIAR
The first thing Dominic Cray did after hearing Victor Strand speak was not threaten him.
That frightened Victor more than a threat would have.
Dominic stood in the conservatory with the tiny black object resting in his palm while the fountain continued splashing behind him. Every sound seemed to strike him separately.
Water.
Breathing.
Shoes shifting against stone.
The faint hum of the ventilation system.
Marcus whispering something into my shoulder.
Dominic kept turning slightly toward each noise as though his mind had forgotten how to organize a world that suddenly contained sound again.
Victor recovered first.
“Sir, you need a doctor.”
Dominic looked directly at him.
“I have had doctors.”
His voice remained rough.
Three years of barely speaking had left it deeper and more fragile than I expected.
Victor swallowed.
“An emergency specialist.”
“Not Adrian Vale.”
That name changed Victor’s face.
Barely.
But Dominic saw it.
So did I.
Victor forced a confused expression.
“Dr. Vale has treated you for three years.”
“That is why I said not Adrian Vale.”
Dominic looked toward the guard standing at the door.
“Marco.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Call Dr. Samuel Kessler.”
Victor interrupted immediately.
“Kessler is a neurologist.”
Dominic slowly turned toward him.
“You remembered that quickly.”
Victor’s mouth closed.
Dominic continued.
“Kessler is also the only doctor I know who has never been recommended by you.”
The conservatory became silent.
Marcus leaned close to my ear.
“Mommy, why angry?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Dominic heard him.
His eyes moved toward us.
The strangest emotion crossed his face.
Wonder.
He had heard a child whisper.
He looked almost more shaken by that than by the device in his palm.
Then his expression hardened again.
“Marco, Grace and her son leave through the west garage.”
Victor stepped forward.
“They should go home.”
“No.”
Dominic’s answer came instantly.
Victor’s gaze flicked toward me.
I hated that look.
Too quick.
Too interested.
Dominic noticed.
“Why do you care where they go?”
“I don’t.”
“You seem unusually invested.”
“This is a private family matter.”
Dominic gave a humorless smile.
“Grace Reed is the only adult in this room who did not know what was inside my ear.”
Victor stared at him.
“Sir—”
“And Marcus is the only person who noticed it.”
He closed his fist around the object.
“They are part of the evidence now.”
Evidence.
That word made everything more real.
I pulled Marcus closer.
“I don’t want to be part of anything.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I know.”
“I have a son.”
“I know.”
“I cannot afford trouble.”
Something shifted in his face at that.
Maybe he remembered Victor threatening my job in front of half the ballroom.
Maybe he had seen more than Victor assumed, even without hearing.
Dominic turned to Marco.
“Take them somewhere Victor cannot access.”
Victor laughed once.
“That is absurd.”
Dominic looked at him.
“I did not ask.”
Marco nodded.
“Yes, Boss.”
I carried Marcus out before anyone changed their mind.
The moment the conservatory door closed behind us, I heard Dominic say something I never forgot.
“Victor.”
A pause.
“You have spent three years speaking for me.”
Another pause.
“Tonight you are going to learn how much I heard without ears.”
Marco moved us through the service corridor.
The ballroom was still crowded.
Guests continued drinking champagne, unaware that their host’s world had changed thirty yards away.
A senator laughed near the bar.
A judge stood beside a shipping executive.
Three men in tailored suits turned when they saw Marco guiding me through the hall with Marcus in my arms.
Nobody stopped us.
Outside, cold October air hit my face.
A black SUV waited beneath the porte cochère.
I climbed into the back.
Marcus immediately asked:
“Can we get fries?”
I stared at him.
“We almost got fired, kidnapped by a criminal mystery, and possibly saw evidence of a medical crime.”
He blinked.
“Fries?”
He was three.
“Fine.”
Marco almost smiled from the front seat.
We drove toward Manhattan.
I expected my fear to fade once the mansion disappeared behind us.
It didn’t.
“Where are you taking us?”
“A hotel Dominic owns.”
“I want my apartment.”
Marco looked at me in the mirror.
“Victor manages staff files.”
My stomach turned cold.
“My address.”
“Yes.”
“Marcus’s daycare.”
“Yes.”
“My emergency contact.”
“Yes.”
I stared out the window.
My mother lived in Arizona.
Marcus’s father had disappeared before his first birthday.
There was nobody else.
“Do you think Victor put that thing in Dominic’s ear?”
Marco’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Boss told everyone not to guess.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
We stopped at a private hotel near Central Park.
Not flashy.
Expensive enough that nobody asked questions.
Marco checked us in under different names.
He arranged two guards outside our floor.
Then he handed me a phone.
“Dominic will contact you through this.”
“I don’t want Dominic contacting me.”
Marco’s expression remained neutral.
“You may after you hear what the doctor says.”
I did not like that answer.
Marcus ate fries in bed while watching cartoons.
At one in the morning, he fell asleep clutching the red dinosaur.
I sat beside him, fully dressed.
The phone rang at 1:17.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Grace?”
Dominic.
His voice sounded clearer than before, though still rough.
“Yes.”
“Marcus okay?”
I looked at my son.
“He thinks tonight was exciting.”
“He has poor judgment.”
“He’s three.”
“Same thing.”
I almost laughed.
Then Dominic became serious.
“I saw Dr. Kessler.”
“And?”
“He brought an otologist.”
I waited.
“The object your son removed was not biological.”
“I figured that out.”
“It appears to be part of a custom in-ear electronic component.”
My stomach tightened.
“A hearing device?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“They don’t know yet.”
Dominic paused.
“I need imaging tomorrow.”
“Can you still hear?”
“Yes.”
Relief moved through me before I could stop it.
Not because Dominic was my friend.
He wasn’t.
But anyone hearing water after three years deserved to keep hearing it.
“How much?”
“Voices sound far away.”
“High sounds hurt.”
“But I can hear.”
He said the last words quietly.
Almost to himself.
Then:
“Grace.”
“Yes?”
“Victor told me something tonight.”
I waited.
“He said the object could be debris from the warehouse blast.”
“Could it?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because nobody in that room had told him what the object looked like.”
I became completely still.
Dominic continued.
“He described it as metallic.”
My heart started pounding.
“Maybe he saw it.”
“He was twelve feet away.”
“You saw it from closer and could not identify it.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then he knew.”
“That is one possibility.”
Dominic said.
“Not proof.”
That surprised me.
“You care about proof?”
He was silent for a moment.
Then gave a dry laugh.
“I hear the judgment in your voice now.”
My face heated.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
He continued.
“I built a life where men are afraid to tell me what they think.”
“Maybe that has become expensive.”
I did not know what to say.
Then another sound came through his end of the call.
A door.
Dominic stopped talking.
“Who is that?”
His voice changed.
Not to me.
Someone answered too quietly for my phone to catch.
Then Dominic said:
“Marco?”
No response.
A crash followed.
“Dominic?”
The line stayed open.
Footsteps.
A grunt.
Then Dominic’s voice:
“Stop.”
Something hit the floor.
The call disconnected.
I stared at the phone.
My entire body went cold.
Ten seconds later, Marco called.
“Do not leave the room.”
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to enter Dominic’s medical apartment.”
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Is he hurt?”
“No.”
“Marco—”
“Stay inside.”
The line went dead.
Marcus stirred beside me.
I looked toward the hotel door.
Two guards stood outside.
At least that was what I had been told.
I went to the peephole.
The hallway was empty.
No guards.
Nothing.
Then somebody knocked.
Three slow knocks.
My hand froze against the door.
“Ms. Reed?”
A male voice.
Not Marco.
“Hotel security.”
I did not answer.
“Ms. Reed, there has been a problem downstairs.”
I backed away.
Marcus woke.
“Mommy?”
I held one finger to my lips.
The man outside tried the handle.
Locked.
Then he said something that made my blood freeze.
“Grace, we know Marcus took something from Mr. Cray.”
My son sat up.
I grabbed him.
The door handle moved again.
“Open the door.”
I backed toward the bathroom.
Then the man added:
“We only need the boy to tell us exactly what he saw.”
Marcus whispered:
“I saw robot bug.”
The man outside stopped moving.
He had heard him.
A heavy impact hit the hotel door.
Once.
Twice.
I shoved Marcus into the bathroom.
“Tub.”
“What?”
“Get in.”
I locked the bathroom door.
Another crash.
The hotel-room door splintered.
I grabbed the only thing within reach.
A heavy ceramic soap dish.
Ridiculous.
But mine.
Footsteps entered the suite.
I covered Marcus with my body.
Then gunshots exploded in the hallway.
Marcus screamed.
I held him tighter.
Someone shouted.
Another shot.
Then silence.
A knock came against the bathroom.
“Grace.”
Marco.
I did not move.
“Code?”
I shouted.
“What?”
He answered:
“Marcus wanted fries.”
My knees nearly gave out.
I opened the door.
Marco stood there with blood on his collar.
Not his.
Behind him, one of the missing guards lay unconscious near the broken entrance.
Another man was handcuffed on the floor.
Marco looked at Marcus.
Then me.
“Pack.”
I laughed hysterically.
“We have been here four hours.”
“We’re moving.”
“Where?”
Marco’s expression changed.
“To the only place Dominic now believes Victor cannot reach.”
I understood before he said it.
Back to Dominic.
The deaf mafia boss could hear again.
May you like
And somewhere between the mansion, the hospital, and this hotel, someone had decided that a three-year-old child knew enough to be dangerous.
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