Chapter 2 - THE SECOND BACKGROUND CHECK
Victor Hale returned the following evening with a file almost three inches thick.
Dominic looked at it.
Then at Victor.
“You needed twenty-seven hours.”
Victor lowered himself into the chair across from Dominic’s desk.
“You said everything.”
“I did.”
“This is everything.”
Rain tapped steadily against the office windows.
Leonardo, the scratched plastic lion Lily had given Dominic, still sat beside his computer.
Victor had pretended not to notice it the first time.
Tonight, his eyes went to it immediately.
Dominic noticed.
“Say it.”
Victor lifted one eyebrow.
“Say what?”
“Whatever you’re thinking.”
Victor looked at the lion.
“I’ve known you since you were fourteen.”
“That is not an answer.”
“You once fired a man because he put a family photograph on your desk while cleaning.”
“He moved private property.”
“He dusted it.”
“He moved it.”
Victor nodded toward Leonardo.
“That thing has been sitting there for two days.”
Dominic stared at him.
Victor wisely opened the file.
“Sophia Carter.”
Dominic leaned back.
“Go.”
“Born Sophia Marie Bennett. Syracuse. Thirty-one years old. Mother was a school secretary. Father repaired commercial elevators.”
“Both dead?”
“Mother died eight years ago. Father six years ago.”
“Siblings?”
“One brother. Army. Lives in Texas. They speak occasionally.”
Dominic knew some of that from the original employment check.
“Marriage?”
Victor turned a page.
“She married Daniel Carter at twenty-four.”
Dominic said nothing.
“Daniel worked freight and warehouse jobs. Mostly overnight routes. Stable employment. No record. No gambling. No significant debt before his death.”
“What happened?”
Victor paused.
That was unusual.
Victor Hale had survived long enough by understanding which silences mattered.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“You know.”
“I know what the official report says.”
“Which is?”
“Industrial accident.”
Dominic waited.
Victor slid a photograph across the desk.
A warehouse.
Metal siding.
Loading bays.
A red sign near the front gate.
Dominic recognized the logo.
MORGAN ATLANTIC FREIGHT.
His expression hardened.
Morgan Atlantic was not technically a Moretti company.
Technically mattered to accountants.
Dominic’s family had controlled the company through intermediaries for twelve years.
“When?”
“Two years and three months ago.”
Dominic picked up the photograph.
“Where?”
“Jersey City.”
“What happened?”
“Daniel Carter was working a late shift. Officially, a pallet rack failed. Heavy material fell. He died at the scene.”
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“Officially.”
Victor nodded.
“There was a safety investigation. Company paid a small workers’ compensation benefit. Sophia received life insurance through Daniel’s employer.”
“How small?”
“Forty-eight thousand after expenses and outstanding medical obligations.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
A man died at work.
His widow received less than Dominic sometimes spent on a dinner.
“Was Morgan Atlantic negligent?”
“The state report blamed improper load distribution and failed inspections.”
“Then why am I only hearing about this now?”
“Because you weren’t involved in daily warehouse operations.”
“That is not an excuse.”
“No.”
Victor rarely agreed that quickly.
Dominic looked up.
“What are you not saying?”
Victor pushed another page toward him.
“Three days before he died, Daniel Carter called Moretti corporate security.”
Dominic went still.
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“Who took the call?”
“Call log lists an internal extension.”
“Whose?”
Victor said nothing.
Dominic already disliked the answer.
“Victor.”
“Mine.”
Silence filled the room.
Dominic’s eyes became cold.
“You spoke to him?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“My department’s extension.”
Victor leaned forward.
“I was in Boston that week. Whoever answered used a security login associated with my office.”
Dominic’s voice lowered.
“Who had access?”
“Four men.”
“Names.”
Victor gave them.
Paul Serrano.
Anthony Velez.
Martin Grasso.
And Gabriel Rizzo.
Dominic’s expression changed at the last one.
Gabriel.
His cousin.
His father’s sister’s son.
Forty-two.
Polished.
Educated.
Trusted enough to handle legitimate financial operations.
Close enough to Dominic to attend family dinners.
Close enough to know private shipping routes.
Close enough to be one of the seven men who had known about the compromised shipment.
Victor saw the realization.
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward the rain.
“The leak.”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t give me maybe.”
“Then don’t ask me to lie.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Victor continued.
“Daniel called corporate security at 8:14 p.m. Three days before his death.”
“How long?”
“Four minutes.”
“Recording?”
“Deleted.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Security calls are archived.”
“Normally.”
“Who deleted it?”
“Credentials attached to Gabriel’s administrative access.”
That was worse.
“Why would Gabriel have access to your system?”
“Your father gave him broad administrative clearance twelve years ago.”
Dominic remembered.
Salvatore had believed family loyalty could be measured in blood.
Dominic had learned otherwise.
“What did Daniel know?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Find out.”
“I’m trying.”
Victor turned another page.
“Sophia contacted Morgan Atlantic repeatedly after Daniel died.”
Dominic frowned.
“About compensation?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“She wanted his personal belongings.”
Dominic looked at him.
“What belongings?”
“Phone. Work bag. Wedding ring. A jacket. According to the company, those items were destroyed in the accident.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
“A wedding ring doesn’t disappear because a pallet falls.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“Did Sophia question it?”
“For months.”
“And?”
“She was eventually told there were no additional belongings.”
“Who told her?”
Victor turned the file.
A printed email.
Signed:
GABRIEL RIZZO
EXECUTIVE OPERATIONS
Dominic read it once.
Then again.
His voice became very quiet.
“Why was Gabriel personally corresponding with a warehouse worker’s widow?”
Victor leaned back.
“That is the question.”
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Tiny.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Dominic immediately closed the file.
Victor noticed.
His eyebrow rose.
Dominic glared.
“Not one word.”
Lily appeared in the doorway.
She wore pink pajamas under a small winter coat.
Her purple cat backpack hung from one shoulder.
Sophia stood several feet behind her.
Her expression immediately became embarrassed.
“Lily, Mr. Moretti is working.”
Lily ignored that.
She looked at Dominic.
“Leonardo!”
Dominic glanced toward the plastic lion.
“He remains on duty.”
Lily entered.
Sophia stopped her.
“Do not go into Mr. Moretti’s office without asking.”
Lily looked up.
“Can I?”
Dominic replied, “Yes.”
Sophia gave him a look.
Not disrespectful.
Almost irritated.
Dominic had discovered he liked that look much more than he should.
Lily walked toward the desk.
Victor moved his chair slightly so she could pass.
She looked at him.
“You have a scar.”
Victor stared down at her.
“So I’m told.”
“Did a tiger do it?”
“No.”
“A shark?”
“No.”
“Dragon?”
Victor looked at Dominic.
Dominic folded his arms.
This was now Victor’s problem.
Victor answered solemnly.
“Extremely aggressive pigeon.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
Dominic almost choked.
Sophia covered a laugh with one hand.
“Really?”
Victor nodded.
“Terrible neighborhood.”
Lily studied his face suspiciously.
Then decided the story was acceptable.
She climbed onto the chair beside Dominic’s desk and picked up Leonardo.
“You took care of him?”
“Yes.”
“Did he protect you?”
Dominic looked at the toy.
“I experienced no lion-related security failures.”
Sophia laughed.
Actually laughed.
Dominic looked at her.
She immediately stopped.
“Sorry.”
He disliked that.
“Don’t.”
She blinked.
“Don’t what?”
“Apologize for laughing.”
Something passed across her face.
Before she could respond, Lily leaned over the desk.
“What’s that?”
Her finger pointed toward the edge of Sophia’s background file.
Dominic moved it away.
“Work.”
“Boring?”
“Very.”
“Mommy’s work is boring too.”
Sophia sighed.
“Thank you.”
“I help.”
“You put socks in the refrigerator yesterday.”
“They were cold.”
Victor looked down.
His shoulders moved.
Dominic realized the man was silently laughing.
This office had hosted negotiations involving millions of dollars.
Men had confessed betrayals in that chair.
People had walked out of the room knowing their lives would never be the same.
Now a three-year-old was discussing refrigerated socks.
And somehow the room felt more dangerous to Dominic than it ever had before.
Because he liked it.
Sophia checked the clock.
“We’re leaving.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You finished your shift.”
“Yes.”
“Why is Lily wearing a coat?”
“Our car heater is acting up.”
His attention sharpened.
“What?”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it isn't.”
Sophia stared at him.
“It is fifteen minutes home.”
“It’s thirty-four degrees.”
“I know how temperature works, Mr. Moretti.”
Victor suddenly became fascinated with the floor.
Dominic felt irritation rise.
Not at her.
At the image of Lily sitting in a freezing car.
“Take one of mine.”
Sophia blinked.
“One of your cars?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Dominic stared.
“No?”
“I’m not taking your car.”
“A driver will take you.”
“We’re fine.”
“Sophia.”
She lifted her chin.
He stopped.
He had used her first name without realizing it.
She noticed too.
Victor definitely noticed.
Dominic continued more carefully.
“Mrs. Carter. Your daughter is three.”
“And I have driven her home in winter before.”
“With a broken heater?”
“It broke this afternoon.”
“Then leave the car here.”
“I need it tomorrow.”
“I’ll have it repaired.”
“No.”
Dominic inhaled slowly.
Most men found his silence frightening.
Sophia apparently found it annoying.
“I am not accepting a free repair.”
“Why?”
“Because you are my employer.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Everything.”
She came closer.
“People with money are used to solving discomfort by paying for it.”
Dominic stared.
Sophia continued.
“I appreciate the offer. I mean that. But I don’t want to owe you.”
The words landed strangely.
Dominic thought of his father.
People always want something.
Every kindness creates debt.
Every favor is leverage.
Yet Sophia was standing in front of a man who could solve a major problem with a phone call and refusing because she feared owing him.
“What if there is no debt?” he asked.
She smiled sadly.
“There usually is.”
That told him more than the background file had.
Lily tugged Sophia’s sleeve.
“I’m cold.”
Sophia looked down.
Dominic said nothing.
Sophia closed her eyes.
Defeat.
“Fine.”
Dominic reached for his phone.
“One ride.”
“One ride,” she said.
“No repair?”
“No repair.”
He almost smiled.
“You negotiate aggressively for a housekeeper.”
“You negotiate aggressively about my broken Honda.”
Victor looked away again.
Dominic called a driver.
Ten minutes later, Sophia and Lily left in a Moretti SUV.
Dominic stood at the office window watching the taillights disappear through the gates.
Victor remained behind.
Finally he said, “Nothing.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“You asked what she wants.”
Victor nodded toward the file.
“I’m starting to think the answer may actually be nothing.”
Dominic hated the warmth that moved through his chest.
Then Victor’s expression changed.
“But that doesn’t mean she’s safe.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Explain.”
Victor opened the final section of the file.
“There’s one more thing.”
He placed a grainy security photograph on the desk.
Daniel Carter.
Sophia’s dead husband.
Standing outside Morgan Atlantic three days before his death.
Beside him stood another man.
Gabriel Rizzo.
And Daniel was handing Gabriel a small black flash drive.
Dominic stared.
Victor said quietly, “Whatever Daniel found, Gabriel knew about it before Daniel died.”
Dominic’s gaze moved toward the driveway where Sophia and Lily had disappeared.
For the first time, the question was no longer whether Sophia wanted something from the Moretti family.
May you like
It was whether the Moretti family had already taken something from her.
And whether Dominic had unknowingly invited the widow of one of his family’s victims into his home.
