Chapter 3 - THE MAN RACHEL TOLD HIM NOT TO TRUST
Dominic did not point a gun at Jack Mason.
Five years earlier, he would have.
That realization embarrassed him.
Instead, he closed the laptop.
Then he told Maria Alvarez, the estate’s longtime cook and one of the few people Rachel had trusted with Lily, to take the little girl upstairs.
Lily objected immediately.
“I want Daddy.”
The word still shocked Dominic every time.
He crouched.
“I’ll come up soon.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Rabbit too.”
Dominic looked at the opened seam.
“I need Bunny for a little longer.”
Lily crossed both arms.
“Bunny is mine.”
“Yes.”
“Not business.”
Jack coughed to hide a laugh.
Dominic looked at him sharply.
Jack looked innocent.
Dominic turned back to Lily.
“Twenty minutes.”
“Ten.”
“Fifteen.”
“Okay.”
She held up one finger.
“And you have to fix his back.”
“I will.”
She left with Maria.
The moment the door closed, Dominic’s expression changed.
“Start talking.”
Jack sat without being invited.
That alone would have angered Dominic years earlier.
Now it simply meant Jack had bad news.
“Rachel’s brother was Nathan Bennett.”
“Why have I never heard that name?”
“Because he wasn’t part of your circle.”
“What was he?”
“Security systems contractor.”
Dominic frowned.
“Our security?”
“For six months.”
Jack continued.
“Nathan helped migrate some of our old access systems shortly before Claire disappeared.”
“And he found copied credentials?”
“Yes.”
“Mine?”
“Several. Mostly mine. Two belonging to Sebastian’s accounting team.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Jack’s mouth tightened.
“I tried.”
Dominic stared.
“You never did.”
“I scheduled a private meeting.”
“When?”
“The morning Claire vanished.”
Dominic felt something shift.
Jack continued.
“You were tearing the city apart looking for her. Sebastian told me Nathan’s concerns had been resolved.”
“And you believed him?”
“For two days.”
Jack looked ashamed.
“Then Nathan disappeared.”
“Dead?”
“Never found.”
“Why didn’t you push?”
“I did.”
Jack leaned forward.
“Sebastian showed me records claiming Nathan stole ninety thousand dollars from the family and fled.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
“Did you verify?”
“Not enough.”
There it was.
Another man who trusted Sebastian because Sebastian had been family longer than evidence had been evidence.
Jack continued.
“I later discovered some records were false.”
“When?”
“After Owen came back.”
Dominic’s body hardened.
“Owen knew?”
“Some.”
“And neither of you told me.”
Jack met his eyes.
“You nearly killed Owen when he refused to tell you where Claire was.”
Dominic said nothing.
“You were not exactly creating an environment where cautious truth survived.”
The words would have cost anyone else teeth once.
Dominic let them stay.
“Keep going.”
“Owen approached me after he returned.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked about Sebastian’s accounts.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
Jack looked toward the ceiling.
“I thought he was trying to clear his own betrayal.”
Dominic’s stomach twisted.
Everyone had believed something about Owen.
Nobody had believed him.
“What changed?”
“The ambush.”
Three years after Claire disappeared.
The attack where Owen died protecting Dominic.
Jack continued.
“Owen knew the route had leaked.”
“What?”
“He told me two hours before.”
Dominic stood.
“He knew?”
“He suspected.”
“And you still let me go?”
“It was a controlled route change.”
Jack’s voice sharpened.
“We thought we could identify the leak.”
“You used me as bait?”
“Technically, you insisted on going despite every recommendation.”
Dominic remembered.
Yes.
Of course he had.
Jack continued.
“Owen saw the shooter first.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“He pushed you behind the vehicle.”
“I remember.”
“He took the shot.”
Yes.
Rain.
Blood.
Rachel.
Lily.
Take care of them.
Jack looked down.
“Owen was carrying a letter.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“I found part of it after the ambulance left.”
“Part?”
“Blood soaked most.”
Jack reached inside his jacket.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
Jack removed a small plastic sleeve.
Inside was a torn piece of old paper.
He placed it on the table.
Dominic recognized Owen’s handwriting.
…if I don’t make it, tell Dominic the first key is with Rachel. The second is where Claire first made him work for her…
The sentence ended.
Dominic stared.
Where Claire first made him work for her.
The renovation project.
Brooklyn.
The building.
The paint roller.
He looked at Jack.
“You’ve had this for three years?”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s anger rose.
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know what the key was.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I was trying to determine who to trust.”
“And you decided not me.”
Jack’s expression stayed steady.
“Correct.”
Silence.
Dominic walked to the window.
Years ago, that answer would have ended their friendship.
Now he had Claire’s voice in his head.
Do not trust anyone because you love them.
Verify everything.
He turned.
“Why did Rachel say not even you?”
Jack took a slow breath.
“Because she didn’t trust me.”
“Why?”
“Nathan.”
Jack looked toward the torn letter.
“Rachel believed I failed her brother.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
“I knew Nathan was frightened. I still let Sebastian convince me he was a thief.”
Dominic nodded.
That explained caution.
But not the search last night.
“Who entered Rachel’s room?”
Jack handed him another report.
“Camera footage was disabled in that corridor for eleven minutes.”
“Credentials?”
Jack gave a bitter laugh.
“Mine.”
Dominic stared.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
“Security office with six witnesses.”
“Meaning someone is still using your cloned identity.”
“Yes.”
Dominic thought.
“Who knew Rachel was dying?”
“Half the estate.”
“Who knew she might leave something?”
“Anyone who saw Lily enter here this morning may guess.”
“No.”
Dominic shook his head.
“The search happened last night.”
Before Lily delivered the letter.
Whoever searched knew Rachel had hidden something before Dominic did.
Then the answer arrived.
Hospital.
Rachel’s illness.
Visitors.
Medical staff.
Someone had spoken to her.
“Who saw Rachel during her final week?”
Jack already had the list.
“Maria. Lily. You once.”
Dominic remembered.
Rachel had been sleeping.
“Me.”
“Two nurses.”
“Doctor.”
“And Sebastian.”
Dominic became still.
“When?”
“Four days before she died.”
“He told me he was visiting a supplier in New Jersey.”
“He wasn’t.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“What reason did he give Rachel?”
“Family concern.”
Rachel had worked in Dominic’s house for three years.
Sebastian had never cared enough to ask how she took her coffee.
Now he visited her deathbed?
Jack continued.
“Hospital security footage shows Sebastian leaving her room angry.”
“Did Rachel say anything?”
“Nurse heard her tell him to get out.”
Dominic felt the final pieces shifting.
“What happened after?”
“Sebastian made three calls.”
“To?”
“One unidentified prepaid number.”
“And?”
“His attorney.”
“And the third?”
Jack hesitated.
“Dr. Leonard Hale.”
Dominic frowned.
The name was familiar.
Then remembered.
“Claire’s doctor?”
“Not officially.”
Jack slid a photograph across the table.
Dr. Hale had worked at a private clinic in Vermont five years earlier.
The clinic where Claire delivered Lily.
Dominic felt his heartbeat slow dangerously.
“What is he now?”
“Medical director for a Caruso Foundation health program.”
Dominic stared.
Sebastian had hired him.
Two years after Claire died.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
Then Jack said:
“Hale was also the physician who signed Rachel’s initial illness referral three months ago.”
Dominic’s face went cold.
“What illness?”
Rachel had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.
Late stage.
Doctors said it had likely progressed unnoticed.
Jack continued.
“I’m not saying Sebastian caused Rachel’s illness.”
Good.
“But Hale may have known who she was.”
Dominic leaned back.
Then his phone rang.
Maria.
He answered immediately.
“What?”
Her voice shook.
“Dominic, Lily is asking for Rachel’s red suitcase.”
“What red suitcase?”
“She says Rachel told her never to let anyone take it.”
Dominic looked at Jack.
“Where is it?”
“Rachel’s old closet.”
The room both men had just learned was searched.
Dominic stood.
“Don’t touch anything.”
Too late.
Maria whispered:
“It’s gone.”
Silence.
Dominic’s grip tightened around the phone.
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
Jack was already moving.
Then Maria added:
“Dominic…”
“What?”
“Lily says Bunny’s key wasn’t for a bank box.”
Dominic stopped.
“How would she know?”
“Rachel showed her a picture.”
“What picture?”
“A red door.”
Dominic looked toward Jack.
The building where Claire first made him work for her had one feature he had forgotten.
A red steel basement door.
The renovation charity kept archived belongings there after the fire.
Owen’s torn letter said:
The second is where Claire first made him work for her.
The rabbit held the first key.
The red door held the second.
Someone had stolen Rachel’s suitcase.
But maybe the most important evidence was still exactly where Claire and Owen had hidden it five years earlier.
Dominic grabbed his coat.
Jack followed.
Then Dominic stopped.
“No.”
Jack frowned.
“What?”
“You’re staying with Lily.”
Jack’s face changed.
“You still don’t trust me.”
“Correct.”
Jack almost smiled.
“Good.”
Dominic stared.
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“It means you’re finally listening to Claire.”
For the first time in five years, Dominic Caruso left his estate without his oldest lieutenant beside him.
He took only two security men whose movements Jack monitored remotely.
No convoy.
No announcement.
The Brooklyn building still stood.
Children’s center now.
Fresh paint.
New windows.
But the basement door remained red.
Dominic stared at it.
Five years collapsed.
Claire holding out a paint roller.
“If your name is going on the building, you can help.”
He took the tiny brass key from his pocket.
It fit.
Behind the door was a narrow storage corridor.
Dust.
Old furniture.
Boxes.
At the far wall sat one metal cabinet.
Keyhole.
Dominic tried the rabbit key.
Nothing.
First key opened the first door.
The second key had to be inside.
He searched.
Then saw a faded paint tray hanging from a hook.
Underneath, taped to the metal, was another key.
Claire.
Of course.
Dominic removed it.
Opened the cabinet.
Inside was one waterproof case.
He lifted it.
Heavy.
Locked with a simple latch.
When he opened it, his entire body went still.
Stacks of documents.
Photographs.
A recording device.
A ledger.
And on top—
a sealed envelope.
DOMINIC — IF OWEN IS DEAD, DO NOT LET SEBASTIAN KNOW YOU FOUND THIS.
He had found the evidence.
Then one of his guards shouted from the hallway.
“Mr. Caruso!”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“Someone’s coming down.”
Footsteps.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Dominic closed the case.
The red door opened.
Sebastian Caruso stepped inside.
He looked at Dominic.
Then at the cabinet.
May you like
And smiled.
“I was wondering how long it would take Claire to lead you here.”
