Chapter 4 - CLAIRE’S LAST VIDEO
Sebastian did not look surprised.
That frightened Dominic more than if he had reached for a weapon.
His uncle stood in the basement doorway wearing a dark wool coat and leather gloves.
Sixty-seven years old.
Distinguished.
Calm.
The same man who had taught Dominic to tie a necktie before his father’s funeral.
The same man who used to bring cannoli on Sundays.
The same man who apparently knew Claire had hidden evidence beneath a community center for five years.
Dominic’s security men shifted.
Sebastian raised both hands.
“If I wanted you dead, nephew, we wouldn’t be talking.”
Dominic’s expression did not change.
“You said that to Claire?”
Sebastian’s eyes flickered.
There.
Tiny.
Enough.
“Claire was confused.”
“No.”
“She believed things she didn’t understand.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“How convenient.”
Sebastian looked toward the case.
“Give me the box.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what’s inside.”
“That makes two of us.”
Sebastian smiled faintly.
“Do you really believe that?”
Dominic stared.
Sebastian continued.
“Claire was intelligent. Too intelligent for her own safety.”
One guard moved.
Dominic raised a hand.
Nobody touched Sebastian.
Not yet.
“Why are you here?”
Sebastian sighed.
“Because Jack Mason called me.”
Dominic felt nothing outwardly.
Inside:
Cold.
“Jack?”
“Yes.”
“He said you were coming to Brooklyn.”
Dominic held Sebastian’s gaze.
“Interesting.”
Sebastian smiled.
“You see? Rachel was right not to trust him.”
Maybe.
Or Sebastian wanted Jack blamed.
Do not trust even what I’m telling you.
Verify everything.
Dominic reached for his phone.
No signal underground.
Of course.
Sebastian noticed.
“Still learning?”
Dominic hated the paternal tone.
Then:
“Claire should have stayed away from our business.”
“She was going to be my wife.”
“Exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you were about to hand emotional influence to someone who had no understanding of what this family required.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“She understood you.”
Sebastian’s smile faded.
“Not enough.”
“What did she find?”
“Numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“Transactions.”
Sebastian shrugged.
“She decided numbers made her righteous.”
Dominic thought of Owen.
Irregular payments.
Adrian Vale.
The ambush.
“Did you plan my death?”
Sebastian stared.
Then laughed.
“Do you know how many times your decisions nearly killed you without my help?”
Not answer.
“Did you meet Vale?”
“Yes.”
Direct.
Dominic’s heartbeat slowed.
“Why?”
“Negotiation.”
“To kill me?”
“To prevent a war.”
“By giving him my routes?”
Sebastian’s eyes hardened.
“You always did prefer dramatic conclusions.”
Dominic took one step forward.
“Claire died.”
Sebastian looked away.
Only a fraction.
But Dominic saw.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew she was in Vermont.”
Sebastian said nothing.
“She had my child.”
Something changed in Sebastian’s expression.
Genuine surprise?
Dominic watched.
“Lily is mine.”
Sebastian went completely still.
There.
Maybe he had not known.
Then:
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn’t.”
Sebastian’s face emptied.
He looked toward the case again.
And Dominic understood something.
Claire’s evidence might have exposed Sebastian.
But Lily changed inheritance.
Family structure.
Everything.
If Sebastian cared about control, Dominic’s daughter was not merely a child.
She was a future claim.
Danger.
Dominic stepped between Sebastian and the box.
“Leave.”
Sebastian laughed softly.
“You think you can simply walk away with five-year-old accusations?”
“I think I can verify them.”
“Jack will tell you what you want.”
“Jack isn’t here.”
Sebastian paused.
Good.
“He sent you.”
“Did he?”
Dominic held his gaze.
Sebastian’s confidence shifted slightly.
Then footsteps thundered above.
Police?
No.
Jack.
He entered with four security officers.
Sebastian turned.
For the first time, surprise.
Jack looked at Dominic.
“You okay?”
Dominic stared at him.
“You called Sebastian?”
“No.”
Sebastian smiled.
“Of course he’ll deny it.”
Jack ignored him.
“I put a tracker on your car.”
Dominic’s eyebrows rose.
Jack added:
“You can fire me later.”
Maybe.
“When you stopped moving underground and one of Sebastian’s vehicles arrived, I came.”
Verification.
Sebastian’s story failed.
Jack looked toward the evidence case.
“Found it?”
“Yes.”
Then Jack faced Sebastian.
“Your phone.”
Sebastian laughed.
“You take orders now?”
Dominic said:
“No one takes his phone.”
Jack glanced at him.
Dominic continued.
“We’re not stealing evidence.”
Sebastian’s expression changed.
Another new Dominic.
Then:
“We call the authorities.”
Sebastian stared.
“You’re going to invite federal agents into this?”
Dominic looked at Claire’s envelope.
“Yes.”
“That box contains family records.”
“If they prove crimes, they aren’t protected because the name is Caruso.”
Sebastian’s face hardened.
“Claire did this to you.”
“No.”
Dominic closed the case.
“She reminded me what you turned me into.”
They left the basement with the evidence.
Sebastian walked out separately.
No kidnapping.
No beating.
No disappearance.
Dominic’s lawyers contacted a federal prosecutor he had dealt with before.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Sloan.
She did not trust him.
Good.
They arranged controlled transfer through counsel.
Dominic demanded copies? Not demand. Counsel arranged preservation rights where lawful.
The first item investigators reviewed was Claire’s final video.
Dominic received permission to watch a duplicate because it was addressed personally to him and already part of his property? Creative.
He watched at home.
Lily asleep upstairs.
Jack beside him.
Video timestamp:
Six days before Claire died.
Claire sat in a small Vermont bedroom.
Her hair shorter.
Face tired.
Behind her, baby clothes folded on a chair.
“Dominic.”
She smiled.
He nearly broke.
“If you’re seeing this, the plan probably went badly.”
Even now.
Humor.
“I need you to know I chose to leave for two days.”
Pause.
“Not five years.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I chose to protect you badly.”
She looked down.
“Owen chose to help me badly.”
Then:
“Rachel chose to lie to you because I asked her.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Be angry.”
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“But be angry after you protect Lily.”
Then she lifted a folder.
“Sebastian moved money through six companies to Adrian Vale’s people.”
Documents appeared.
“He paid for access credentials.”
Another.
“He arranged the route leak that led to the first attempted attack on you.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
The attack before Owen died.
There had been another failed one five years ago.
“I don’t know whether Sebastian wants you dead or simply weak enough to replace.”
Claire breathed.
“But I know he told Vale one thing.”
She played audio.
Sebastian’s voice:
Dominic thinks fear makes loyalty. When he falls, everyone will discover fear only lasts until someone stronger arrives.
Dominic felt Jack look at him.
The words hurt because part was true.
Claire returned.
“I was going to bring this to you.”
Then:
“Owen discovered Sebastian knew I had copied records.”
She looked frightened.
“I left.”
Pause.
“Then I found out about Lily.”
Her face softened.
Dominic’s chest broke again.
“She kicks constantly.”
Lily.
“I think she’s angry already.”
Dominic laughed through tears.
“She gets that from you.”
Then Claire’s smile disappeared.
“Three nights ago, the sedan found me.”
She showed the photograph.
“I moved.”
“Yesterday, Dr. Hale contacted Rachel.”
Dominic froze.
Dr. Leonard Hale.
“He says someone asked questions about my pregnancy.”
Claire looked toward the door.
“I don’t think I have much time.”
Then:
“If something happens to me, don’t turn Lily into revenge.”
Dominic clenched his jaw.
“Please.”
Her voice cracked.
“She is not evidence.”
“She is not an heir.”
“She is not the answer to what they took.”
“She is a little girl.”
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
Lily asleep.
Claire continued.
“You once told me the Caruso name means people never touch what belongs to you.”
Her eyes filled.
“I hated that sentence.”
Dominic remembered saying it.
Proudly.
“Lily does not belong to you.”
His breath caught.
“She belongs to herself.”
Jack looked away.
Claire smiled sadly.
“You get to be her father if you earn it.”
Dominic cried openly now.
“And one more thing.”
She leaned closer.
“If Jack is alive, tell him I was wrong about him.”
Jack froze.
“I thought his credentials meant he betrayed us.”
Claire shook her head.
“He tried to warn Owen.”
Jack covered his mouth.
“Tell him I’m sorry.”
The video ended.
For several seconds, the room contained only Dominic’s breathing.
Then Jack stood.
“I need air.”
He walked outside.
Dominic remained.
He replayed one sentence.
You get to be her father if you earn it.
Upstairs, Lily cried.
Nightmare.
Dominic immediately moved.
He found her sitting in bed clutching the repaired rabbit.
Maria stood nearby.
“I’ve got her.”
Lily saw Dominic.
“Daddy.”
He sat.
She crawled into his arms.
“Bad dream.”
“What happened?”
“Mommy left.”
Dominic’s throat tightened.
“Rachel?”
Lily nodded.
Then:
“First Mommy too.”
He held her carefully.
“I know.”
“Are you leaving?”
“No.”
“Promise?”
Dominic stopped.
Promises matter.
“I will do everything I can to come back whenever I leave.”
Lily frowned.
“That’s not promise.”
“No.”
He kissed her hair.
“It’s truth.”
She thought.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
Five minutes later she slept against him.
Dominic remained until sunrise.
At 6:12 a.m., Jack entered without knocking.
His face looked wrong.
“What?”
Jack held a phone.
“Federal agents found Dr. Hale.”
“Good.”
“No.”
Dominic’s body tightened.
“What happened?”
“Hale was dead before they reached him.”
Silence.
“Natural?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
Dominic’s hand closed around Lily’s blanket.
Then Jack added:
“And they found a photograph in his apartment.”
“What photograph?”
Jack turned the screen.
Lily.
Taken yesterday.
Inside the Caruso estate garden.
Somebody had photographed Dominic’s daughter after Rachel died.
May you like
The conspiracy was not history.
Someone was still watching.
