Chapter 6 - Someone Came Back For The Phone)
The first alarm sounded at 3:17 in the morning.
Domenico woke instantly.
A red warning light flashed on the security panel beside his bed.
EAST GARDEN SENSOR.
Then the panel went dark.
He grabbed his phone.
No signal from the estate cameras.
He crossed the hall to Josie's room.
Her bed was empty.
His heart stopped.
"Josie."
No answer.
He ran into the corridor.
"Josie."
A small voice answered from Eli's room.
"I'm here."
He opened the door.
Both girls were awake.
Eli was holding a bedside lamp like a weapon.
Domenico almost laughed from relief.
"Stay here. Lock the door."
"What's happening?" Eli asked.
"Probably a system fault."
He did not believe his own words.
Downstairs, Marcus and another guard were already moving toward the east wing.
Rain had begun outside.
Domenico followed them to the greenhouse.
The door was open.
Broken glass glittered across the floor.
Someone had searched the room.
Cabinets stood open.
Serena's boxes had been emptied.
A blue storage container lay upside down.
Domenico stared.
"Was anything valuable kept here?" Marcus asked.
"No."
"Then what were they looking for?"
Domenico thought about Serena's phone.
He turned.
"Eli."
He ran back toward the house.
She opened the bedroom door before he knocked.
"Where is Serena's phone?"
Eli went pale.
Domenico noticed.
"You have it."
She hesitated.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Dad tried to delete things."
Domenico stopped.
"What things?"
Eli removed the stuffed rabbit from the closet.
She opened the torn seam.
The phone slid into her hand.
Domenico stared at it.
"He took this from my office?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"The night we found it."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he said you were already worried about too much."
Domenico closed his eyes.
Guilt hit him with physical force.
Gareth had spent weeks teaching two children to protect Domenico from the truth.
And Domenico had let him.
"What did he delete?"
"Pictures from the marina. Some videos."
"Did you recover them?"
Eli nodded.
"And I copied them."
Domenico looked at her.
"Copied them where?"
"To my account."
He almost smiled.
"Smart."
"My mom says never keep only one copy of anything important."
"Your mom is right."
Josie sat on the bed.
"Daddy?"
He crouched.
"Yeah?"
"Gareth knows about the phone."
"I know."
"He'll come back."
Domenico looked toward Marcus.
"No, he won't."
By sunrise, every guard at the estate had been replaced or reassigned except Marcus and one man Domenico personally trusted.
The police documented the greenhouse break in.
Nothing obvious was stolen.
Domenico ordered a complete forensic review of the villa's security system.
At 10:40, the specialist found something.
The system had not failed.
Someone with administrative credentials had disabled it remotely.
Only four people had those credentials.
Domenico.
Marcus.
The technology director.
And Gareth.
At noon, Domenico's attorney obtained preservation orders for company servers.
At 1:15, Conrad Lane called.
"You need to stop."
Domenico stood beside his office window.
"Interesting opening."
"People are saying you've ordered an internal investigation."
"I have."
"You are about to destabilize the acquisition."
"Then delay it."
"Domenico."
"Did Gareth ask you to call?"
Silence.
That was enough.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"Be careful."
"Everyone keeps telling me that."
"Because you're moving through things you don't understand."
"Then help me understand."
Conrad sighed.
"Serena discovered financial irregularities."
Domenico stopped.
"What kind?"
"I can't discuss this over the phone."
"You're discussing it now."
"She believed someone was moving funds through development subsidiaries."
"Who?"
"I never knew."
"Did Gareth?"
Another silence.
"Conrad."
"Meet me tonight."
"Where?"
"The old Pierce marina."
Domenico's blood chilled.
The same marina beside the lake where Serena died.
"No."
"It's the only place I trust."
"I don't."
"Then you'll never know what Serena found."
The call ended.
Domenico stared at the phone.
Marcus entered.
"Don't go."
Domenico looked at him.
"You heard?"
"Enough."
"Set surveillance around the marina."
"Police?"
"Not yet."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know who Conrad is afraid of."
Domenico walked upstairs.
Eli and Josie sat on the floor with Serena's phone between them.
A photograph filled the screen.
Domenico recognized it immediately.
The marina.
Himself holding Josie.
Serena behind the camera.
He sat.
"I remember this day."
Josie pointed toward the reflection.
"That's Gareth."
Domenico zoomed.
Gareth and Conrad.
A white envelope.
A red dock light.
His throat tightened.
"This was taken four days before Serena died."
Eli swiped.
Another photograph appeared.
Then another.
Most were ordinary.
On the fifth image, something unusual appeared behind Domenico.
A black SUV.
The license plate was visible.
Domenico stared.
He knew that plate.
The vehicle belonged to Pierce Development's legal department.
"Why would company counsel have been at our private marina?"
Eli looked at him.
"Maybe Aunt Serena asked them."
Domenico called the attorney who had worked for Pierce Development at the time.
The man answered on the third ring.
When Domenico mentioned the marina, silence followed.
Then the attorney said, "I can't talk to you."
"You worked for my company."
"Not anymore."
"Why were you there four days before Serena died?"
"Domenico, don't call me again."
"Did Serena meet with you?"
The attorney whispered, "Ask what happened to the Halcyon account."
"What is Halcyon?"
The call disconnected.
Domenico searched company records.
No result.
He called his current controller.
She searched archived entities.
Twenty minutes later she returned with an answer.
Halcyon Holdings had been a private investment vehicle.
It had received forty two million dollars from Pierce Development over six years.
The company officially dissolved two weeks after Serena died.
Its final authorized signatory was Gareth Vale.
Domenico sat in silence.
At seven that evening, he left for the marina.
Before he went, Josie hugged him.
"Don't go by the red light."
He looked down.
"Why?"
May you like
Her face turned pale.
"Because that's where Mommy screamed."
