Chapter 11 - the maid who knew too much
The flight lasted only eleven minutes.
The aircraft landed at a smaller private strip near Montauk.
By the time Dominic’s people reached it, Emma was gone.
The pilot was unconscious but alive.
Marcus Kane was found handcuffed inside the rear cabin.
Dominic stared at him through the open aircraft door.
Marcus looked up.
“You look terrible.”
Dominic hit him.
Marcus’s head snapped sideways.
Elena said, “Productive.”
Dominic crouched in front of him.
“Where is Emma?”
Marcus spat blood onto the floor.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic raised his hand.
Marcus said, “I’m serious.”
Dominic stopped.
Marcus laughed.
“Nice to know you can still listen.”
“What happened?”
“Richard had us moved from the mansion.”
“How?”
“He had your signatures.”
“Forged.”
“Yes.”
“Who forged them?”
“Vanessa.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Then?”
“Richard planned to fly us all out. Emma was insurance.”
“For what?”
“The original video.”
Dominic remembered her recording Vanessa’s attack.
Marcus continued.
“Vanessa wanted it destroyed.”
“Why not take the phone?”
“She uploaded it.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“Yes.”
“Richard believed Emma had another copy somewhere.”
“She probably does.”
Marcus gave a tired laugh.
“I’m beginning to like her.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Don’t.”
Marcus nodded.
“Fair.”
“What happened on the plane?”
“Ten minutes after takeoff the pilot changed course.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then Emma got loose?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at Dominic.
“Someone freed her.”
“Who?”
Marcus’s face became serious.
“The flight attendant.”
Dominic frowned.
“There was an attendant?”
“For the first three minutes.”
“What happened to her?”
“She opened Emma’s restraints, gave her a phone and told her something.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t hear.”
“Then?”
“The attendant put a parachute on.”
Dominic stared.
“You’re joking.”
“I wish.”
“She jumped?”
“Yes.”
“And Emma?”
“The pilot landed here. Two vehicles were waiting. Emma left willingly.”
Dominic looked at Catherine.
“This was planned.”
Catherine nodded.
“By whom?”
Marcus answered.
“Caroline.”
Everyone turned.
Caroline froze.
“No.”
Marcus looked at her.
“The flight attendant used your name.”
“That doesn’t mean I sent her.”
Marcus laughed.
“She told Emma, Caroline says the house is compromised.”
Caroline’s face changed.
“That phrase…”
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
“It was one of Vincent’s emergency codes.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“For what?”
Caroline whispered, “Extraction.”
Dominic stared.
“Who else knew it?”
“Vincent. Me.”
“Anybody else?”
Caroline thought.
Then her eyes widened.
“Paul.”
Dominic immediately called Paul.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Elena cursed.
“He was with us at the safe house.”
Sophia said, “He left twenty minutes before Catherine arrived.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Paul.
The quiet accountant.
The courier.
The man who had served Vincent.
The man who always knew just enough to move everyone toward the next clue.
Dominic had trusted him because Paul seemed frightened.
Harmless.
Old.
Necessary.
Exactly how a patient man would want to appear.
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“You said Paul was a courier.”
“That is what Daniel told me.”
“Daniel is dead.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
Elena said, “Long story.”
Dominic grabbed Marcus’s collar.
“Who actually recruited you?”
Marcus hesitated.
“A voice.”
“Never met?”
“No.”
“Payments?”
“Offshore.”
“Instructions?”
“Encrypted.”
Dominic released him.
Paul had access to every account.
Every schedule.
Every old Vance code.
Every financial secret.
Caroline whispered, “He could have created Daniel.”
Elena’s face hardened.
“He used my father’s identity.”
Catherine asked, “Why?”
Sophia answered quietly.
“Because Paul loved him.”
Everyone turned.
Dominic stared at his mother.
“What?”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“Paul was Daniel’s uncle.”
Elena froze.
“My mother’s brother?”
“Yes.”
Elena stepped backward.
“No.”
Sophia continued.
“Paul DeLuca was born Paul Price. He changed his name before joining Vincent’s companies.”
Dominic felt the final structure beginning to appear.
Paul had entered the family not as an accountant.
As revenge.
He had watched Vincent.
Then Dominic.
For twenty two years.
Long enough to control the money.
Long enough to build relationships.
Long enough to become invisible.
Dominic whispered, “He didn’t work for Daniel.”
Sophia shook her head.
“He believed he was continuing Daniel’s war after Daniel died.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“My father didn’t want a war.”
“No.”
Sophia looked at her.
“He wanted peace.”
That meant Paul had turned Daniel into a symbol for a cause Daniel himself had abandoned.
Dominic looked toward the empty runway.
“Where would he take Emma?”
Caroline suddenly opened her phone.
“There is one place.”
“Where?”
“Vincent had a final emergency site.”
“What site?”
“A house near the Atlantic cliffs.”
Sophia stared.
“The lighthouse property.”
Caroline nodded.
Dominic looked at her.
“Why would Paul go there?”
May you like
Caroline’s face became pale.
“Because that is where Vincent hid the original ledger.”
