Chapter 6 - Caroline’s confession
Dominic found Caroline on the seventh floor.
She stood in an office overlooking the East River, wearing dark trousers and a cream blouse.
Thirteen years had changed her.
Her brown hair was shorter.
There were faint lines near her eyes.
She looked stronger.
Harder.
But the moment she saw Dominic, something old passed between them.
Neither spoke.
Isabella closed the door behind them.
Caroline looked at her.
“You brought him.”
“He found you.”
Dominic said, “Not difficult when your company name is on the building.”
Caroline gave Isabella a tired look.
“I told you that shell arrangement wouldn’t last.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You were messaging Vanessa.”
Caroline’s face changed.
“How do you know?”
“That is your first question?”
“It matters.”
“Emma found the account.”
“Emma is alive?”
“Yes.”
Caroline exhaled in relief.
Dominic noticed.
“You expected otherwise?”
“No.”
“Try again.”
Caroline sat down slowly.
“I thought once Marcus exposed himself, things could become violent.”
“You knew Marcus was involved.”
“For six months.”
“And you told nobody.”
“I told Isabella.”
Dominic looked at his sister.
Isabella shrugged.
“I was trying to determine who he worked for.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“I have never been surrounded by so many intelligent people making terrible decisions.”
Caroline looked at him.
“You always did think you were the smartest person in every room.”
“No. Just this one.”
For a second she nearly smiled.
Then the past returned.
Dominic placed both hands on the desk.
“Why were you messaging Vanessa?”
Caroline opened a drawer.
Dominic’s security men moved.
She stopped.
“It’s paper.”
Dominic nodded.
She removed a folder and slid it toward him.
Inside were printed conversations.
Vanessa had been sending confidential information.
Schedules.
Security rotations.
Financial meetings.
Dominic read quickly.
“You recruited her.”
Caroline said, “Your father did.”
“He died sixteen years ago.”
“He created a contingency network before his death. Accounts. Drop sites. Instructions. Vanessa’s family had been connected to Richard’s operations for years. When she became engaged to you, I contacted her anonymously.”
“Why?”
“To see if she would sell information.”
Dominic looked at the pages.
“She did.”
“Within forty eight hours.”
“How much?”
“Initially ten thousand dollars.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“She betrayed me for ten thousand dollars?”
“She thought she was selling details to a journalist.”
“That is supposed to improve it?”
“No.”
Caroline continued.
“Then I increased the stakes. I told her I represented people who wanted access to Vance operations. She eventually began providing everything.”
“Why not expose her?”
“Because she led us to Marcus.”
Dominic looked at Isabella.
“And Marcus led you to Daniel.”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned back.
“Where is Daniel?”
Caroline hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Dominic’s voice cooled.
“Earlier you told me he was closer than I think.”
“Because I know who he was.”
“Was?”
Caroline’s expression changed.
“Daniel Vance died eight years ago.”
Silence.
Isabella stepped forward.
“That’s impossible.”
“I confirmed it.”
“How?”
“DNA.”
Dominic stared.
“Explain.”
Caroline opened another file.
“Eight years ago a man died in a private clinic in Montreal under the name David Price. I found records linking his mother to Evelyn Price.”
Sophia had said Evelyn was Daniel’s mother.
Caroline continued.
“I obtained a preserved sample through a contact. I compared it to material from Vincent.”
“And?”
“Father and son.”
Dominic’s mind raced.
“Then who is using Daniel’s name?”
“That is the real question.”
Isabella sat down.
Marcus believed he worked for Daniel.
Richard appeared to believe Daniel was alive.
Vanessa was communicating with Caroline while apparently also working with the conspiracy.
Nothing aligned.
Dominic looked at Caroline.
“Why didn’t you tell Isabella?”
“I did not trust her.”
Isabella looked hurt.
Caroline said, “You disappeared for three weeks last year and refused to explain where you went.”
Isabella answered, “I was trying to reach Marcus.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic raised a hand.
“Stop.”
Both women did.
Old habit.
Dominic noticed.
So did they.
He looked at Caroline.
“You used Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she was dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“You let her stay near my mother.”
Caroline’s voice softened.
“I did not expect Vanessa to become violent.”
“That sentence will not mean much to my mother.”
“I know.”
Dominic turned away.
Caroline stood.
“I am sorry.”
He looked back.
She was not talking only about Sophia.
Dominic knew it.
Thirteen years sat between them.
He did not have room for it yet.
“Paul DeLuca.”
Caroline’s expression changed.
“He was here.”
“Why?”
“He brought me a drive.”
“From who?”
“He said from Daniel.”
“But Daniel is dead.”
“Yes.”
“What was on it?”
Caroline pointed toward a laptop.
“Bank transfers and surveillance.”
Dominic moved closer.
“Of what?”
“Your house.”
Isabella stood.
“How recent?”
“Today.”
Caroline opened the laptop.
Security footage appeared.
Not from visible mansion cameras.
Hidden cameras.
Bedroom corridor.
Kitchen.
Garage.
Sophia’s sitting room.
Dominic’s office.
Dominic felt sick.
“These cameras are inside my house.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Some timestamps go back four years.”
Isabella whispered, “Marcus.”
Caroline shook her head.
“Maybe.”
Dominic looked at the camera angles.
One view stopped him.
A hidden camera inside his father’s old study.
That room had remained locked for years.
“Play that one.”
Caroline did.
The video showed Paul DeLuca entering the study two nights earlier.
He moved directly to Vincent’s old desk.
Then pushed a hidden mechanism.
A panel opened in the wall.
Dominic stepped closer.
Paul removed a small wooden box.
He opened it.
Inside was a brass key.
Emma’s missing key.
Dominic’s voice went cold.
“Paul stole it before Emma ever had it.”
Caroline paused the video.
“No.”
She enlarged the timestamp.
“This was two nights ago.”
Emma received the key last night.
Dominic frowned.
“Then there are two keys.”
Isabella whispered, “Dad made copies.”
Caroline nodded.
“Apparently.”
Dominic looked at the hidden compartment.
“What does the key open?”
Nobody answered.
Then Caroline’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She put it on speaker.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You are all running out of time.”
Dominic leaned closer.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed.
“Vincent’s disappointing son.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
The voice continued.
“If you want the ledger, come to the place where your father taught you that blood mattered more than truth.”
Dominic knew immediately.
The old Vance social club in Queens.
The place where Vincent had died.
Then the voice said one final thing.
“Bring Isabella.”
The call ended.
Caroline looked at Dominic.
Isabella whispered, “It knows I’m alive.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“No.”
May you like
He understood something worse.
“It has always known.”
