Chapter 12 - The Last Person Domenico Suspected)
For the second time in three days, Domenico heard the words that destroyed every other thought.
Ruby is gone.
He drove home with police vehicles behind him.
The mansion gates were locked.
No alarms had triggered.
No unknown vehicles entered.
No windows were broken.
Ruby disappeared from inside a secured house.
That meant the person who took her had access.
Rosa was crying in the upstairs hallway.
"I was right there."
Domenico grabbed her shoulders.
"Tell me."
"She was sleeping. I went to the kitchen for warm milk. Five minutes."
"Who was upstairs?"
"Security."
"Names."
Daniel arrived.
"We're checking."
Domenico turned on him.
"Every person."
"I know."
"Nobody leaves."
"They won't."
Camera footage showed Ruby leaving her bedroom at 1:07 a.m.
She was walking normally.
No one forced her.
She went downstairs.
At the service entrance she met someone.
The camera angle showed only the person's shoulder.
Ruby took the person's hand willingly.
Domenico stared at the screen.
"She knew them."
Daniel zoomed.
A gold watch appeared.
Domenico recognized it.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
Domenico stepped backward.
The watch had been a gift.
Lucia had given it to Domenico's older cousin and corporate legal adviser, Gabriel Moretti, ten years earlier.
Gabriel was fifty one.
Trusted.
Patient.
Family.
He had prepared Lucia's will.
He had recommended Adrian for the CFO position.
And he had spent the previous three days telling Domenico to avoid scandal until evidence was stronger.
Daniel searched vehicle records.
Gabriel's car exited through the service gate at 1:11.
The guard had opened it without question.
Domenico called him.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then a message arrived.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT RUBY BACK.
An address followed.
Shaw read it.
"You're not going alone."
"He'll see you."
"He expects you to say that."
Domenico looked at her.
"Then what?"
"We make him believe you're alone."
The location was the old Moretti winery, abandoned after Domenico's grandfather died.
Gabriel had grown up there.
So had Domenico.
The police established a perimeter half a mile away.
Domenico entered alone.
Inside, Ruby sat on a chair beside an old oak barrel.
She was not tied.
Gabriel stood behind her.
He wore the gold watch.
Ruby looked at her father.
"Daddy."
Domenico forced himself not to run to her.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
Gabriel sighed.
"I would never hurt her."
Domenico stared at him.
"You kidnapped her."
"I removed her from a dangerous house."
"You helped Adrian escape."
Gabriel smiled faintly.
"Adrian was never the mastermind."
Domenico felt the truth approaching.
"It was you."
Gabriel walked toward a dusty window.
"Your father built the company. You inherited it. Lucia began questioning transactions that existed before you were even CEO."
"Transactions you controlled."
"I protected the Moretti family."
"You stole from it."
"Money moves. Companies survive."
"You killed Lucia."
Gabriel turned sharply.
"No."
"Marcus says Adrian cut the brake line."
"He did."
"And who told Adrian to solve the problem?"
Gabriel said nothing.
Domenico understood.
"You."
Gabriel looked tired.
"I told him to recover the documents."
"You knew what he would do."
"I knew Adrian was desperate."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one you're getting."
Ruby watched both men.
Her thumb rubbed her palm.
Gabriel noticed.
"Stop doing that."
Domenico's eyes snapped toward him.
Ruby froze.
Gabriel's irritation revealed something.
"You've seen her do that before," Domenico said.
Gabriel realized his mistake.
"When?"
No answer.
Domenico moved one step closer.
"Lucia's recording said someone had been inside the house."
Gabriel looked away.
"It was you."
Silence.
"You searched Ruby's room."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"You were looking for the key."
Ruby whispered, "He took Mommy's papers."
Gabriel turned.
Domenico stared at her.
"What?"
Ruby pointed at Gabriel.
"Mommy called him Uncle Gabe."
Domenico's heart pounded.
"Ruby, what did you see?"
"Mommy gave him papers."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
The missing piece appeared.
Lucia had trusted Gabriel.
That was why he knew about the evidence.
That was why Marcus and Valentina always stayed one step ahead.
Domenico's voice dropped.
"She came to you for help."
Gabriel said nothing.
"She trusted you."
"She was going to destroy everything."
"She was exposing thieves."
"She was exposing the Moretti name."
"The name isn't worth her life."
"You say that now."
Gabriel's voice rose.
"But three years ago you cared about expansion, headlines, investors. You weren't listening to her."
The words hit because they were partly true.
Gabriel continued.
"She came to me because you were unavailable."
Domenico's guilt surfaced.
Then Ruby said quietly, "Daddy came home."
Both men looked at her.
Ruby stared at Gabriel.
"My daddy always comes home."
Domenico felt something inside him steady.
He had failed Lucia by being absent.
He would not fail Ruby by becoming trapped inside that guilt forever.
"Gabriel."
The older man looked at him.
"You were right about one thing."
"What?"
"I wasn't listening to Lucia."
Domenico's eyes hardened.
"But you murdered her because she trusted you enough to speak."
Gabriel's face twisted.
"I didn't touch her car."
"You gave the information to the people who did."
"That's not the same."
"It is to Ruby."
Gabriel looked at the child.
Ruby shrank.
Domenico saw his opening.
He lunged.
Gabriel grabbed Ruby.
Domenico stopped instantly.
"Don't."
Gabriel backed toward a side door.
"I need time."
"For what?"
"To leave."
"You won't make it ten miles."
"I have people."
"Not anymore."
Gabriel laughed.
"You still don't understand how many people owe me."
Then a voice came from behind him.
"I don't."
Gabriel turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
Everyone froze.
May you like
Adrian held a gun.
But it was pointed at Gabriel.
