Chapter 12 - THE SIN ELENA COULD NOT HIDE|
Dominic wanted to hit Elena.
He wanted to demand how she could have stood beside him at charity dinners, accepted his protection, and watched him grieve for a child she knew was alive.
Instead, he stood very still.
“Why?”
Elena's eyes filled.
“Marco had a gun pointed at my brother. He said he would kill him if I didn't cooperate.”
“So you took my daughter.”
“I didn't know where they were taking her. I thought she was going to Margaret. I thought she would be safe.”
“You knew Laura was alive.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe she had abandoned me.”
Elena nodded.
“I was afraid.”
Dominic laughed once, without humor.
“You were afraid, so you let a pregnant woman spend three years underground?”
“I tried to get her out.”
“When?”
“Several times. Marco watched every move I made. He had men following my brother. He had recordings of me discussing the trust. If I went to the police, he would have destroyed everything.”
“You had three years.”
“I know.”
“You had my money, my guards, my name.”
“I know.”
“You had access to me every day.”
Elena's voice broke.
“And every day I thought I would find a way.”
Dominic turned away.
“Get out.”
“Dominic—”
“Get out before I forget that you're standing in my house.”
She left the flash drive on the desk and walked out.
Marco was already in federal custody. The agents had taken his men, his documents, and his phone. But Dominic barely noticed.
He had one question.
“Where is Laura?”
Elena stopped at the doorway.
“The old property. Beneath the east wing. There's a room behind the boiler chamber.”
Dominic was moving before she finished.
He gathered six men and drove to the abandoned property. The entrance was hidden behind a row of overgrown hedges. A rusted service door opened into a narrow stairwell.
At the bottom, he found the tunnel.
The air smelled of damp earth and old medicine.
“Laura!”
His voice traveled through the passage.
No answer.
He moved faster.
A metal door stood at the end. The lock had been replaced recently. Dominic shot it twice. The door swung inward.
A narrow room waited beyond it.
There was a bed, a chair, a small table, and a ventilation grille near the floor.
On the wall, someone had scratched hundreds of short lines.
Dominic stepped inside.
“Laura?”
The bed was empty.
A cup sat on the table. The water inside was still moving slightly.
“She was here,” one of his men said.
Dominic noticed a piece of fabric caught beneath the bed.
Laura's.
He picked it up.
A second door stood behind a cabinet. It opened into another passage that descended toward the old boathouse.
The men spread out.
A faint sound came from below.
Three taps.
A pause.
Three more.
Dominic froze.
He remembered the old maintenance code his father had taught the staff. A signal used when someone was trapped behind a sealed door.
He tapped the wall.
Three times.
A pause.
Three more.
The answer came almost immediately.
“Who's there?” a woman's voice called.
Dominic pressed his forehead against the cold stone.
“It's me.”
Silence.
Then—
“No.”
“Laura.”
“No. You don't get to come down here and say my name.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You're too late.”
“I know.”
“I had a baby. I woke up alone. I called for you until I couldn't speak.”
His voice broke.
“I know.”
“You don't know anything.”
The door beyond the wall rattled.
Dominic grabbed the handle.
“Stand back.”
He fired at the lock. The metal broke.
The door opened.
Laura stood in the narrow passage, thinner than he remembered, her hair cut unevenly at her shoulders. Her eyes moved over his face without recognition.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dominic saw the scar near her wrist and the exhaustion carved into her expression.
“Laura.”
She stepped backward.
“Don't touch me.”
He stopped.
“I won't.”
Her gaze fell to the yellow ribbon around his wrist.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grace gave it to me.”
Laura's lips parted.
“You found her?”
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know?”
Dominic swallowed.
“She knows I'm her father.”
Laura looked at him as if the words had struck her.
Then she whispered, “You promised me we'd choose her name together.”
“I remember.”
She began to cry.
And before Dominic could take another breath, a gunshot sounded from the passage behind him.
One of his guards fell.
Laura screamed.
A shadow appeared at the far end of the tunnel, holding a pistol.
“Get away from her!” the man shouted.
May you like
Dominic recognized the voice.
It belonged to Dr. Bell.
