Chapter 16 - The Recording From Elena Moretti|
Dominic stared at Jonah as though the man had just spoken a foreign language.
“What did you mean, disappeared?”
Jonah didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened the envelope.
Inside was a small digital storage device and a photograph.
The photograph showed Elena standing outside a secluded medical clinic.
The date printed in the corner was two weeks after her funeral.
Dominic took a step backward.
“That's impossible.”
“I thought so, too,” Jonah whispered.
“Where did you get this?”
“From someone who worked at the clinic.”
Gabriel inspected the photograph.
“It could be altered.”
Jonah nodded.
“That's why I brought the recording.”
They connected the storage device to a secured computer.
A woman's face appeared on the screen.
Elena Moretti.
Beautiful dark hair.
Soft brown eyes.
The same delicate smile I'd seen in photographs throughout the mansion.
Dominic gripped the edge of the desk.
“Elena.”
The recording began.
“Dominic, if you're seeing this, then something has gone terribly wrong.”
Her voice trembled.
“I discovered that Simon was using Ethan's trust to hide financial transfers. I tried to stop him.”
She swallowed.
“He isn't working alone.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Who?”
Elena continued.
“I can't tell you everything yet. The people involved are closer than you think.”
A distant noise interrupted the recording.
She looked over her shoulder.
Then back at the camera.
“If anything happens to me, protect Ethan.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“And please, Dominic, don't trust the official account of my accident.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
I watched Dominic's face.
His breathing was shallow.
His eyes remained fixed on the blank screen.
For two years, he had mourned his wife.
Now evidence suggested she might have survived.
Or that someone had created an elaborate deception using her image.
“Is she alive?” he finally asked.
Jonah lowered his gaze.
“I don't know.”
Dominic turned toward him.
“You said she disappeared.”
“That's what I believe happened. But I never found her.”
Gabriel examined the recording information.
“The file's original creation date needs verification.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
Then something occurred to me.
“The north wing.”
Both men looked at me.
“Mrs. Hargrove gave us a key. She said Elena kept evidence there.”
Dominic took the brass key from his pocket.
For the first time, I saw hesitation in his eyes.
He had faced dangerous rivals without flinching.
But opening that door meant confronting the possibility that the woman he had buried had never truly been buried at all.
Finally, he spoke.
“Gabriel. Prepare the house.”
I looked at him.
“What are you going to do?”
May you like
Dominic closed his fist around the key.
“I'm going to find out what happened to my wife.”
