Chapter 3 - Richard Was Hunting My Daughter Because Evan Had Hidden Evidence Inside Her—And Dominic Discovered the Secret Before I DidThe school closed early.
Lily came home with me.
Dominic followed.
I wanted to argue.
I didn't.
The apartment was no longer safe.
He moved us to a secure townhouse in Brooklyn.
It belonged to one of his companies.
There were cameras.
Guards.
A private entrance.
Lily thought it was a hotel.
She loved it.
I hated it.
She asked for pancakes.
I made them.
Dominic sat at the kitchen island.
“You make good pancakes.”
I stared.
“You told my daughter that.”
“I stand by it.”
Lily laughed.
She signed:
HE'S FLIRTING.
I nearly dropped the spatula.
Dominic looked confused.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing.”
Lily smiled.
She knew.
After breakfast, Dominic showed me more evidence.
Evan had been working undercover inside his organization.
He discovered Richard Vale was using legitimate companies to move money.
But the money was tied to something worse.
Children from immigrant families.
False adoption records.
Medical scams.
Stolen identities.
Families were paid or threatened.
Evan found it.
He tried to expose it.
Richard learned about him.
The accident happened.
But Evan escaped.
He disappeared.
Why?
Because he was protecting Lily.
He believed Richard would use her as leverage.
Then I asked the question that had been haunting me.
“Why didn't he come home?”
Dominic's answer hurt.
“He thought you would be killed.”
I stared.
“He was alive.”
“Yes.”
“He could have called.”
“He did.”
“What?”
“He called you.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
My heart raced.
“I never received it.”
Dominic showed me a phone record.
One call.
My number.
Three minutes.
The night before the accident.
I remembered that night.
My phone had been dead.
Or so I thought.
I searched old records.
There it was.
A missed call.
I had forgotten.
I started crying.
Dominic didn't speak.
He just sat beside me.
Eventually he said:
“You didn't abandon him.”
“I thought he did.”
“He didn't.”
I covered my face.
The grief I had buried for six years came back.
Lily climbed onto the chair beside me.
“Mommy?”
I wiped my face.
“I'm okay.”
She hugged me.
Then signed something to Dominic.
He looked at her.
I translated.
DADDY IS NOT DEAD.
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“Why did she say that?”
“I don't know.”
Lily pointed toward her backpack.
She opened it.
Inside was Mr. Buttons.
She unzipped the rabbit's back.
A tiny flash drive fell out.
I stared.
“Where did that come from?”
“My daddy.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“He gave Mr. Buttons to me.”
“When?”
“Birthday.”
She was five then?
No.
She had received the rabbit when she was three.
I looked at Dominic.
He understood.
Evan had hidden evidence inside her stuffed animal.
For years, the evidence had traveled with Lily.
Richard couldn't find it because nobody knew it existed.
Dominic carefully removed the flash drive.
It contained photographs.
Documents.
Audio files.
And one encrypted folder.
The password was unknown.
I tried Lily's birthday.
Nothing.
Evan's.
Nothing.
Our wedding date.
Nothing.
Then Dominic noticed a handwritten note.
THE PERSON WHO SAVES HER WILL KNOW.
He looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I shook my head.
We spent the night trying passwords.
Nothing.
Then Lily wandered in.
She watched Dominic type.
She said:
“That's wrong.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed.
“Daddy showed me.”
“What did he show you?”
She took a crayon.
Drew four shapes.
A star.
A circle.
A heart.
A line.
I stared.
Then remembered something Evan used to say.
“Stars tell lies.”
I whispered the words.
Dominic looked at me.
“What?”
“Evan used to say that.”
I typed:
STARS TELL LIES.
The folder opened.
Everyone went silent.
Inside was a video.
Evan.
Alive.
Sitting in a dark room.
He looked thinner.
Older.
But alive.
My breath stopped.
“Emily.”
I covered my mouth.
He looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, then Lily is safe.”
I cried.
“I need you to know something.”
He explained.
Richard Vale wasn't the mastermind.
Someone inside Dominic's organization was helping him.
Someone who had access to security.
Money.
Information.
Someone who knew everything about me.
Then he said the name.
“Dominic.”
I froze.
The video continued.
“I had to trust you because you're the only person powerful enough to stop them.”
“But I don't know if you can trust yourself.”
The video ended.
Silence.
I looked at Dominic.
He stared at the screen.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“Evan said your organization.”
“I know.”
“He said someone inside.”
“Yes.”
“And he named you.”
“I noticed.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I expect you to judge me by what I do next.”
That was the moment I realized something.
Dominic wasn't trying to prove himself innocent.
He was trying to prove he was worth trusting.
Then a second video opened automatically.
Evan again.
This time, he looked terrified.
“If Richard gets the drive, he'll find the witness.”
“What witness?” I whispered.
Evan said:
“Emily.”
My blood froze.
Me?
Why me?
The file explained.
Years earlier, I had unknowingly witnessed something connected to Richard's operation.
I had seen a child transfer.
A woman.
A black van.
I had remembered it as a random incident outside St. Catherine's.
It wasn't random.
Evan had been investigating because I had seen the wrong thing.
Then the video ended.
A final message:
They will come for her because she remembers.
I looked at Dominic.
“I don't remember.”
“You will.”
Then the lights went out.
Lily screamed.
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Dominic grabbed me.
“Stay behind me.”
Security moved.
We ran to the safe room.
But before the door closed, I saw someone in the hallway.
A familiar face.
A face I had seen my entire life.
My brother.
Evan's old friend.
The man who had attended his funeral.
He looked at me.
Then smiled.
Dominic whispered:
“That's the man.”
The person inside the organization.
The traitor.
May you like
And he wasn't running.
He was coming for us.
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