Chapter 2 - The House Of Men Who Were Afraid
The lockdown lasted six hours.
No one was allowed outside.
The household staff were gathered in the basement security room.
Dominic moved through the estate with controlled fury.
Frank directed the security team.
Norah stayed with Salvatore.
Three attackers had entered through the eastern service road.
Two were captured.
One escaped.
Nobody knew how they had breached the perimeter.
Salvatore became unusually agitated.
He kept pointing toward a cabinet.
Norah opened it.
Nothing.
She checked again.
Still nothing.
"What are you looking for?"
He pointed.
She searched the shelves.
Behind a row of medical supplies, her fingers found a small metal box.
She pulled it out.
Salvatore immediately reached toward it.
Norah gave it to him.
He held it against his chest.
Dominic entered.
"What is that?"
Salvatore glared.
Dominic stopped.
Norah noticed the tension.
"He asked for it."
Dominic approached slowly.
"My father never asks."
"He did today."
Dominic stared at Salvatore.
"What is inside?"
Salvatore's fingers tightened around the box.
Dominic turned toward Norah.
"Leave us."
Norah shook her head.
"No."
Dominic's expression darkened.
"This is family business."
Norah looked at Salvatore.
"He can't communicate properly."
"He can."
"Then why does he need an interpreter?"
Dominic went silent.
Norah crouched beside Salvatore.
"Show him."
Salvatore opened the box.
Inside was a key.
A black USB drive.
And an old photograph.
Dominic picked up the photograph.
His face changed.
It showed Salvatore standing beside a much younger man.
The man was dead.
Norah recognized the resemblance.
"Who is that?"
Dominic whispered:
"My uncle."
Salvatore pointed at the USB drive.
Dominic inserted it into the secure computer.
Files appeared.
Financial records.
Shipping manifests.
Payment transfers.
A hidden network.
Dominic's voice became cold.
"This is impossible."
Norah looked at him.
"What?"
"Someone inside my organization has been moving money without my knowledge."
Salvatore slammed his hand on the table.
Dominic looked at him.
"You knew."
Salvatore nodded.
"But you kept it hidden?"
Another nod.
"Why?"
Salvatore pointed toward Norah.
Dominic frowned.
"Her?"
Norah stared.
"Me?"
Salvatore nodded again.
Dominic looked confused.
Then the old man pointed to the photograph.
The young man.
Then Norah.
Then his own chest.
Dominic's expression hardened.
"What are you trying to say?"
Salvatore's hand shook.
He struggled for words.
"El..."
He stopped.
Tried again.
"Elena."
Dominic froze.
Norah's stomach tightened.
"Who is Elena?"
Salvatore stared directly at her.
"Your mother."
Norah stopped breathing.
"My mother?"
Salvatore nodded.
Dominic looked at his father.
"You knew her?"
Salvatore closed his eyes.
A long silence followed.
Then Dominic whispered:
"How?"
Salvatore couldn't answer.
He reached for the notebook.
Norah opened it.
One page contained a name.
Elena Gallagher.
And beneath it:
Safe.
Protected.
My promise.
Norah stared.
Her mother had never mentioned the Moretti family.
Not once.
Dominic looked shaken.
"My father had a relationship with your mother."
Norah swallowed.
"Was he my father?"
Salvatore shook his head violently.
No.
Dominic read another page.
"He protected her."
Norah's voice trembled.
"From who?"
Salvatore pointed at the USB.
Dominic understood.
"The people running this network."
Norah stared at him.
Her entire life had suddenly become a puzzle with pieces she'd never known existed.
Her mother had died when Norah was twenty.
Before she died, she had told Norah one thing.
"Some men are dangerous because they hurt people."
Norah had thought it was a mother's ordinary warning.
Now she wondered if it had been a confession.
Dominic stepped closer.
"Why were you assigned here?"
Norah looked at him.
"My agency said you needed a hospice nurse."
Dominic shook his head.
"Nobody knew my father needed one until last week."
She stared.
"What?"
Dominic's voice became colder.
"Someone specifically requested you."
Norah felt sick.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Salvatore slammed his fist against the chair.
Dominic looked at him.
"What?"
Salvatore pointed toward Norah.
Then the door.
Then made a gesture across his throat.
Dominic's expression turned lethal.
"Someone wants her dead."
Norah stepped back.
"What?"
A phone rang.
Dominic answered.
His face changed.
"Frank?"
A pause.
"Say that again."
Another pause.
Dominic looked at Norah.
"The captured attacker is dead."
"How?"
"He was poisoned."
Norah felt the blood leave her face.
Dominic ended the call.
The room became silent.
Then Salvatore spoke again.
This time the word was clearer.
"Scappa."
Norah looked at him.
"What?"
Dominic translated.
"Run."
Salvatore pointed toward the window.
Norah understood.
Someone was coming.
The security alarm suddenly screamed.
Dominic drew his weapon.
"Stay behind me."
Norah shook her head.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?"
He looked at her.
"Because people are trying to kill you."
"Then help me understand why."
He held her gaze.
"I will."
The door burst open.
Frank appeared.
"We're moving."
They took Salvatore through a hidden passage behind the library.
The tunnel led beneath the estate.
Norah walked beside Dominic.
At one point, she whispered:
"Did my mother know your family?"
"Yes."
"Did your father love her?"
Dominic didn't answer.
"Tell me."
He glanced toward Salvatore.
"I don't know."
Norah stared at the old man.
"What do you know?"
Dominic's voice softened.
"My mother died when I was eleven."
A pause.
"My father changed after that."
Norah looked at him.
"How?"
"He became cruel."
"Because he was grieving?"
"Because he believed someone betrayed him."
"Who?"
"My uncle."
They emerged near a secure garage.
Dominic opened a vehicle.
Norah helped Salvatore inside.
Then she climbed in.
As the car sped away, Dominic drove without speaking.
Norah stared out the window.
"I want the truth."
"You'll get it."
"No."
She looked at him.
"I want all of it."
Dominic met her eyes.
"You may regret that."
"I already regret coming here."
He looked forward again.
"But I'm not leaving until I understand."
For the first time, something like respect appeared in his expression.
"Then you're staying."
She nodded.
And neither of them noticed the old man in the back seat watching them.
Salvatore had spent decades believing trust was a weakness.
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Yet as he watched his son and the woman his dead friend had once protected sit beside each other, something he hadn't felt in decades entered his chest.
Hope.
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