Chapter 2 - The Man Behind the Name
Dominic Vale's mansion looked less like a home and more like a fortress.
Tall iron gates opened before our convoy, revealing a sprawling estate surrounded by dark trees and high stone walls. Cameras covered every corner. Men stood in the shadows. Every entrance had a guard.
Yet somehow, a six-year-old girl had still disappeared.
That fact stayed with me as I walked through the enormous foyer.
Clara refused to let go of my hand.
Dominic noticed.
“Bring the doctor.”
A woman in her fifties approached immediately.
“Mr. Vale.”
“Check her temperature. She was exposed to the cold all night.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clara tightened her grip on me.
“Maya comes too.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Fine.”
The doctor led us upstairs.
The room was enormous, decorated with expensive furniture and soft lights. Clara sat on the bed while the doctor checked her.
“She has mild hypothermia and a high fever,” the doctor said. “She needs fluids, rest, and warmth.”
Dominic nodded.
“Anything else?”
“She is lucky.”
His eyes darkened.
“How lucky?”
“If the young woman hadn't found her when she did, we might be having a different conversation.”
Dominic looked at me.
I looked away.
“You should rest too,” the doctor told me.
“I'll be fine.”
“You're shaking.”
“I've been outside all night.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
“Take the room across the hall.”
“I don't need a room.”
“You're staying until the investigation is over.”
“That isn't your decision.”
He gave me a cold look.
“You're right.”
For some reason, that answer surprised me.
He continued.
“So make your own decision.”
He walked out.
I stood there, stunned.
Maybe the stories about him were exaggerated.
Then I remembered the gunfire.
They weren't.
Later that morning, I was given dry clothes.
A simple cream sweater. Black pants. Warm socks.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
I hardly recognized the woman staring back.
I had worked three jobs over the past year just to stay afloat. My apartment lease had ended two weeks earlier. My mother had died when I was nineteen, and the small inheritance she left me had disappeared into medical bills for my younger brother, who had moved out of state after college.
I had never imagined entering a mansion like this.
Especially not under armed guard.
When I came downstairs, Dominic was sitting at the dining table.
Clara sat beside him.
She was eating toast.
The sight made me smile.
Dominic looked up.
For a second, we simply stared at each other.
“You look better,” he said.
“So do you.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“Was that a compliment?”
“I think you need one.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Clara giggled.
“Daddy doesn't smile.”
“I've noticed.”
Dominic glanced at his daughter.
“She thinks she's very funny.”
“She is.”
Clara looked between us.
“Are you going to marry Maya?”
I nearly choked on my coffee.
Dominic stared at her.
“No.”
Clara shrugged.
“Okay.”
The doctor entered before either of us could say anything else.
Dominic stood.
“Well?”
“There is no major injury.”
“Good.”
“But there's something I want to show you.”
The doctor placed a small plastic bag on the table.
Inside was a tiny blue ribbon.
Dominic's face changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“In her clothing.”
He took it carefully.
“This isn't hers.”
“What is it?”
Dominic didn't answer.
A man entered.
“Boss.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
“We searched the warehouse.”
“And?”
“We found blood.”
My stomach dropped.
“Whose?”
“We don't know yet.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Send it to the lab.”
“Yes.”
The man looked at me.
His eyes lingered.
Dominic noticed.
“Something to say?”
“No, Boss.”
“Then leave.”
The man disappeared.
Dominic looked at me.
“Did you see blood?”
“No.”
“Anything else?”
I hesitated.
Then remembered the silver button.
I reached into my pocket.
“I found this.”
Dominic took it.
His fingers tightened.
“Where?”
“Near the loading door.”
He stared at the button.
“What?”
“This came from a Vale Security uniform.”
My heart stopped.
“You mean one of your men?”
“Possibly.”
“Then someone from your organization was there.”
“Yes.”
“And they might have been the one who took her.”
Dominic nodded.
“That is what worries me.”
He walked to the window.
“Clara was taken from my estate during a thirty-two-second camera blackout.”
“Thirty-two seconds?”
“Yes.”
“That's very precise.”
“My security system logs every interruption.”
“Could it have been hacked?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then why assume someone inside helped?”
“Because the doors were never forced.”
I stared at him.
“They had access.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Clara.
She was drawing on a piece of paper.
A little house.
Three people stood outside.
I walked toward her.
“Who are they?”
She pointed.
“Me.”
Then to another.
“Daddy.”
Then the third.
“You.”
I smiled.
“That's sweet.”
Clara lowered her voice.
“But there is another person.”
She drew a fourth figure behind the house.
The face was blacked out.
I frowned.
“Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic came over.
“Clara?”
The little girl suddenly stopped smiling.
“Who is it?” he asked.
She looked frightened.
“He came before.”
“Who?”
Clara hugged her knees.
“He told me not to tell.”
Dominic crouched beside her.
“You can tell Daddy anything.”
She shook her head.
“He said you'd get angry.”
“I won't.”
“He said you would hurt him.”
“Who?”
Clara whispered a name.
“Uncle Victor.”
Dominic went completely still.
I watched his face.
“Who's Victor?”
“My brother.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
Dominic stood.
“Where is he?”
A security man answered through the earpiece.
“Mr. Vale, Victor is currently at the east compound.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Bring him to me.”
I watched him walk away.
Something about his posture terrified me.
Clara tugged my sleeve.
“Maya?”
“Yes?”
“Don't let Daddy kill Uncle Victor.”
I stared at her.
“I won't.”
But I didn't know yet what Victor had done.
I also didn't know that Victor wasn't the only person Dominic should have been suspicious of.
Because that evening, while security examined the warehouse evidence, someone entered the mansion through a hidden service corridor.
Someone carrying a small blue ribbon.
Someone who had not been with the kidnappers.
Someone who walked directly into Dominic Vale's private office.
And when he reached the desk, he placed a single photograph on top.
The photograph showed Maya.
Taken three months earlier.
Long before she had ever met Clara.
May you like
On the back, someone had written:
SHE WAS NEVER RANDOM.
