Chapter 3 - THE DEATH CERTIFICATE THAT LIED
For seven years, I'd believed my mother died because a truck driver ran a red light.
I remembered the police officer standing in our kitchen.
I remembered the hospital calling.
I remembered identifying her wedding ring because they wouldn't let me see her face.
Now Dominic Moretti was telling me the story I'd built my grief around might be a lie.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Dominic pulled out the chair beside mine.
“Emily, I need you to stay calm.”
“Don't tell me to stay calm.”
He nodded once.
“Fair enough.”
Caleb stepped forward.
“Dominic, this isn't necessary.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Sit down.”
“I have meetings.”
“Cancel them.”
Caleb didn't move.
Dominic's voice dropped.
“That wasn't a suggestion.”
Caleb sat.
My hands were shaking.
“Tell me about my mother.”
Dominic opened the file Dr. Sullivan had sent.
“Her name was Margaret Carter?”
“Yes.”
“She worked as an accountant?”
“For a transportation company.”
“What company?”
“Lakefront Logistics.”
Dominic went completely still.
Across the room, Caleb closed his eyes.
I noticed both reactions.
“What?”
Dominic turned the laptop toward me.
An old employee photograph appeared.
My mother smiled at the camera, her brown hair falling over one shoulder.
Beside her stood a younger Dominic Moretti.
My heart stopped.
“You knew her?”
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She worked for my father.”
I stared at him.
“My mother never mentioned your family.”
“She had reasons.”
“What reasons?”
Dominic looked toward Caleb.
“Because seven years ago, she discovered someone was stealing money from our shipping operations.”
Caleb stood abruptly.
“That's enough.”
Dominic didn't raise his voice.
“Sit.”
“She's an employee, Dominic.”
“She is a woman whose mother may have been murdered.”
The word struck me like a physical blow.
Murdered.
I pressed a hand over my mouth.
Dominic continued.
“Your mother's death was recorded as a traffic accident. But the original hospital report says she arrived with injuries inconsistent with that collision.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated.
“Marks around her wrists. Bruising that suggested restraint.”
I looked at my ankle.
Purple fingerprints.
A strange, horrifying connection formed in my mind.
“Someone held her down?”
Dominic nodded.
I couldn't breathe.
Caleb reached for his phone.
Dominic noticed.
“Put it down.”
“I need to call my attorney.”
“You can do that after we finish talking.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“You think I killed her?”
“I think you know more than you've told me.”
For a moment, neither man moved.
Then Caleb looked at me.
“You want the truth, Emily?”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Caleb ignored him.
“Your mother wasn't some innocent accountant.”
I stood despite the pain.
“Don't talk about her.”
“She stole something.”
“That's a lie.”
Caleb leaned closer.
“Something worth millions.”
Dominic grabbed his cousin's arm.
“Enough.”
But Caleb smiled.
“She hid it before she died.”
I stared at him.
“What did she hide?”
Caleb's smile widened.
“A ledger.”
My pulse thundered.
“And you know where it is?” I whispered.
He looked directly into my eyes.
“No, Emily.”
May you like
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“But your mother left it to you.”
