Chapter 6 - THE MAN DOMINIC TRUSTED MOST
Dominic called Rafe eleven times.
No answer.
By the twelfth, he stopped trying.
We returned to my apartment because Dominic believed no one would expect him to go back there.
The irony wasn't lost on me.
The safest place in Boston had apparently become my six-hundred-square-foot rental with a broken bathroom fan.
Dominic paced.
Evelyn sat at my kitchen table.
Daniel watched the windows.
I made coffee because apparently that was my response to organized crime.
Finally, I asked, “What exactly was on that flash drive?”
Dominic looked at me.
“Enough to destroy my uncle.”
“Legally?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
That pause told me there were other options.
“Dominic.”
His eyes narrowed.
“If you're about to lecture me—”
“I am.”
His mother smiled into her coffee.
I continued.
“If Victor murdered your father, expose him. Don't become him.”
For several seconds, Dominic said nothing.
Then his phone vibrated.
A text from Rafe.
I HAVE EVELYN'S DRIVE. COME ALONE.
An address followed.
Dominic grabbed his coat.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“No?”
“You're walking into a trap.”
“I've been doing that since I was seventeen.”
“Maybe develop a new hobby.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Dominic didn't.
But he didn't leave alone either.
We drove to an abandoned auto shop in South Boston.
I stayed in the SUV with Evelyn while Dominic and two guards entered.
Three minutes later, shouting erupted.
Then Rafe stumbled out.
Blood marked his forehead, but he was alive.
Dominic followed him.
Rafe dropped to his knees.
“I didn't betray you.”
“You stole the drive.”
“They have my daughter.”
Everything stopped.
Rafe pulled out his phone.
A photograph showed a teenage girl tied to a chair.
Behind her was today's newspaper.
“They told me to bring the drive.”
“Who?”
Rafe looked terrified.
“Victor.”
Dominic's face went cold.
Then Rafe handed him the flash drive.
“I switched them.”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“The one I gave Victor was blank.”
For the first time, hope entered the conversation.
Then Rafe said, “But Victor doesn't know that yet.”
“How long until he does?”
Rafe looked at his watch.
“Maybe ten minutes.”
Dominic ordered his men to trace the photograph.
I thought that was the worst news.
It wasn't.
Rafe grabbed Dominic's sleeve.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Victor isn't trying to take your business.”
Rafe swallowed.
“He plans to kill you tomorrow night at the Vescari Foundation gala.”
May you like
Then his eyes moved toward me.
“And Claire is supposed to take the blame.”
