Chapter 6 - VANESSA'S REAL ENGAGEMENT
Dominic drove back toward Aspen through worsening snow.
Not because he loved Vanessa.
That truth had become uncomfortable long before Christmas Eve.
But he wasn't going to let Harold Crane murder his own daughter because she had failed some hidden assignment.
Elena sat beside him.
“You're going after her.”
“Yes.”
“After what she did to me.”
“Yes.”
She looked out the window.
“I don't know whether that makes you noble or stupid.”
“Probably both.”
A faint smile.
Then silence.
Dominic asked:
“Are you angry?”
“At Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
“Then why aren't you telling me to leave her?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because what she did to me and what her father is doing to her can both be wrong.”
Dominic stared.
“You really were a teacher.”
“That obvious?”
“You keep making things morally complicated.”
“They usually are.”
Marco spoke from the front seat.
“We have the Crane house.”
Security cameras showed no exterior movement.
Harold Crane lived in a fortified estate twenty miles outside Aspen.
Former police chief.
Political donor.
Private security contractor.
The sort of man who had spent forty years building the appearance of legitimacy.
Dominic had attended dinners with him.
Shaken his hand.
Asked permission to marry his daughter.
The humiliation of that almost made him laugh.
Hannah contacted them through a secure line.
“Vanessa is in Dad's office.”
“Where are you?” Dominic asked.
“Basement laundry room.”
“Can you leave?”
“No. Guards.”
“What does your father want?”
Hannah lowered her voice.
“He wants the ledger stolen from your safe.”
Dominic exchanged a glance with Marco.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Elena did.
“It contains Frank's debts.”
Everyone looked at her.
She continued.
“Maybe those debts are fake.”
Dominic frowned.
“Explain.”
“My father said he moved money. Hid money.”
Marco understood.
“Gambling debts could have been cover transactions.”
Elena nodded.
“My father may never have owed those lenders.”
The entire reason Elena had taken the maid job.
The threats.
The debts.
Her career abandoned.
All of it might have been manufactured.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Someone drove you into my house.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
“Think about it.”
He leaned closer.
“Your father develops gambling debt. Threats begin. You need fast money. A high-paying domestic position opens at my estate.”
Elena felt cold again.
“That's impossible.”
“Is it?”
Marco checked hiring records remotely.
Mrs. Garrison had hired Elena after a referral from an agency.
The agency had received a special recommendation.
From Crane Hospitality Services.
Owned by Harold Crane.
Elena stared.
“I was placed there.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“You were meant to enter my house.”
“But why?”
Marco answered:
“Maybe because Frank disappeared.”
Elena's stomach dropped.
If Frank had hidden, they could use Elena to force him out.
Or use her connection to the old murder.
Dominic looked at her.
“Vanessa's cruelty may not have started because I complimented your coffee.”
Elena frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“She may have been told to watch you.”
The idea hurt differently.
Vanessa's jealousy had felt petty.
Now it might have been strategic.
They reached the Crane estate.
Marco's team disabled exterior cameras.
Dominic entered through a service tunnel known from old security plans.
Elena insisted on coming.
“Absolutely not,” Dominic said.
“You need someone Hannah recognizes.”
“She knows me.”
“She knows your reputation.”
“That's usually enough.”
“Not with scared women.”
He looked at her.
She had a point.
Again.
They found Hannah first.
Twenty-two.
Terrified.
She clung to Elena.
“My father has gone insane.”
“What about Vanessa?” Elena asked.
“In the office.”
Dominic moved toward the stairs.
Hannah grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He turned.
“She knew about Elena.”
Dominic stopped.
“What?”
Hannah looked at Elena.
“Vanessa knew who your father was.”
Elena's stomach twisted.
“From when?”
“Before you were hired.”
Dominic's face hardened.
Hannah continued.
“Dad showed her your photograph.”
Elena whispered:
“Why?”
“Because he told Vanessa you were dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“He said your father killed Alexander Vale.”
Dominic's jaw clenched.
A lie.
A perfect lie.
Vanessa had believed Elena was the daughter of the man who murdered Dominic's father.
Suddenly the cruelty had another layer.
Not excuse.
Context.
Hannah led them toward the office.
Voices inside.
Harold shouted:
“You were supposed to keep Dominic distracted!”
Vanessa answered:
“I did!”
“You locked that girl outside where she could have died.”
“You told me she was dangerous!”
“I told you to watch her, not create a spectacle!”
Dominic's face changed.
Vanessa continued:
“She was always near him.”
Harold laughed.
“So this was jealousy.”
Silence.
Then:
“You pathetic little fool.”
Dominic opened the door.
Harold spun.
Vanessa stood near the desk.
Her cheek was red.
A pistol lay in Harold's hand.
Dominic aimed his own weapon.
“Put it down.”
Harold smiled.
“Dominic.”
“Now.”
Harold looked at Elena.
“There she is.”
Elena's skin crawled.
“The teacher.”
Dominic stepped slightly in front of her.
Harold noticed.
His smile widened.
“Oh.”
Vanessa looked at Dominic.
Something broke in her expression.
“Dominic…”
“Don't.”
She fell silent.
Harold laughed.
“This is better than I expected.”
Dominic ignored him.
“Where's the ledger?”
Harold's eyes sharpened.
“You think I have it?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
Harold continued.
“Your thief took it.”
“Elias Kane.”
“Correct.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“Working for you?”
Harold smiled.
“Sometimes.”
Dominic's finger tightened on the trigger.
Harold slowly lowered his weapon.
Marco entered and disarmed him.
Vanessa began crying.
“I didn't know.”
Elena looked at her.
“You locked me outside in subzero weather.”
“I know.”
“You watched me beg.”
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“I wanted to scare you.”
“You almost killed me.”
“I know.”
Elena stepped closer.
“And now you know something.”
Vanessa looked up.
“What?”
“Being afraid of someone doesn't give you permission to become cruel.”
Vanessa lowered her head.
For once, there was no comeback.
Marco searched Harold's desk.
He found a hidden compartment.
Inside were photographs.
Frank Brooks.
Laura.
Sebastian.
Elena.
Dominic.
And Vanessa.
Each marked with dates.
Harold had been tracking everyone.
But one photograph stood apart.
A young woman holding a baby outside a hospital.
Elena recognized herself.
Except she had never had a baby.
She stared.
“Who is that?”
Laura.
Younger.
Holding a newborn.
On the back was written:
E.B. - DECEMBER 25, 1999.
Elena's birth date.
She turned the photograph over again.
A second line had been added:
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: ALEXANDER VALE.
Dominic looked at Elena.
Then at the picture.
Neither spoke.
Harold Crane began to laugh.
“Oh, nobody told you?”
Elena's knees weakened.
Dominic's face emptied.
Harold smiled.
“Elena Brooks isn't Frank Brooks's daughter.”
May you like
He looked directly at Dominic.
“She is your half-sister.”
