Chapter 5 - THE CHILD IN THE FIRE
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The Vermont house was empty.
No lights.
No guards.
Only snow.
Dominic insisted on coming.
I didn't argue.
We entered through the rear door.
A fireplace still burned.
A cup of tea sat on a table.
Someone had been there recently.
Marcus searched upstairs.
I found an old nursery.
Inside was a child's wooden rocking horse.
A name was carved into it.
Nathaniel.
I touched the letters.
“Another sibling.”
Dominic stared at the horse.
“If he's alive…”
“He may be the real target.”
A floorboard creaked.
We turned.
An elderly woman stood in the doorway.
She wore a gray sweater.
Her face was lined with age.
Her eyes were red from crying.
“You shouldn't have come.”
I stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
“Anna Bell.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
“My mother's former nurse.”
Anna nodded.
“I helped her escape.”
“Where is she?”
“She isn't here.”
My heart sank.
“Then why bring us?”
“Because your mother knew you'd come looking.”
She handed me a cassette tape.
“Listen.”
We found an old player.
My mother's voice filled the room.
“Dominic.”
My chest tightened.
“If you're hearing this, Sophia has returned.”
Dominic looked at me.
My mother continued.
“There are things I never told you.”
“The fire wasn't intended to kill Sophia.”
“It was intended to kill another child.”
I froze.
“Who?”
“The boy.”
Nathaniel.
My mother explained that Victor Vance had discovered the second child was the true beneficiary of an even older trust.
One created by Marcus Sterling.
A trust controlling the family's illegal and legitimate assets.
But the boy's existence had to remain secret.
Victor wanted him.
So my mother staged the fire.
She escaped with Sophia.
But Nathaniel was taken.
I couldn't breathe.
“Who took him?”
My mother said one name.
“Dominic.”
My brother.
I looked at Dominic.
His face went white.
“That isn't possible.”
The recording continued.
“Not our Dominic.”
“A child named Dominic Vance.”
I stopped.
“Vance?”
There had been another Dominic.
Victor's son.
Cassandra's father.
He had stolen the boy.
Raised him under another name.
Used him as leverage.
My brother wasn't connected.
Victor had engineered the confusion.
Then the tape ended.
A final message remained.
Find Nathaniel before Cassandra does.
We stared at each other.
“She knows,” I whispered.
A phone rang.
Marcus answered.
His face changed.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“Where's Cassandra?”
“Gone.”
“Since when?”
“Thirty minutes.”
Marcus looked at me.
“She took three vehicles.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
“South Boston.”
I knew immediately.
“Sterling Manor.”
We raced back.
The ballroom was destroyed.
Tables overturned.
Paintings ripped from walls.
Security cameras smashed.
Cassandra stood in the center.
She wasn't alone.
Victor Vance stood beside her.
Alive.
He looked at me.
“Hello, Sophia.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
Victor smiled.
“Put it down.”
“Where's Nathaniel?”
Victor shrugged.
“Safe.”
I stepped forward.
“Where?”
“Exactly where your mother put him.”
“Where?”
Victor smiled.
“Inside the Sterling trust.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your brother doesn't know who he is.”
Cassandra stepped forward.
“He's been living under another name.”
“Which name?”
She smiled.
Then I saw the person standing behind her.
A young man.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Gray eyes.
He looked at Dominic.
Then at me.
May you like
And whispered:
“I'm Nathaniel.”
