Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO RAISED VINCENT
Vincent read the ledger three times.
Then he closed it.
“No.”
I had expected rage.
Instead, he sounded like a son refusing to believe his father had died twice.
“Dominic raised me.”
Luke looked uneasy.
“That doesn’t mean the book is wrong.”
Vincent turned on him.
“Careful.”
Luke didn’t move.
“I’ve been careful for twelve years.”
That sentence changed the room.
Vincent looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Luke exhaled.
“I never trusted Dominic.”
“Why?”
“He asks too many questions about old records.”
Vincent stared.
Luke continued.
“Every year around the anniversary of Arthur’s death, he has security search archived properties.”
“For what?”
“I didn’t know.”
Now all three of us did.
The missing ledger.
Vincent began pacing.
“My father trusted Dominic.”
“So did you,” I said.
His eyes cut toward me.
“And you trusted your supervisor until yesterday.”
Fair.
I hated that it was fair.
We listened to the cassette.
Mom’s voice filled the storage room.
“If anyone hears this, something went wrong.”
I closed my eyes.
I barely remembered her voice.
It sounded older than my memories.
Tired.
“Arthur discovered that Dominic was diverting money through construction companies and arranging violence without approval.”
Vincent’s hands curled into fists.
Mom continued.
“Arthur planned to shut everything down and cooperate with federal investigators.”
Luke whispered:
“That would have destroyed the organization.”
“Yes,” Vincent said.
“And saved people,” I added.
He looked at me.
Mom’s recording continued.
“Dominic found out.”
There was static.
Then:
“Arthur gave me evidence. He told me to take Claire and disappear.”
My eyes opened.
“He knew about me?”
Grandma had never told me that.
The tape continued.
“But Claire’s father refused to come.”
My heart stopped.
I had never known my father.
Grandma always said he left before I was born.
Mom whispered:
“He said he couldn’t leave Chicago.”
Then the recording became distorted.
The final sentence came through clearly.
“If Dominic learns who Claire’s father is, she’ll never be safe.”
The tape ended.
I turned toward Vincent.
He looked as shocked as I felt.
Before anyone could speak, Luke’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
“Problem.”
“What?”
“Dominic’s men just entered the storage building.”
Vincent’s entire demeanor changed.
Grief disappeared.
Command took over.
“Back exit.”
We moved.
Then I noticed something written inside the leather folder.
One line.
Mom’s handwriting.
CLAIRE’S FATHER: M.H.
Vincent saw it too.
He went completely still.
“M.H.?”
Luke looked at him.
Then whispered:
“There was only one M.H. in Arthur’s inner circle.”
I stared between them.
“Who?”
Vincent’s answer made my knees weak.
May you like
“Michael Hayes.”
His father’s younger brother.
