Chapter 7 - THE BUILDING I HAD BEEN CLEANING
For two years, I had scrubbed floors inside a building I partly owned.
The absurdity was almost funny.
Almost.
The trust had remained dormant because proof of Michael’s death was never formally filed.
Elena had the documents.
Dominic apparently knew the trust existed but never knew where Michael placed it.
“That’s why he’s watching Claire,” Vincent said.
Elena nodded.
“He thinks she may already know.”
“I didn’t.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
The shares mattered because Dominic controlled only forty-one percent of Hayes Development.
Vincent held twenty-seven.
My thirty-two made me the deciding owner.
I looked at Vincent.
“So if I vote with you…”
“We remove him.”
“From the legitimate company.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
Vincent’s expression hardened.
“We expose everything else.”
For the first time, I understood why he had been feared all over Chicago.
Vincent was not innocent.
He had inherited his father’s organization and run it for years.
Maybe with fewer bodies.
Maybe with rules.
But fear still followed his name.
I looked at him.
“What happens after Dominic is gone?”
He knew what I meant.
“To the organization?”
“Yes.”
Luke watched him.
Elena watched him.
Everyone did.
Vincent took a long breath.
“It ends.”
I stared.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
His answer surprised me.
“I expect you to watch what I do.”
He had spent three years quietly selling off illegal businesses, moving legitimate companies away from criminal cash, and cutting ties with crews that refused.
Dominic had fought him every step.
“That’s why he sabotaged the elevator,” Luke said.
I looked at him.
“What?”
Vincent nodded.
“The failure wasn’t aimed at you.”
My blood chilled.
“It was aimed at you.”
“Yes.”
The elevator was supposed to trap Vincent long enough for a second team to enter his private office and steal certain records.
“Then why did management suspend me?”
“Because someone needed a civilian suspect.”
I felt rage rising.
“They picked the cleaner.”
Vincent’s face tightened.
“Because they assumed nobody important would defend you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Were they wrong?”
His eyes held mine.
“Yes.”
There was no flirtation now.
Only something steadier.
Respect.
Then Luke’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed instantly.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Vincent.
“Dominic moved.”
“Where?”
“Your grandmother’s apartment.”
My heart stopped.
“She’s with us.”
“I know.”
Luke continued.
“They didn’t go for her.”
He turned to me.
“They went for your room.”
“What are they looking for?”
I already knew.
The key was with me.
The ledger was with Vincent.
The letters were in Wisconsin.
Then Grandma gasped.
“My coat.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She covered her mouth.
“The night Elaine died, she sewed something into the lining of my winter coat.”
My stomach dropped.
“You still have it?”
“It’s hanging in Claire’s closet.”
Vincent stood.
“What did she sew inside?”
May you like
Grandma whispered:
“A list of names.”
