Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT MY MOTHER DIED
I wanted to kill Dominic.
That scared me.
Not because the feeling was unfamiliar.
Because for one second, I understood men like Vincent.
How revenge could feel cleaner than grief.
Vincent seemed to recognize it on my face.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“You don’t get to tell me no.”
“I’m telling you not to make the mistake my family has made for forty years.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Which mistake?”
“Thinking pain gives us permission.”
The words hit differently because they came from him.
A man feared across Chicago.
Maybe people could become aware of what they had inherited.
Maybe.
Victor agreed to testify.
Not out of goodness.
He wanted immunity.
Federal authorities became involved through an attorney Vincent trusted.
Evidence was copied.
The list was sealed.
The ledger authenticated.
The ownership trust verified.
For three days, everything moved quietly.
Then Dominic called Vincent.
He knew.
“I hear you found your cousin.”
Vincent’s face went cold.
We were in a conference room inside a private law office.
Dominic’s voice came through speakerphone.
“Bring Claire to me.”
“No.”
“You always were sentimental like your father.”
Vincent’s hand tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“And Claire’s shares?”
Dominic laughed.
“So she finally learned.”
I leaned toward the phone.
“You killed my mother.”
Silence.
Then:
“Did Victor tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“He lies.”
“So do you.”
Dominic chuckled.
“You sound like Elaine.”
My skin crawled.
Then he said something unexpected.
“She should have told you the truth about Vincent.”
Vincent’s expression changed.
“What truth?”
Dominic ignored him.
“Claire, ask your cousin why he was really at Hayes Tower that night.”
I looked at Vincent.
He went still.
The elevator.
11:47 p.m.
His presence there had always seemed ordinary.
It wasn’t.
“Why were you there?”
Vincent said nothing.
I stood.
“Why?”
Finally:
“I was following you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“Not personally.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“I found your name in archived payroll records.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
He had discovered Elaine Mercer’s daughter worked nights in his building.
He suspected a connection.
So he ordered Luke to investigate.
“That night I stayed late because I wanted to see you.”
I felt betrayed in a way I hadn’t expected.
“You knew who I was before the elevator?”
“I suspected.”
“And you never told me?”
“I didn’t know enough.”
Dominic laughed through the speaker.
“Everyone lies to protect Claire.”
I hated that he was right.
Then Vincent said:
“I knew one more thing.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“The elevator wasn’t the first attempt.”
Silence.
“What do you mean?”
Vincent’s voice lowered.
“Three days before you got trapped with me, someone tampered with the brakes on the cleaning company van.”
My heart stopped.
I had driven that van twice that week.
Vincent looked directly at me.
May you like
“They weren’t trying to kill me first.”
“They were trying to kill me.”
