Chapter 5 - The Woman Dominic Couldn’t Investigate Away
Dominic Castellano had been feared by men who carried weapons for a living.
But when he saw Mia’s empty bed, fear stripped every title from him.
He was only a father.
“Mia!”
He searched the bathroom.
Closet.
Under the bed.
Balcony.
Nothing.
Gabriel stood frozen in the hallway.
Clara grabbed his shoulders.
“Look at me.”
His eyes were huge.
“Gabriel, where was she?”
He pointed toward the stairs.
“When?”
He held up five fingers.
Five minutes earlier.
Dominic’s security team flooded the estate.
Matteo ordered gates sealed.
Cameras reviewed.
Vehicles stopped.
Then a housekeeper called from downstairs.
“Mr. Castellano!”
Everyone ran.
Mia was found inside an old service pantry behind the kitchen.
Alive.
Terrified.
Her wrists were not tied.
She was unharmed.
But someone had locked her inside.
Dominic dropped to his knees.
Mia launched herself into his arms.
“I thought they were taking me.”
He held her so tightly she squeaked.
Clara crouched beside them.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“They turned the lights off.”
“Did they talk?”
Mia nodded.
“What did they say?”
She buried her face against Dominic.
“That the yellow lady should go.”
Clara went still.
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
She knew instantly what he meant.
“You’re not sending me away.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“This happened because they want you gone.”
“That’s why I should stay.”
His voice rose.
“You are not listening.”
“And you’re not thinking.”
Everyone in the kitchen went silent.
Few people spoke to Dominic that way.
Clara continued anyway.
“If I leave now, whoever did this learns threats work.”
“I don’t care what they learn.”
“You should.”
“I care that you stay alive.”
The room changed.
Dominic realized what he had said.
So did Clara.
Matteo slowly turned away to hide whatever expression crossed his face.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“You are an employee.”
“Then stop talking like my life matters more than the job.”
“It does.”
Clara stared at him.
Neither knew what to do with that truth.
Later, Matteo discovered the pantry lock had been engaged from the inside corridor.
Only staff knew it existed.
The betrayer was definitely within the estate.
Dominic fired twelve people immediately.
Clara challenged him.
“You don’t know which one did it.”
“I know one of them might have.”
“And eleven might be innocent.”
“I can’t gamble with my children.”
“You can’t turn fear into justice.”
He glared at her.
“You think you understand my world now?”
“No.”
“Then stop telling me how to survive it.”
Clara stepped closer.
“I know what fear does to families.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“And what would you have me do?”
“Find facts.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Then make time before you destroy loyalty you might need later.”
He hated that she made sense.
He hated more that she was the only person in the house who did not become smaller when he was angry.
That night, Dominic ordered a full background recheck on every active employee.
He also ordered one on Clara.
Matteo looked surprised.
“We already investigated her.”
“Do it again.”
“Why?”
Dominic looked toward the hallway where Clara was helping Mia brush her hair.
“Because I need to know why a woman with eleven dollars keeps refusing chances to save herself.”
The second investigation revealed something the first had missed.
Clara’s father, Thomas Hayes, had worked twenty-two years as a freight auditor.
One of his final contracts had involved Castellano Maritime.
Dominic stared at the screen.
“When?”
“Three months before his death.”
“What was he auditing?”
Matteo scrolled.
“Container discrepancies. Customs documentation. Missing manifests.”
Dominic felt cold.
Salvatore’s hidden money had come through shipping operations.
“Did Thomas find anything?”
“Unknown.”
“How did he die?”
“Taxi collision.”
Dominic and Matteo looked at each other.
Clara’s father’s death had always been considered accidental.
Just like Sofia’s.
Dominic called Clara into the study.
She entered wearing sweatpants and one of Mia’s glitter stickers on her sleeve.
“What happened?”
“Your father worked for me.”
Her face changed.
“What?”
“Not directly. One of my companies.”
She stepped forward.
“When?”
He told her.
Her skin paled.
“That can’t be right.”
“Why?”
“My father never mentioned Castellano.”
“Maybe he had a reason.”
Clara stared at him.
“You think his accident…”
“I don’t know.”
Her eyes filled immediately.
“No.”
“Clara.”
“No. I spent years trying to accept what happened.”
“I’m not saying—”
“You’re telling me the same people who may have killed your wife could have known my father.”
Dominic stood.
“I’m telling you there’s a connection.”
She backed away.
“I need air.”
“Don’t leave the house.”
Her eyes flashed.
“Don’t order me right now.”
“Clara.”
“I said I need air.”
She walked into the glass conservatory instead.
Dominic did not follow.
Ten minutes later, Gabriel did.
He sat beside her beneath a lemon tree.
Clara wiped her eyes.
“Hey.”
He leaned against her arm.
She looked at him.
“Sometimes adults really mess things up.”
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
She laughed through tears.
“That was fast.”
He handed her a folded paper.
Another drawing.
This one showed a man beside a truck.
Behind the truck stood another figure.
Clara examined it.
“Who is this?”
Gabriel pointed toward the photograph of Salvatore they had shown him earlier.
Her stomach turned.
Then he pointed at the man beside the truck.
Clara looked closer.
The face was crude.
But the jacket had a familiar logo.
A freight company.
Her father’s old company.
“Gabriel…”
He wrote:
MOM SHOWED ME.
“Your mom showed you this?”
Nod.
Then:
YOUR DAD.
Clara stopped breathing.
Sofia had known Thomas Hayes.
Possibly before either Clara or Dominic had any idea their lives would collide.
And somewhere in the encrypted files, Sofia had hidden the reason.
That night, Matteo finally broke the encryption on one folder.
The filename contained only two words.
HAYES EVIDENCE.
Inside were photographs, bank records, and a scanned letter written by Clara’s father.
May you like
The first sentence made Dominic’s blood turn cold.
If anything happens to me, Salvatore Castellano is responsible.
