Chapter 11 - The Secret in City Hall
Riley refused protection.
Then Noah saw the photograph.
She changed her mind.
Not because Dominic ordered anything.
Because Noah asked whether “the bad men” were coming back.
Two off-duty officers Lena trusted began watching the shop.
Dominic moved nobody into Riley’s apartment.
He understood boundaries now.
Mostly.
The photograph led to one of the three captains who had walked out.
Gerald Santucci.
Dominic had known him since childhood.
That made the discovery worse.
Lena traced the photo printer through metadata.
Santucci’s office.
Paulie wanted to handle him privately.
Dominic refused.
“No more disappearances.”
Paulie stared.
“You realize how strange that sounds coming from you?”
“Yes.”
They went to City Hall instead.
Sarah Klein had discovered that Santucci’s companies were connected to redevelopment contracts Hale approved.
Tony’s conspiracy had not been three men.
It had been a network.
Dominic met federal investigators in a conference room.
He hated government buildings.
Riley found this entertaining.
“You look uncomfortable.”
“I am.”
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“You should experience normal things.”
“Federal questioning is normal?”
“For you? Apparently.”
Dominic stared.
She smiled.
The investigators asked about his father.
His businesses.
Tony.
Bellini.
Dominic answered selectively at first.
Riley noticed.
She touched his hand beneath the table.
He looked at her.
She said nothing.
He understood.
Truth before pride.
Dominic answered everything.
Four hours later, federal prosecutors offered limited immunity regarding several financial crimes in exchange for cooperation on Hale, Bellini, Tony, Brennan, and Santucci.
Dominic laughed.
“You’re offering me freedom if I destroy the organization I inherited.”
The prosecutor looked at him.
“I’m offering you a chance to decide what you inherit next.”
Riley watched Dominic.
He looked at his mother’s letter.
Then signed.
Outside, Paulie stared at the agreement.
“Well.”
Vincent smiled.
“We’re respectable now.”
Paulie looked horrified.
“Don’t say that.”
Riley laughed.
Dominic almost did.
Then Lena called.
Santucci was moving.
They found him at an underground parking garage beneath City Hall.
Not alone.
Three officers surrounded him.
One was Captain Brennan’s lieutenant.
Dominic stayed back.
Federal agents moved in.
Santucci saw them.
He panicked.
He ran toward the elevators.
Riley stood near the exit.
Santucci grabbed her.
Dominic’s entire body reacted.
He moved forward.
An agent stopped him.
Santucci held a small knife against Riley.
“Back up!”
Dominic’s vision narrowed.
Riley remained completely still.
Santucci dragged her toward a car.
“Dominic!”
He stopped.
Not because Santucci ordered it.
Because Riley looked at him.
Her eyes said trust me.
He hated those eyes.
She shifted her weight.
Santucci never noticed.
Riley drove her heel into his injured ankle, turned, trapped his wrist, and sent the knife skidding across concrete.
Federal agents tackled him.
Dominic stood frozen.
Riley straightened her sweater.
Paulie looked impressed.
“Meat tenderizer skills transfer.”
Riley glared.
Dominic walked toward her.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
He pulled her into his arms anyway.
Riley stiffened.
Then relaxed.
The federal agents politely looked elsewhere.
Santucci shouted from the ground.
“You think this matters? Hale has judges. Prosecutors. Everybody!”
Lena crouched beside him.
“Not everybody.”
He laughed.
“You don’t know the city.”
Riley looked at him.
“My father did.”
That silenced him.
Inside Santucci’s car, investigators found a flash drive.
It contained payment records.
More importantly, it contained scanned letters between Hale and Salvatore Castelli.
Dominic read them that evening.
His father knew Elena intended to testify.
He used Hale to delay legal filings until Elena became too sick to continue.
No murder.
No poisoning.
No dramatic conspiracy surrounding her death.
Something more ordinary.
Control.
Salvatore had trapped a dying woman in paperwork until time defeated her.
Dominic found that harder to forgive.
Riley sat beside him in the closed butcher shop.
“He loved her,” Dominic said.
“Maybe.”
“He said he did.”
“Love without respect becomes possession.”
Dominic looked at her.
She continued.
“Your father may have loved your mother. That doesn’t mean he treated her correctly.”
Dominic stared at Elena’s letter.
“I spent years trying to become him.”
“And?”
“I think I succeeded.”
Riley shook her head.
“No.”
“You didn’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You met me when I came here to threaten you.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re using that as evidence in my favor?”
“You changed direction when you saw what the road actually was.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My father had chances too.”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t take them.”
Riley touched his hand.
“That matters.”
Dominic lowered his head.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Noah came downstairs wearing pajamas.
“Mom?”
Riley looked up.
“What are you doing awake?”
“I heard Dominic.”
Dominic turned.
Noah walked over.
He looked at the papers.
“Are those from his mom?”
Riley nodded.
Noah considered Dominic.
Then climbed onto the stool beside him.
“My dad died.”
Dominic looked at Riley.
She went still.
Noah continued.
“I don’t remember him much.”
Dominic did not know what to say.
Noah looked at Elena’s photograph.
“But Mom says remembering bad things and good things can happen together.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Your mom is smart.”
“I know.”
Riley smiled.
Noah leaned against Dominic’s arm.
A small, casual movement.
Dominic froze.
Riley noticed.
Noah yawned.
“Can you come to my baseball game Saturday?”
Dominic looked at him.
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Noah shrugged.
“Because you’re always here.”
Riley looked away to hide emotion.
Dominic cleared his throat.
“What time?”
“Ten.”
“I’ll be there.”
Noah nodded, satisfied.
He went upstairs.
Dominic stared after him.
Riley smiled.
“You look terrified.”
“I am.”
“Baseball?”
“Children.”
She laughed.
Then Dominic’s phone buzzed.
A message from Lena.
Santucci had started talking.
One name appeared above all others.
Not Tony.
Not Bellini.
Not Hale.
A Castelli captain who had never openly opposed Dominic.
Paulie Mercer.
Dominic read the message twice.
Riley saw his face.
“What?”
He turned the phone toward her.
Paulie’s name filled the screen.
And beneath it:
May you like
SANTUCCI CLAIMS PAULIE HAS BEEN WORKING BOTH SIDES FOR FIVE YEARS.
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