Chapter 12 - The Night Lily Went Missing
Rain had begun before midnight.
By twelve fifteen it was heavy.
Sophia sat in the back of Rebecca's SUV with both hands clenched so tightly her nails marked her palms.
Dominic sat beside her.
He had not tried to tell her everything would be fine.
She was grateful.
Rebecca drove.
Agents searched roads around the safe house.
“What did Lily hear?” Rebecca asked.
Sophia looked up.
“What?”
“Before she disappeared.”
Emma was on speaker.
“We talked downstairs.”
“About what?”
“Matteo.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Emma continued.
“I thought Lily was asleep.”
“What did you say?”
“That none of this would've happened if Dominic hadn't come to the wedding.”
Sophia's face tightened.
Emma began crying.
“I didn't mean it. I was scared.”
“Emma.”
“I said maybe if he went away, Matteo would leave us alone.”
Sophia whispered, “Oh God.”
Dominic remained still.
Rebecca looked at him in the mirror.
“Children hear literal solutions.”
Dominic nodded.
Sophia turned.
“She thinks she has to send you away.”
“Maybe.”
“No.”
“Or she thinks she can speak to Matteo.”
Sophia went pale.
“Why would she do that?”
“Because she walked up to me.”
The realization hit them both.
Lily was not afraid of dangerous men if she believed they could help.
Dominic grabbed his phone.
“Marco.”
“Already checking cameras.”
“Every road. Gas station. Store.”
“She couldn't get far.”
“Unless someone picked her up.”
Sophia made a sound.
Dominic immediately regretted saying it.
He took her hand.
“I won't stop.”
She looked at him.
“Until?”
“Until she's in your arms.”
The first camera hit came at twelve twenty-eight.
A convenience store two streets from the safe house had footage of Lily walking past.
Yellow raincoat.
Stuffed rabbit.
Alone.
Then another camera.
Then nothing.
The road split.
One direction led toward town.
The other toward the highway.
Rebecca deployed agents.
Dominic looked at the map.
“She won't take the highway.”
“How do you know?”
“Too loud.”
Sophia stared.
“You know her that well?”
“I know what scares her.”
The answer hit Sophia.
Dominic pointed toward town.
“She'll look for adults.”
“For what?”
“To ask directions.”
Sophia almost laughed through panic.
Of course.
They reached the town center.
Most businesses were closed.
Then Marco called.
“Pharmacy camera.”
Dominic put him on speaker.
“She entered at eleven fifty-eight.”
“Who was there?”
“Night clerk.”
“Talk to him.”
“Already did.”
“And?”
Marco paused.
“The kid asked how to find a bus to Manhattan.”
Sophia stared.
“Manhattan?”
Dominic understood.
“She thinks she needs to go home.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where this started.”
They raced toward the bus depot.
Empty.
A janitor remembered seeing a little girl.
“She asked if buses went to the big house.”
“What big house?” Sophia demanded.
“He didn't know.”
Dominic did.
“My estate.”
The janitor had told Lily buses did not stop there.
Then a taxi driver had overheard.
Dominic's face changed.
“Which taxi?”
The driver was found twenty minutes later.
He remembered Lily.
“She had twenty dollars.”
Sophia frowned.
“I didn't give her twenty dollars.”
Emma whispered through the phone:
“Grandma did.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“Where did he take her?”
The driver shook his head.
“She didn't know the address.”
“What did she say?”
“He said she wanted to go where the bad man was.”
Dominic's stomach dropped.
“Describe him.”
The driver thought.
“She said he wore gray.”
Matteo.
Dominic looked at Rebecca.
“How would she know where Matteo is?”
Sophia suddenly remembered.
“The farm.”
“What?”
“She saw him outside Mrs. Landry's.”
“Yes.”
“She asked me afterward who he was.”
Dominic stared.
“What did you say?”
“I said he was from Philadelphia.”
Rebecca swore.
“She went looking for Philadelphia?”
The driver explained he refused to take the child that far.
Instead he took her to a police station.
Everyone exhaled.
“Which station?”
They arrived ten minutes later.
Sophia ran inside.
“Lily Carter!”
The officer behind the desk stood.
“You're her mother?”
“Yes!”
“She left.”
Sophia stopped.
“What?”
“The little girl said she needed to find her mother's friend. We called the number she gave us.”
Dominic went cold.
“What number?”
The officer checked paper.
“It belonged to a Mr. Daniel Carter.”
Sophia stared.
“Daniel?”
The officer nodded.
“He picked her up twenty minutes ago.”
Rebecca took out her phone.
“Daniel is supposed to be under federal supervision.”
The officer's face changed.
Dominic called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Sophia was shaking.
“Why would Daniel take her?”
“He wouldn't,” Dominic said.
Then he remembered.
Matteo had held Daniel only hours earlier.
He could have taken his phone.
His contacts.
His identity.
Rebecca checked traffic cameras.
A black sedan had collected Lily.
The driver was not Daniel.
Dominic recognized him.
Carlo Vescari.
Sophia nearly collapsed.
Dominic caught her.
“No.”
Her voice barely existed.
“No, no, no.”
Rebecca immediately issued an alert.
Dominic called Marco.
“Find Carlo.”
“Working.”
“Find him.”
“Dominic—”
“Find him!”
The command cracked through the station.
Everyone went silent.
Sophia pulled away.
“Don't become that.”
He stared.
“What?”
“The man who thinks rage helps.”
“My rage is the only reason half these people move.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Lily needs the man who crouched in the foyer.”
Dominic's breathing slowed.
“The one who listened.”
The words reached him.
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
Calmer.
“Okay.”
Sophia took his hand.
“What would Lily do?”
Dominic thought.
“She would talk.”
“To Carlo?”
“Yes.”
“She would tell him why she left.”
“And what would she say?”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“My mommy needs help.”
Dominic's mind raced.
Carlo was not Matteo.
Carlo had surrendered at Margaret's farmhouse.
He had spoken because he feared Victor.
He was not loyal.
He was surviving.
“Carlo might call,” Dominic said.
“Why?”
“To negotiate.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
Dominic answered.
“Hello.”
Carlo's voice whispered.
“Don't speak.”
Dominic remained silent.
“I have the girl.”
Sophia covered her mouth.
“She thinks I'm taking her to help you.”
Dominic's eyes closed.
“Matteo told me to bring her.”
Dominic's voice remained calm.
“Where?”
“I can't say.”
“Is she safe?”
Carlo hesitated.
“Yes.”
Dominic breathed.
Then a tiny voice came through the phone.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Sophia sobbed.
“Lily!”
“Mommy?”
Carlo swore.
The line shifted.
Lily spoke quickly.
“I found the bad man.”
“Sweetheart, listen to me,” Sophia said. “You did nothing wrong.”
“But Aunt Emma said—”
“She was scared.”
“Did I make the bad men come?”
“No.”
Dominic took the phone.
“Lily.”
“Yes?”
“You remember what you asked me in the foyer?”
“My mommy needs a boyfriend.”
Despite everything, three people almost laughed.
“You asked me to help.”
“Yes.”
“Then you have to let me do my job.”
“What job?”
Dominic looked at Sophia.
“Helping your mommy.”
Lily became quiet.
“Okay.”
“Stay with Carlo.”
Carlo whispered, “That sentence is insane.”
Dominic ignored him.
“Carlo, where are you?”
Before he could answer, another voice came through.
Matteo.
“Well done.”
Sophia went white.
Dominic's face became expressionless.
“Let her go.”
Matteo laughed.
“You chose a family.”
“Yes.”
“Now choose which part you keep.”
Dominic gripped the phone.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Done.”
Sophia grabbed his arm.
Matteo continued:
“Come alone.”
“Where?”
“The Moretti estate.”
Dominic stopped.
Matteo laughed.
“You spent your whole life building walls, Dominic.”
His voice dropped.
“I thought it would be appropriate for you to lose everything inside them.”
The call ended.
Sophia stared at Dominic.
“You are not going alone.”
He looked at her.
“Yes, I am.”
And this time—
May you like
she knew there was nothing she could say that would keep him from walking through his own front door.
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