Chapter 9 - The Enemy Who Crossed the Line
Rebecca Shaw had tried to put Dominic Moretti in prison three times.
The first investigation collapsed after a witness changed his statement.
The second died when financial records failed to connect Dominic directly to the companies under investigation.
The third remained open.
Dominic respected her.
He also avoided standing in rooms where she controlled the doors.
Sophia learned all of this in the car.
“So the prosecutor Daniel originally wanted to contact is also investigating you?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to go meet her?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“We're going anyway.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You are exhausting.”
“I've been told.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“She may have the ledger.”
“If she does, Matteo knows that too,” Marco said.
Sophia turned to Dominic.
“What happens if she gets it?”
“That depends on what's in it.”
“About Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Matteo?”
“Yes.”
“You?”
Silence.
Sophia's stomach dropped.
“Dominic.”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know whether your name is in the criminal ledger?”
“I have never seen it.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My organization has done business with Romano companies.”
“Legal business?”
“Some.”
“And the rest?”
Dominic did not answer.
Sophia looked out the window.
He didn't try to stop her.
Three hours later they reached Philadelphia.
Rebecca Shaw worked from a federal building downtown.
Dominic did not enter immediately.
Marco made calls.
Then frowned.
“She didn't come in.”
“Where is she?” Daniel asked.
“Home.”
Dominic looked at him.
“How do you know where a federal prosecutor lives?”
Marco shrugged.
Sophia stared.
“Don't answer that.”
They drove to a quiet neighborhood.
Rebecca's house looked ordinary.
Too ordinary for the woman Dominic described.
A silver sedan sat outside.
Newspaper on porch.
Curtains closed.
Dominic stopped Sophia.
“You wait.”
“No.”
“Sophia.”
“You've tried this before.”
“And?”
“It never works.”
He sighed.
They approached together.
Dominic knocked.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Marco checked the side.
“Back door's open.”
Dominic's expression changed.
They entered.
“Ms. Shaw?”
No answer.
Living room empty.
Kitchen empty.
A mug had shattered on the tile.
Sophia whispered, “Dominic.”
“I see it.”
They found Rebecca in the upstairs office.
Alive.
Her wrists were tied to a chair.
Tape covered her mouth.
Marco rushed forward.
Rebecca kicked him.
“I am helping you,” he said.
She kicked again.
Sophia removed the tape.
Rebecca gasped.
Then looked at Dominic.
Her eyes widened.
“You.”
“Good morning.”
“What the hell are you doing in my house?”
“Rescuing you.”
“Put me back.”
Marco laughed.
Dominic cut the restraints.
Rebecca stood.
She was in her forties, composed even with a bruise forming near her temple.
“Where is it?”
Dominic asked.
She froze.
“The ledger.”
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
Then Sophia.
“You're Sophia Carter.”
Sophia went cold.
“How do you know my name?”
Rebecca rubbed her wrists.
“Daniel contacted me four years ago.”
Daniel stared.
“You answered?”
“I tried.”
“You never came.”
“I sent someone.”
“Who?”
“An investigator.”
“What happened?”
“He disappeared.”
The room fell silent.
Rebecca looked at Dominic.
“Two months later I learned he had been taking money from Victor Romano.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“So I did the right thing and almost handed Victor his own evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic.”
Rebecca turned to Sophia.
“I knew Daniel had a wife. I also knew she was pregnant.”
“You watched me too?”
“No.”
Rebecca's answer was immediate.
“I specifically ordered everyone to stay away from you.”
Sophia looked at Dominic.
“So the photographs came from Romano.”
“Likely.”
Rebecca continued.
“Daniel vanished. The ledger vanished. Eventually the investigation stalled.”
“Until now,” Dominic said.
“Until someone emailed me yesterday.”
Everyone became still.
“What email?”
Rebecca walked toward her computer.
“Anonymous sender. Said they had the Romano ledger.”
“Did they deliver it?”
“No.”
“They wanted to meet?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Thirty-first Street Station.”
“When?”
“Today. Eleven.”
Dominic checked the clock.
Ten fourteen.
“Who tied you up?”
“Two men entered at six.”
“Matteo?”
“I didn't see him.”
“Did they ask about the ledger?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca looked at Dominic.
“They asked whether you had contacted me.”
Dominic frowned.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Sophia understood before he did.
“This is bigger than Daniel.”
Dominic turned.
“Why?”
“Because Matteo thinks you are trying to get the ledger to Rebecca.”
Daniel slowly nodded.
“He thinks Dominic and Victor might both turn on him.”
Rebecca crossed her arms.
“Victor contacted me last month.”
Everyone looked at her.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“For immunity.”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for Matteo.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“And me?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
There.
That was answer enough.
Sophia looked between them.
“Victor offered Dominic too.”
Rebecca finally said:
“He offered evidence involving multiple organizations.”
Dominic smiled without warmth.
“Of course he did.”
Sophia felt suddenly cold.
“So even if we find the ledger, you could arrest him.”
Rebecca looked at Dominic.
“If it supports charges.”
Sophia did not know why that answer hurt.
Dominic noticed.
He looked away.
Rebecca added, “But right now, someone broke into my home. Someone is trying to intercept evidence. And a child has been surveilled.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“Those crimes happened regardless of what's in the book.”
Dominic nodded.
“Then we cooperate until Matteo is contained.”
Rebecca gave a humorless laugh.
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I expect you to hate Matteo more.”
She studied him.
“Temporarily possible.”
Sophia shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“You're correct.”
For the first time, Sophia liked her.
At ten fifty-five they entered 30th Street Station separately.
Rebecca wore a coat and baseball cap.
Marco positioned himself near a coffee kiosk.
Daniel waited outside.
Dominic and Sophia stood near the main board.
“You shouldn't be here,” Dominic said.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
He looked at her.
“If something goes wrong—”
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Don't say dramatic goodbye things.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were about to.”
Dominic almost smiled.
The board clicked.
Trains changed.
People moved around them.
Eleven o'clock.
Nothing.
Eleven oh-three.
Nothing.
Then Sophia saw it.
A man in a gray hoodie placed a yellow package beneath a bench.
He walked away.
Rebecca moved.
Dominic stopped her.
“Wait.”
A second man approached from another direction.
Carlo?
No.
Younger.
He reached for the package.
Rebecca's agents appeared.
“Federal agents!”
The station erupted.
The man ran.
Marco went after him.
Dominic pulled Sophia behind a column.
Rebecca grabbed the package.
She opened it.
Inside was the yellow baby blanket.
Sophia gasped.
Rebecca unfolded it.
Nothing.
No ledger.
A note fell to the ground.
Dominic picked it up.
You keep choosing the wrong family.
His face changed.
Sophia grabbed his arm.
“What does that mean?”
Dominic looked around.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
Matteo.
“Beautiful station.”
Dominic scanned the crowd.
“Where are you?”
“Not there.”
“What do you want?”
“You know.”
“We don't have it.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why are we talking?”
Matteo laughed softly.
“Because while you were protecting Sophia…”
Dominic's stomach dropped.
Sophia saw it.
“What?”
Matteo continued.
“…you left someone else unprotected.”
Dominic could no longer hear the station.
He thought of Manhattan.
Mrs. Alvarez.
The guards.
Lily.
His voice became deadly quiet.
“If you touched that child—”
“Relax.”
Matteo laughed.
“I don't have Lily.”
Dominic closed his eyes for half a second.
Then Matteo said:
“I have Daniel.”
Dominic looked toward the station doors.
Marco had gone after the runner.
Daniel had been waiting outside.
Sophia's face went white.
Matteo continued.
“And Daniel has finally remembered where he really put Victor's ledger.”
The call ended.
Sophia whispered:
“Where?”
Dominic stared at the yellow blanket in Rebecca's hands.
Then he noticed something stitched into one corner.
Three initials.
S.C.C.
Sophia Carter.
And beneath them—
a small key.
Daniel had never hidden the ledger inside the blanket.
He had hidden the key.
May you like
And whatever it opened had been waiting for four years.
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