Chapter 6 - The Trap Beneath the Rain
Dominic read the note once.
Then twice.
Theo entered behind him.
“Dominic—”
“Find her.”
“We will.”
“No.”
Dominic turned.
The expression on his face made Theo stop.
“Find. Her.”
Theo nodded.
Elena stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
She laughed once.
Broken.
“You think I’m staying here while someone has my daughter?”
“You’ll get her killed.”
“And you think I can sit in this room?”
Dominic looked at her.
Tears ran down her face.
But she was steady.
Not helpless.
Not collapsing.
Angry.
Terrified.
A mother.
He understood there would be no locking her away.
“Fine.”
Theo stared.
“You’re taking her?”
Dominic looked at him.
“I’m not wasting time arguing.”
The greenhouse sat beyond the east garden.
Rain fell hard enough to blur the glass walls.
Dominic approached from the main path.
Elena walked ten feet behind him despite his instructions.
No guards visible.
No lights.
The door stood open.
Inside, Sophie sat on a wooden bench.
Alive.
Holding her rabbit.
Elena made a sound.
“Sophie.”
The little girl looked up.
“Mommy!”
Julian Vale stepped from behind a row of dead winter roses.
He held a gun.
Dominic stopped.
Elena did too.
Julian looked exhausted.
Older than he had that morning.
“I told you to come alone.”
Dominic looked around.
“I’m bad at following instructions.”
Julian almost smiled.
“You always were.”
Sophie reached for Elena.
Julian pointed the gun slightly.
“Don’t.”
Elena froze.
Dominic’s voice stayed low.
“Put the weapon down.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“No, Dominic. I really can’t.”
“Where’s Gabriel?”
Julian laughed softly.
“You still think he’s the monster.”
“He poisoned Elena.”
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
Julian looked at Elena.
“Gabriel wanted you alive.”
Elena stared.
“Why?”
“You’re the trust beneficiary.”
Dominic understood.
“Then who poisoned her?”
Julian looked at him.
“I did.”
Elena went still.
Dominic’s expression changed completely.
Julian continued quickly.
“I didn’t intend to kill you.”
“You used my daughter.”
“I told the man to use a mild sedative.”
“He mixed two drugs.”
“That wasn’t my order.”
“Whose was it?”
“Marcus.”
Dominic stared.
Julian shook his head.
“Marcus has been stealing from Vale Holdings for eight years. Millions. Maybe more. When he discovered Elena’s trust could trigger a full historical audit, he panicked.”
“Then why help him?”
Julian looked toward Dominic.
“Because Gabriel came back.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“He promised to destroy you.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“And you wanted that?”
Julian’s face broke.
“You destroyed yourself years ago.”
Elena looked between them.
Julian continued.
“After Vincent died, you became him. Cold. Suspicious. Brutal. You pushed everyone away.”
Dominic said nothing.
“You think fear is loyalty.”
“I think kidnapping children is worse.”
Julian flinched.
“She was never supposed to be hurt.”
“You don’t get credit for that.”
Sophie began crying.
Elena’s entire body strained toward her.
Julian looked at the child.
His hand shook.
Dominic noticed.
Good.
Not committed.
Scared.
People who were scared made mistakes.
“Where is Gabriel?” Dominic asked.
Julian looked toward a side door.
Then gunfire cracked outside.
Glass shattered.
Elena screamed.
Dominic moved.
He dragged her behind a stone planter.
Julian dropped to the floor.
Sophie crawled beneath the bench.
Theo’s voice came through Dominic’s concealed earpiece.
“Shots from the guesthouse side.”
Dominic whispered, “You weren’t supposed to follow.”
“Fire me later.”
Dominic almost smiled.
A man entered through the broken greenhouse door.
Marcus Reed.
Gun raised.
His expensive suit was soaked.
“Julian!”
Julian looked up.
Marcus fired.
Dominic tackled Julian sideways.
The bullet struck glass.
Elena crawled toward Sophie.
Marcus saw her.
“There she is.”
Dominic rose.
Marcus aimed.
Theo fired from outside.
Marcus dropped his weapon and fell behind a planter, wounded in the shoulder.
Chaos exploded.
Then another voice came from the shadows.
“Enough.”
Gabriel Kane stepped into the greenhouse.
Older than the photograph.
Same black hat.
Same face.
Sophie stared.
“That’s sugar man.”
Elena went pale.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Nellie.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Pain crossed his face.
“You look like Amelia.”
“My mother hated you.”
Gabriel stopped.
Elena continued.
“She left a letter.”
His expression changed.
“What letter?”
“The one telling me exactly what you were.”
Gabriel looked toward Julian.
“You said the box was empty.”
Julian swallowed.
“I never opened it.”
Gabriel’s calm vanished.
For the first time, Dominic saw the man beneath the legend.
Not powerful.
Obsessed.
“You poisoned her?” Gabriel asked Julian.
Julian looked away.
“I needed time.”
“You idiot.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“I needed Elena alive.”
Marcus shouted from behind the planter.
“You needed her signature.”
Elena looked at Gabriel.
“What signature?”
Dominic understood.
“The trust transfer.”
Gabriel nodded.
“If Elena transferred the shares to a holding entity controlled by Gabriel, he could reclaim the company.”
Elena stared at her grandfather.
“You came back for money.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked almost offended.
“I came back for what Vincent stole.”
“My mother said he saved her.”
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“She was confused.”
“No.”
“She was young.”
“She was afraid of you.”
“Because Vincent poisoned her against me.”
Elena shook her head.
“You still don’t understand why she ran.”
Gabriel’s hand moved toward his coat.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Don’t.”
Gabriel stopped.
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Then police sirens sounded beyond the estate.
Gabriel’s face changed.
Dominic looked toward Theo.
Theo smiled faintly.
“I called someone.”
“You called police?”
“Federal agents, technically.”
Gabriel turned toward the greenhouse exit.
Blocked.
Agents entered from both sides.
Marcus tried to run.
He made it four steps.
Julian dropped his weapon.
Gabriel remained standing.
Proud until the end.
Elena crossed the greenhouse.
He looked at her.
“You’re my family.”
She stopped several feet away.
“No.”
Gabriel flinched.
Elena looked at Sophie.
“My family is the person who wakes up frightened and comes looking for me.”
Then she looked at Dominic.
“And the person who opens the door.”
Dominic said nothing.
He could not.
Agents arrested Gabriel.
Marcus was taken away under guard.
Julian surrendered quietly.
The immediate danger ended.
But one problem remained.
The federal evidence against Elena still existed.
Marcus had planted it, but proving that would take time.
Then Theo approached Dominic carrying a small recorder.
“What’s that?”
“Marcus talks when he’s scared.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You recorded him?”
“Everything.”
The recorder contained enough.
Marcus admitting the planted laptop.
The burner phone.
The payments.
The forged messages.
The drug scheme.
Julian’s involvement.
Gabriel’s trust plan.
All of it.
Elena closed her eyes.
For the first time in twenty-four hours, she breathed.
Sophie ran toward her.
Elena dropped to her knees and caught her.
Dominic watched.
He should have felt relief.
Instead, another feeling arrived.
Fear.
Not of Gabriel.
Not of losing the company.
Of something much simpler.
Elena had planned to leave.
Now the danger was over.
There was no reason for her to stay.
Sophie turned while Elena held her.
“Mr. Vale.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Come.”
He hesitated.
Sophie stretched out one hand.
The same tiny hand that had knocked on his door at 12:03 a.m.
Dominic walked toward them.
Elena looked up.
Their eyes met.
Sophie grabbed his fingers.
For one quiet moment in the broken greenhouse, with federal agents moving through shattered glass and rainwater spreading across the floor, the three of them stood together.
Then Elena said softly, “When this is over, we need to talk.”
Dominic’s chest tightened.
“About what?”
She looked at Sophie.
Then at him.
“About what happens next.”
Dominic had faced armed men without blinking.
May you like
Those five words made him more nervous than any weapon in the room.
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