Chapter 6 - A Name From Nora’s Past
Smoke entered the hallway before we reached the staircase.
Leo grabbed Dominic’s good arm.
“East exit.”
“No,” Dominic said. “Staff first.”
“Sir—”
“Everyone.”
Even in pain, barely recovered from infection, Dominic refused to leave while his employees remained inside.
That surprised me.
The fire alarm screamed.
Household staff rushed from the lower floor.
Security guards directed them toward the rear courtyard.
Smoke poured from a service corridor.
“Kitchen?” I asked.
Leo shook his head.
“Security office.”
Dominic stopped.
“The records.”
Leo understood.
Someone wasn't trying to burn the mansion.
They were destroying evidence.
A guard ran toward us.
“Everyone is accounted for.”
Dominic nodded.
“Then leave it.”
Minutes later we stood in the rain behind the mansion while flames flickered through a shattered lower-level window.
Firefighters arrived quickly.
The blaze was contained to two rooms.
The security office was destroyed.
Hard drives.
Paper records.
Access logs.
Gone.
Almost.
Leo had stored copies of the most important footage on the tablet he carried.
Someone had underestimated him.
By dawn, the mansion smelled like smoke.
Dominic sat in the library while I replaced his dressing.
“You pulled your stitches.”
“I’m aware.”
“You were told not to run.”
“I didn't run.”
“You moved faster than medically advisable.”
His mouth twitched.
“That sounds less dramatic.”
“I’m trying not to encourage you.”
Leo entered with a detective.
I recognized the detective.
And my stomach dropped.
“Nora?”
He stared at me.
“Daniel?”
Detective Daniel Hayes was my older brother.
We had not spoken in almost eight months.
His eyes moved from me to Dominic.
Then to my hand resting near Dominic’s bare shoulder.
His expression hardened.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
I straightened.
“Working.”
“For Dominic Rossi?”
Dominic looked between us.
“You know each other.”
Daniel laughed once without humor.
“She’s my sister.”
Dominic's eyes moved to me.
“You didn't mention your brother was a detective.”
“You didn't ask.”
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Outside.”
“No.”
“Nora.”
“I’m in the middle of treatment.”
“I don't care.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
“She said no.”
Daniel turned.
“Stay out of this.”
The room temperature seemed to drop.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“You're in my house.”
“Which almost burned down.”
“Daniel,” I warned.
He ignored me.
“You have any idea who this man is?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don't.”
Dominic remained surprisingly silent.
Daniel turned back to me.
“The Rossi organization has been connected to extortion, illegal gambling, bribery, smuggling—”
“Connected isn't convicted.”
His eyes widened.
“You're defending him?”
“I’m stating a fact.”
Dominic looked mildly amused.
Daniel noticed.
“This funny to you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Leo stepped between them.
“Detective, perhaps we can discuss the fire.”
Daniel looked as though he wanted to arrest the entire room.
Eventually, professionalism won.
He opened a notebook.
“Fire investigators found accelerant in the security office.”
“Arson,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Any suspect?”
“We're reviewing exterior cameras.”
Dominic exchanged a glance with Leo.
Daniel noticed.
“You know something.”
Dominic said nothing.
Daniel turned to me.
“Nora?”
“Don't drag me into this.”
“You're already in it.”
That was painfully true.
He lowered his voice.
“Come home with me.”
“I can't.”
“Yes, you can.”
“My patient—”
“Can hire someone else.”
Dominic looked away.
The gesture bothered me.
Because he agreed.
I stepped closer to Daniel.
“Someone tampered with his medication.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Saline and steroids substituted for antibiotics.”
“Who knows?”
“Dr. Evelyn Park confirmed it.”
Daniel’s detective instincts took over.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Evidence?”
“We preserved samples.”
“Where?”
Dominic answered.
“Safe.”
Daniel stared at him.
“If this is real, I need it.”
“You'll receive copies.”
“I need originals.”
“No.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You think you dictate evidence?”
“In this house, yes.”
“This is why everyone hates dealing with you.”
“Daniel,” I snapped.
He looked at me.
“There’s more.”
I explained Mercer.
Vincent.
Anthony.
The secret security footage.
Daniel’s expression changed with every sentence.
When I mentioned Mercer’s death, he stopped writing.
“That case landed on our desk this morning.”
“Cause of death?” Dominic asked.
“Not released.”
“You know.”
Daniel hesitated.
Dominic waited.
Finally Daniel said, “He was drugged.”
“With what?”
“I can't share that.”
I looked at him.
“Daniel.”
“Nora.”
“The medication used against Dominic could be connected.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Fine. Preliminary toxicology suggests sedatives. No obvious trauma.”
“Could the death have been accidental?” I asked.
“Possible.”
“Likely?”
“No.”
Dominic leaned back.
“Mercer knew too much.”
Daniel looked at him.
“About what?”
Dominic didn't answer.
The brass key was still in his pocket.
I knew what he was thinking about.
His mother.
The account.
The meeting.
Daniel finally closed his notebook.
“I need you away from here.”
“I’m staying.”
“You've always been stubborn.”
“So have you.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“So am I.”
He glanced toward Dominic.
“That may be the problem.”
Daniel left an hour later.
Before leaving, he pulled me aside.
“I checked something on the drive here.”
“What?”
“Vincent Moretti.”
I stiffened.
“Dominic’s former security chief.”
“He isn't just a former security guy.”
“What do you mean?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“He was questioned twelve years ago after a car accident.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Whose accident?”
Daniel looked toward Dominic across the room.
“Elena Rossi.”
His mother.
“Why was he questioned?”
“He was the last person known to have seen her alive.”
I felt cold.
“Was he charged?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Evidence disappeared.”
I thought about the security office burning.
“Daniel…”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“The detective who investigated Elena Rossi’s accident retired three months later.”
“So?”
“He received a large wire transfer two weeks before retiring.”
“From whom?”
“We never knew.”
Daniel looked at me.
“But I ran the account this morning.”
My heart beat faster.
“It came from the same Nevada holding company now using Elena Caruso’s name.”
For twelve years, the same money had been buying silence.
And the man who had been beside Dominic’s family all that time might have been involved from the beginning.
I returned to the library.
Dominic took one look at me.
“What did he tell you?”
I hesitated.
Then I realized withholding it would make me no better than everyone else in this house.
“Vincent was questioned after your mother’s death.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“He was the last known person to see her alive.”
Dominic stared at me.
Then slowly reached into his pocket.
The tiny brass key appeared between his fingers.
“My mother wasn't hiding money,” he said.
“Then what was she hiding?”
His gaze shifted toward the locked room across the hall.
“Evidence.”
May you like
And for the first time, Dominic Rossi finally decided to tell me what happened the night his mother died.
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