Chapter 10 - The Traitor Standing Beside Dominic
Dominic wanted Vincent found before sunrise.
Vincent made sure that was impossible.
He emptied two accounts.
Abandoned three properties.
Destroyed his primary phone.
And disappeared with Ethan Mercer.
But betrayal leaves patterns.
By midday, Marco had mapped every Northstar property in Illinois.
One caught my attention.
A warehouse near Evanston had received payments through Bennett Events Consulting.
My fake company.
“Why would Vincent use an account under my name for his own property?” I asked.
Dominic studied the record.
“Because he expected law enforcement to find it.”
“So it’s another frame.”
“Probably.”
“Or he thinks we’ll assume it’s a frame and ignore it.”
Marco looked at me.
“You’re learning.”
“I preferred wedding planning.”
Dominic’s mouth moved slightly.
I caught it.
“You almost smiled.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“Focus.”
“Coward.”
Marco suddenly became very interested in his laptop.
The warmth lasted only seconds.
A federal investigator arrived at the penthouse with Evelyn.
Special Agent Samuel Reed.
Early forties.
Tired eyes.
No patience.
He looked at Dominic first.
“Vale.”
“Reed.”
Clearly they had met.
Then Reed looked at me.
“Miss Bennett.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“If you were, I wouldn’t start with coffee.”
“Good.”
He sat.
Evelyn remained beside me.
We gave him portions of the evidence.
Not everything.
Dominic didn’t trust him.
I noticed.
Reed noticed too.
“You think I’m on Vincent’s payroll?”
Dominic replied, “I think assumptions are expensive.”
Reed sighed.
“Your paranoia becomes exhausting after ten years.”
“Yet you keep visiting.”
That history interested me.
Reed opened the ledger.
His expression changed.
“This could dismantle several investigations.”
“Could it clear Harper?” Dominic asked.
Reed looked at me.
“If authenticated, yes.”
It was the first real hope I had heard.
“But?”
Reed nodded.
“But someone will argue she helped create it.”
My shoulders dropped.
Dominic’s voice hardened.
“Security footage proves she didn’t know.”
“It proves she didn’t commit one alleged theft.”
Reed turned toward me.
“Miss Bennett, I need Caleb West.”
“So do we.”
“Alive.”
Dominic stared.
Reed pointed at him.
“That part was for you.”
Dominic looked insulted.
“I understood.”
I believed him.
Mostly.
Reed left with encrypted copies.
The second the elevator closed, Dominic turned to Marco.
“Check him.”
Marco nodded.
I frowned.
“You called a federal agent here and immediately investigated him?”
“I’ve survived this long by being rude efficiently.”
Before I could respond, Chloe walked into the room holding my cracked phone.
“Harper?”
“What?”
“You received something.”
A voicemail.
From Caleb.
Time stamp: three minutes earlier.
I pressed play.
“Harper.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“If you're hearing this, Chloe gave you the drive.”
I looked at her.
She nodded.
Caleb continued.
“I know what you think of me. Most of it is deserved.”
My eyes burned.
“I used you in the beginning. I lied. I let Vincent build accounts under your name because I believed I could remove them before anyone found out.”
Dominic listened silently.
“I was wrong.”
Caleb breathed.
“When I realized Vincent planned to eliminate you after the wedding, I tried to create an exit.”
The staged affair.
The key card.
The wrong door.
Understanding hit me.
“You wanted me to find Dominic.”
His recorded voice continued as though answering.
“I needed Dominic to see you before Vincent could control the story.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
The entire night had been engineered.
But not necessarily for the reason we assumed.
“I knew if you stumbled into Vale’s private floor carrying my card, Dominic would investigate you.”
I whispered, “You used him.”
Dominic muttered, “I’m offended.”
Despite everything, a broken laugh escaped me.
Caleb continued.
“I also knew Dominic wouldn’t hurt you.”
Dominic became still.
“How?” I whispered.
The recording answered.
“Because Nicholas trusted him.”
Dominic looked away.
Caleb’s voice weakened.
“Chloe agreed to help after Vincent took Ethan. The kiss was supposed to make you run. Nothing more happened between us.”
I closed my eyes.
It didn't erase the betrayal.
Caleb had still kissed her.
Still staged my heartbreak.
Still treated my emotions as tools.
But the picture had changed.
“I’m sorry, Harper.”
A pause.
“I did love you.”
Did.
The past tense hurt more than expected.
“And because I loved you, I should have told you the truth years ago.”
I swallowed.
Finally, something honest.
“There’s one thing you need to know. Vincent isn’t acting alone.”
Dominic moved closer to the phone.
“The person above him is someone Dominic would never suspect.”
Static.
Then:
“Look at the signatures on Northstar’s original incorporation.”
The voicemail ended.
Marco immediately searched the drive.
Northstar Security.
Incorporated nineteen years ago.
Founding directors:
ANTHONY VALE.
VINCENT RUSSO.
And—
Marco froze.
Dominic stared.
“What?”
Marco turned the laptop.
Third director:
SAMUEL REED.
The federal agent who had just left with copies of our evidence.
My blood went cold.
Dominic reached for his phone.
Too late.
Marco’s screen flashed.
REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.
Files began disappearing.
“Disconnect it!”
Marco pulled the network cable.
Folders vanished anyway.
Reed had planted something during his visit.
Dominic grabbed the laptop.
“Backup?”
“Separate drive.”
“Where?”
Marco’s face changed.
“Evelyn has it.”
Everyone relaxed slightly.
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn.
I answered.
“Harper—”
A loud crash.
Then silence.
“Evelyn?”
Someone picked up her phone.
A man spoke.
Samuel Reed.
“Dominic should have trusted his paranoia.”
The line disconnected.
Dominic was already reaching for his coat.
I grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To get Evelyn.”
“You don’t know where she is.”
“I’ll find out.”
Then a text appeared from Evelyn’s number.
One address.
One instruction.
BRING THE ORIGINAL LEDGER.
COME ALONE, DOMINIC.
Dominic stared at it.
I stared at him.
The trap had finally revealed its real target.
May you like
And Dominic intended to walk straight into it.
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