Chapter 9 - The Man Who Never Abandoned Me
The address belonged to a cabin near Lake Geneva.
Dominic wanted to send men ahead.
I refused.
Then he sent them anyway.
By the time we arrived, Rafael had confirmed the cabin appeared empty.
No vehicles.
No movement.
No obvious traps.
Dominic and I entered together.
Dust covered most of the furniture.
But not all of it.
A coffee mug sat in the sink.
A newspaper from three days ago lay on the table.
Someone lived there.
Recently.
My heart pounded.
On the wall hung a photograph.
Me.
At my nursing-school graduation.
I had never seen this copy.
Beside it were others.
My high-school graduation.
My first apartment.
A picture of me standing beside Mom outside a restaurant.
Someone had been following my life.
I touched the frame.
“He was watching.”
Dominic stood behind me.
“Looks that way.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Dominic immediately moved in front of me.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
He gave me a look.
“Not now, Clare.”
A shadow crossed the landing.
An older man appeared.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Hands raised.
He looked at me.
And I knew.
Not because I remembered him.
I had been eight.
But because his eyes were mine.
“Clare.”
My throat closed.
“Michael?”
His face crumpled.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
I didn’t move.
He started down the stairs.
Dominic blocked him.
“That’s far enough.”
Michael stopped.
He looked at Dominic.
“You’re Angelo’s boy.”
“My father is dead.”
“I know.”
Silence.
I stared at the man who had haunted my childhood without being there.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“Twenty-eight years.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“You let me think you abandoned us.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
He looked wounded.
Good.
Part of me wanted him wounded.
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“Because Anthony was looking for me.”
“Twenty-eight years?”
“He never stopped.”
“What did you have?”
Michael looked at Dominic.
“The ledger.”
The room went still.
“You made a copy,” Dominic said.
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Michael smiled sadly.
“Safe.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
I stepped forward.
“No.”
Both men looked at me.
“He doesn’t answer you until he answers me.”
Dominic nodded once.
Michael sat at the kitchen table.
I remained standing.
“Start with the fire.”
He took a breath.
“Your mother and I worked for Bluebird. She handled internal accounts. I drove freight.”
“You were more than a driver.”
“Eventually.”
“What happened?”
“I discovered Anthony was moving money through fake freight invoices. At first it was theft.”
“From the Romano family?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“He started moving things.”
“What things?”
Michael looked at Dominic.
Dominic answered for him.
“Drugs.”
Michael nodded.
“Weapons too.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“My father forbade both through Bluebird.”
“Anthony didn’t care.”
“So you copied records.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To give them to Angelo.”
Dominic’s father.
“But Anthony found out.”
“The warehouse burned the night before I was supposed to meet him.”
“And you survived?”
“Barely.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
Michael laughed without humor.
“Some of the police were in the ledger.”
I understood.
“So you ran.”
“I went to your mother first.”
“She knew you were alive.”
“Yes.”
That hurt.
More than I expected.
“She lied to me.”
“She protected you.”
“Stop calling lies protection.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“You sound like her.”
“Good.”
A faint smile.
Then it vanished.
“She made me promise not to contact you.”
“Why?”
“Because Anthony had men watching the family.”
“Was he still watching years later?”
“Yes.”
“Even after Mom died?”
Michael looked down.
“Yes.”
Dominic asked, “Why did Margaret start searching?”
Michael looked at him.
“Because I contacted her.”
“You knew her?”
“She was your father’s goddaughter.”
Dominic stared.
“I never knew that.”
“Angelo kept her away from the family.”
Michael continued.
“She became an auditor. Clean career. No criminal connections. I thought she could expose Anthony legally.”
“And he killed her.”
Michael’s voice broke.
“I believe so.”
I thought about Margaret gripping my wrist.
Bluebird.
She had known exactly what she was trying to tell me.
“What about Elias Grant?”
“He helped trace the money.”
“Luca?”
“He found Margaret after she started asking questions.”
Dominic paced away.
“So Luca discovered this independently.”
“Yes.”
“And Anthony shot him.”
“He ordered it.”
I looked at Michael.
“Why now?”
“Because Anthony learned that Margaret had found me.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two days before she died.”
I felt sick.
She had come to Lakeview because of my father.
Because of me.
“What did she tell you?”
“That she had enough evidence to connect Anthony to the medical network.”
“Why didn’t you release the ledger?”
“Because it would destroy more than Anthony.”
Dominic stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Michael looked at him.
“Your father made deals.”
Dominic’s expression cooled.
“What kind?”
“The kind men make when they believe they’re protecting families.”
“Names.”
“Judges. Police commanders. Union officials. Politicians. Contractors.”
“All dirty?”
“No.”
“That makes it worse.”
Michael nodded.
“The ledger doesn’t distinguish good compromises from corruption.”
“So releasing it destroys innocent people too.”
“Yes.”
I asked, “Then what do we do?”
Michael looked at me.
“We use only the pages tied to Anthony.”
“Where are they?”
He stood.
Then looked toward the ceiling.
A faint sound.
Dominic heard it too.
Engine.
Outside.
More than one.
Rafael shouted from the porch.
“Company!”
Michael went pale.
“They found me.”
Dominic pulled me behind the wall.
Vehicles surrounded the cabin.
Then a familiar voice amplified through a speaker.
Anthony.
“Michael!”
My father closed his eyes.
Anthony continued.
“Twenty-eight years is a long time to hide.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Back exit?”
Michael pointed toward the basement.
“Tunnel to the lake.”
Of course there was.
We moved.
Before entering the basement, I looked back.
On the table was the photograph from my graduation.
I grabbed it.
Then the first window shattered.
We ran underground.
The tunnel was narrow and freezing.
Behind us came footsteps.
Dominic stayed last.
We emerged near the lake where Rafael had positioned a second vehicle.
Everyone climbed in.
Everyone except Michael.
I turned.
He stood outside.
“Dad?”
It was the first time I had called him that.
His face changed.
“Go.”
“No.”
“He needs the ledger.”
“So?”
“So I’m giving him what he wants.”
Dominic stepped out.
“No.”
Michael looked at me.
“If Anthony believes the ledger is with me, he stops chasing you.”
“I just found you.”
“I know.”
“Get in the car.”
He smiled sadly.
“You really are your mother’s daughter.”
Then he slammed the door.
Rafael drove.
I screamed for him to stop.
Dominic grabbed me as I tried to open the door.
Through the rear window, I watched Michael walk back toward the cabin.
May you like
Toward Anthony.
And just before the trees blocked my view, I saw him raise both hands and surrender.
