Chapter 8 - THE BOY IN MAINE
By sunrise, Hannah Parker’s entire life had changed twice.
Anthony Romano was her father.
Sarah Parker was alive.
And somewhere in Maine, a teenage boy who looked like the Romano family might be her brother.
Dominic wanted to verify everything before they moved.
Hannah wanted to leave immediately.
For once, Dominic lost the argument quickly.
At 7:30 a.m., his plane lifted from Philadelphia.
Hannah sat across from him.
Caleb had begged to come.
Dominic refused.
Caleb responded by not speaking to him for exactly eleven minutes.
Then he hugged Hannah and made her promise to bring his “new cousin” home if the boy was nice.
The flight to Portland took less than ninety minutes.
The emotional distance felt much larger.
Hannah stared at the photograph.
“What if she doesn’t want to see me?”
Dominic looked up.
“She kept surveillance away from you for fifteen years.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No.”
He leaned back.
“It means she probably had a reason.”
Hannah laughed softly.
“You’re terrible at comfort.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“My father apparently knew that.”
Dominic’s expression shifted.
She regretted the words.
Then he smiled faintly.
“Anthony enjoyed being correct.”
The cottage stood outside Portland near a wooded road.
Dominic left most security behind.
Hannah walked to the porch alone.
Her hand hovered over the door.
She knocked.
Footsteps.
The door opened.
Sarah Parker had aged.
But Hannah knew her instantly.
Her mother’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Hannah?”
One word.
Fifteen years vanished.
Hannah began crying.
Sarah did too.
Then they were holding each other.
Not gracefully.
Not like movies.
Hannah hit her mother’s shoulder once.
Then again.
“Why?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
Sarah held her tighter.
“I thought you were safer without me.”
“That’s what everybody keeps saying!”
Sarah pulled back.
Hannah saw fear in her face.
Real fear.
“I watched you from a distance.”
“That makes it worse.”
“I know.”
“You watched graduations?”
“Yes.”
“My college?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was working at the Romano mansion?”
Sarah froze.
“No.”
Hannah stared.
Sarah stepped back.
“When?”
“Seven months ago.”
“No.”
Her face went pale.
“No, no, no.”
Dominic appeared at the edge of the porch.
Sarah saw him.
She almost collapsed.
“Dominic.”
“You know me?”
“I knew you when you were nineteen.”
Dominic came closer.
“Cross arranged Hannah’s employment.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Then he found her.”
“He found both of you.”
Sarah grabbed Hannah’s arm.
“We need to leave.”
“We’re already protected.”
“No one is protected from Cross.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“He came into my house last night.”
Sarah stared.
“He’s desperate.”
“For what?”
Sarah looked toward the woods.
“The account.”
Dominic exchanged a glance with Hannah.
“Four hundred eighty million.”
“That’s the number now.”
“You have it?”
“No.”
“Then what does Cross think you have?”
“The key.”
Hannah almost laughed.
“Another key?”
Sarah gave her a sad smile.
“You always hated puzzles.”
“You built my childhood around one.”
“I didn’t have much choice.”
Inside the cottage, the teenage boy emerged from the hallway.
Sixteen.
Dark hair.
Anthony’s eyes.
Hannah stared.
Sarah whispered, “This is Owen.”
Owen looked uncomfortable.
“Hannah?”
She nodded.
“Hi.”
He looked at Dominic.
“You’re Uncle Dominic?”
Dominic seemed more shaken by that word than by gunfire.
“Yes.”
Owen nodded.
“Mom said you were scary.”
Hannah laughed unexpectedly.
Dominic glanced at Sarah.
“She said that?”
“She said several things.”
Owen smiled.
For the first time, Dominic did too.
Sarah explained everything over the next hour.
Owen was Anthony’s son.
Conceived weeks before Anthony died.
Sarah discovered the pregnancy after she fled Philadelphia.
She never told Frank Romano.
Never told Rose.
Never told anyone except Evelyn.
Hannah turned sharply.
“You knew?”
Evelyn, on speakerphone, whispered, “Yes.”
Hannah nearly threw the phone.
Sarah took responsibility.
“I made her promise.”
“Why keep Owen but send me away?”
Sarah broke.
“Because Victor knew you existed.”
Hannah went silent.
“He had pictures of you. Your school. Your friends. You were eight. I couldn’t move you every month without destroying your life.”
“So you destroyed it differently.”
Sarah began crying.
“Yes.”
That answer stopped Hannah’s anger.
Not because it fixed anything.
Because Sarah didn’t defend herself.
She simply accepted the wound she had caused.
Dominic asked, “What is the key Cross wants?”
Sarah went upstairs.
Returned with a child’s music box.
Inside was a brass token.
No numbers.
Only a symbol.
An eagle.
“Cross’s archive account is held through an offshore trust. This token identifies the physical access point.”
“Where?”
“Philadelphia Federal Reserve annex.”
Dominic frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not the current facility.”
Sarah looked at him.
“An abandoned vault beneath the old customs building.”
“What’s inside?”
“Cross’s master transaction records.”
“The same as Rose’s archive?”
“No.”
Sarah shook her head.
“Rose had copies of crimes. Cross’s vault has names of current people still paying him.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Politicians?”
“Judges. Executives. Organized crime. Federal contractors.”
Hannah whispered, “That’s why he’s desperate.”
“Yes.”
“He isn’t protecting the past.”
“No.”
Sarah looked at her daughter.
“He’s protecting the present.”
A vehicle appeared on the road.
Dominic stood instantly.
His security team called.
“Boss, we have company.”
Three black SUVs.
Hannah’s stomach tightened.
Cross had found them.
Dominic moved everyone toward the rear exit.
Then his phone rang.
Philadelphia number.
Leo.
Dominic answered.
“What?”
Silence.
Then Caleb’s crying voice.
“Dad?”
Dominic froze.
“Caleb?”
“They took me.”
Hannah’s blood turned cold.
“How?”
A man spoke.
Julian Cross.
“You brought everyone to Maine.”
Dominic’s face became terrifyingly empty.
Cross continued.
“And left the one person I knew you would trade everything for.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“If you touch him—”
“I don’t need to touch him.”
Cross sounded almost amused.
“I need Hannah.”
Hannah stared.
“No.”
Dominic immediately shook his head at her.
Cross said, “Bring Sarah, Hannah, and the eagle token to Philadelphia.”
Sarah whispered, “He’ll kill us.”
Cross heard.
“Hello, Sarah.”
She went pale.
“It’s been a long time.”
Dominic asked, “Where is my son?”
“Safe.”
“Proof.”
The call shifted to video.
Caleb sat in the back seat of a car.
No visible injuries.
Terrified.
“Hannah.”
She moved closer.
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I opened the door.”
Her heart broke.
Cross took the phone back.
“Children are wonderfully easy to manipulate when you tell them someone they love is hurt.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Cross continued.
“Old customs building. Eleven tonight.”
Then his voice changed.
“And Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll stay outside.”
Dominic smiled without humor.
“That isn’t going to happen.”
“It will.”
“Why?”
“Because if I see you inside, Caleb dies first.”
The call ended.
Hannah looked at Dominic.
“No.”
He turned.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“You’re not trading yourself.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants the token.”
“He wants all of us.”
Sarah stood.
“Then we give him exactly what he expects.”
Dominic frowned.
Sarah looked at Hannah.
“For fifteen years, I’ve been running from Julian Cross.”
May you like
Her voice steadied.
“I’m done running.”
