Chapter 4 - WHAT ELENA LEFT BEHIND
Dominic read the sentence twice.
Then a third time.
DON’T LET MICHAEL TAKE SOPHIE HOME.
Sophie stood beside him, too young to understand why six words had changed every adult face in the room.
Emma understood enough.
Elena had been alive after the time police said she died.
And she had been afraid Michael wanted her daughter.
Dominic turned to Mercer.
“St. Catherine’s.”
Mercer looked trapped.
“You worked there eighteen years.”
“Yes.”
“Was Elena there that night?”
The doctor looked at Sophie.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“Do not make me ask twice.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa shot to her feet.
“You told me she never arrived.”
“I lied.”
Dominic crossed the room so fast Emma barely saw him move.
He stopped inches from Mercer.
“You treated my wife after her death?”
“She wasn’t dead when she came in.”
The words emptied the room.
Even Sophie went quiet.
Dominic’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Mercer continued.
“Elena arrived through the lower emergency entrance shortly after eleven.”
“How?”
“A cab.”
“Injuries?”
“Cuts. Bruising. Mild concussion.”
“From the crash?”
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Then there was no crash?”
“There was.”
Mercer looked down.
“But Elena wasn’t in the car.”
Vanessa whispered, “Samuel.”
He turned toward her.
“No more.”
His voice trembled.
“We have damaged this child enough.”
Dominic stepped back.
Emma saw his hands shaking.
He hid them by folding his arms.
“Explain.”
Mercer sat.
“Elena told me Michael had forced her car off the road.”
Vanessa gasped.
“No.”
“She jumped from the vehicle before it went through the barrier.”
Dominic’s eyes closed.
For eighteen months, he had probably pictured his wife trapped inside twisted metal.
Now that nightmare changed.
She survived.
At least temporarily.
“Why wasn’t she found?”
“Michael reached her first.”
Vanessa stared.
“You said he left.”
“He came back.”
Mercer nodded.
“Elena told me he dragged her from the roadside. He wanted Sophie’s location. She escaped when another vehicle approached.”
Dominic looked at Vanessa.
“You brought Sophie home?”
“Yes.”
“Did Michael know?”
“I don’t think so.”
Sophie touched Emma’s hand.
“Can I color?”
Every adult stopped.
Emma’s heart broke a little.
To Sophie, terror and crayons could exist in the same minute.
“Of course.”
Emma brought paper and crayons to the rug.
Sophie sat.
Dominic watched his daughter for a long moment.
Then he said to Mercer, “Continue.”
“Elena came to me because she didn’t trust the police.”
“Why?”
“She believed Michael had someone inside the department.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“She had proof?”
“She said she did.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“That answer is getting old.”
Mercer accepted the warning.
“She asked me to keep her presence secret until she could contact you directly.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Mercer looked at the floor.
“Because I made a terrible decision.”
Vanessa whispered, “Samuel.”
He shook his head.
“I’m done protecting us.”
Us.
Emma caught the word.
So did Dominic.
Mercer continued.
“Elena was terrified Michael would come to the hospital. Vanessa arrived shortly afterward.”
Dominic looked at his sister.
“You were there?”
Vanessa nodded.
“I received a call from Elena.”
“You told me you went home after the bridge.”
“I did. Then she called.”
“And you left Sophie?”
“With Mrs. Pollard.”
Dominic looked toward the hall.
The housekeeper had been there eighteen months.
Another person who might hold pieces.
But Mercer continued.
“Vanessa and Elena argued.”
“About Michael?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“Elena wanted Dominic told immediately.”
“And you stopped her.”
“I asked for one night.”
Dominic stared at his sister.
“One night for what?”
“To get Michael out of Philadelphia.”
“You chose him again.”
“I thought I could stop everything without you killing your brother.”
Dominic’s expression became bitter.
“You thought that was the danger?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa met his eyes.
“You hated him.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Michael stole from our father. Put a gun against my head when I was twenty-three. Nearly got two men killed because he wanted to prove he could run things.”
Emma watched him.
This was not a sentimental lost-brother story.
Michael had been dangerous long before he disappeared.
“But I would not have killed him for being alive,” Dominic said.
Vanessa whispered, “I didn’t know that.”
“No. You decided for me.”
Sophie’s crayon stopped moving.
Dominic immediately softened his tone.
Mercer continued.
“Elena agreed to wait until morning.”
Dominic stared.
“She trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I gave her a room upstairs under another name.”
“And then?”
Mercer looked sick.
“I left to handle an emergency.”
“When you came back?”
“Elena was gone.”
Dominic’s face turned white.
“Gone.”
“There was blood on the bathroom sink. Not much. Her coat was missing.”
“The coat was here.”
Vanessa frowned.
“I brought it back.”
Everyone looked at her.
She swallowed.
“I found it in the stairwell.”
“Why did you hide it?”
“Because there was blood on the sleeve.”
Dominic stared at the torn cuff.
“And you told no one?”
“I thought Michael had found her.”
“Then why not tell me?”
Vanessa’s answer was awful because it was understandable.
“Because by sunrise, the police had identified the burned car as Elena’s.”
Dominic frowned.
Burned.
The original report had involved a car through the guardrail.
Emma realized something.
“They identified her from the car?”
Mercer nodded.
“The vehicle caught fire after impact.”
“How did they identify her?”
“Her purse. Jewelry. Dental material recovered from the scene.”
Dominic’s head turned.
“Dental material?”
Mercer went pale.
“What?”
“My wife had veneers.”
Silence.
“Every tooth in her upper front row was ceramic.”
Mercer stared.
Dominic stepped closer.
“You knew that.”
“Yes.”
“You were our physician.”
“Yes.”
“Then whose dental material was in that car?”
Mercer had no answer.
Sophie suddenly said, “Purple.”
Everyone looked down.
She held up her drawing.
A hospital.
A little woman in a red coat.
A tall black figure.
And something colored purple around the woman’s neck.
Emma leaned closer.
“What’s that?”
Sophie touched her own throat.
“Mommy necklace.”
Dominic frowned.
“Elena didn’t own a purple necklace.”
Sophie shook her head.
“Not necklace.”
She struggled.
Six-year-old language failing against an eighteen-month-old memory.
“Pretty thing.”
Vanessa stared at the drawing.
“A scarf?”
Sophie nodded quickly.
“Purple scarf.”
Dominic looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa’s mouth opened.
“No.”
“What?”
She backed away.
“Elena didn’t have a purple scarf.”
Mercer stood.
“But someone did.”
Vanessa looked at him.
They spoke the name together.
“Rachel.”
Emma frowned.
“The nanny?”
Dominic’s head snapped around.
“The first nanny who quit?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Vanessa looked at Sophie.
“Rachel Bellini.”
Dominic went motionless.
Emma waited.
Vanessa swallowed.
“Our cousin.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“She disappeared seventeen years ago.”
Mercer shook his head.
“No, Dominic.”
May you like
He pointed toward Sophie’s drawing.
“Rachel was the woman found in Elena’s car.”
