Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Wasn't Supposed to Be There
Dominic read the sentence three times.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"My mother was buried seventeen years ago."
Daniel said nothing.
"I stood beside her grave."
"I know."
"Then explain that photograph."
Emily remained beside Ruth's bed, one hand resting on her mother's shoulder.
The old woman watched Dominic with an expression that looked painfully close to pity.
Daniel reached for the photograph.
"Your father never claimed the woman in the picture was Elena."
"Her face is right there."
"It's her coat," Daniel said. "And her face resembles Elena's. But look carefully at the woman's left hand."
Dominic turned the photograph toward the light.
The woman wore a plain silver ring.
His mother had possessed a noticeable burn scar across her left thumb.
This woman's hand was unmarked.
Dominic remembered the scar.
He had caused it accidentally at age seven, when he'd knocked a kettle off the stove.
Elena had carried the mark for the rest of her life.
He closed his eyes.
"Then who is she?"
Ruth answered before Daniel could.
"Rose."
Daniel looked at her.
"Rose Bell?"
Ruth nodded.
Emily frowned.
"Peter Bell's wife?"
"His younger sister," Daniel corrected. "Rose Bell disappeared after Peter died."
Dominic examined the woman's face again.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
"Why did she look like my mother?"
"Because Elena and Rose were cousins," Daniel said. "Very close cousins. Rose even borrowed Elena's clothes when they were younger."
Dominic looked again at the handwriting.
Elena didn't die when we told Dominic she did.
"Then this sentence?"
Daniel's expression darkened.
"Anthony wrote it because he believed somebody had used Elena's identity after her death."
The explanation did little to soften the blow.
Dominic had spent years wondering whether his father had loved his mother enough.
Now it seemed her name had become part of something much uglier.
Emily unfolded the letter from Anthony's coat.
The handwriting was uneven, as though someone had been rushing.
Ruth, keep these things for my son. If Walter fails me, he must learn what the Bennett family took from us. Do not give the photograph to Gabriel. He is a good man, but he loves the wrong people.
Dominic looked toward Gabriel.
His former security chief stood near the doorway, visibly shaken.
"Who were the wrong people?"
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
"Victoria."
Emily turned.
"You knew her before tonight?"
Gabriel nodded.
"We were engaged."
The words hung in the room.
Dominic stared at him.
"Engaged?"
"Before she married Walter's son, Christopher."
Daniel whispered something under his breath.
Gabriel's voice was strained.
"It ended eight years ago. I thought it had nothing to do with your father."
Dominic stepped toward him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Christopher was your business partner. Because Victoria was marrying into the Bennett family. And because I was ashamed of how badly she'd fooled me."
Emily looked at Gabriel with open disbelief.
"You were engaged to the woman who threatened my mother's care?"
"I didn't know what she was doing."
"You keep saying that."
Gabriel accepted the accusation without defending himself.
Emily returned her attention to the coat.
Inside another pocket she found a train ticket dated the morning after the warehouse fire.
Philadelphia to Harrisburg.
One-way.
Passenger: Rose Bell.
Pinned to it was a small piece of paper.
No public transportation. They are watching the stations.
Dominic looked at Daniel.
"Did Rose escape?"
"She was supposed to."
"Did she?"
"I don't know."
For the first time, Daniel appeared genuinely afraid.
Dominic insisted that Ruth be transferred to a hospital where Victoria's foundation had no influence.
Emily objected at first.
"She doesn't handle change well."
"Neither do I," Dominic said. "But we can't leave her somewhere Victoria can send strangers into her room."
Ruth surprised them by squeezing Emily's hand.
"Go."
Emily kissed her forehead.
"We'll stay with you."
Dominic arranged for a private medical transport and independent nursing staff.
He personally signed a financial guarantee.
Emily saw the amount.
"Mr. Moretti, I can't pay that back."
"I'm not asking you to."
"I don't want charity."
Dominic looked at Anthony's coat hanging over the chair.
"Neither did Gabriel. My father apparently understood something I was too proud to learn."
Emily waited.
"Help isn't supposed to come with a leash."
For the first time since the ballroom, her expression softened.
At the mansion, Dominic examined the brass luggage tag.
It belonged to a locker at the old Philadelphia railway terminal, now part of a private archival storage facility.
The number was 417.
The same number hidden inside Ruth's bracelet.
Daniel spread the objects across Anthony's desk.
"The bracelet was a warning," he said. "Margaret knew Ruth had the coat."
"Then why hide the number inside a charm?"
"Because Victoria checks everything Margaret carries. Margaret must have found a way to send a clue without exposing what she knew."
Dominic remembered Margaret's interrupted call.
Walter had been moved from his ambulance.
Margaret had been taken as well.
There was no guarantee either was alive.
He turned toward Gabriel.
"Can you find Christopher Bennett?"
Gabriel looked startled.
"Christopher?"
"Victoria's husband. Walter's son. The man who benefits if Walter never wakes up."
Gabriel nodded.
"He's at the Bennett estate."
"How do you know?"
"He sent me a message an hour ago."
Dominic held out his hand.
Gabriel surrendered his phone.
The message was brief.
I know what my wife did. Please don't let my father die.
Below it was another message.
She has my daughter.
Dominic frowned.
"Christopher has a daughter?"
Gabriel looked miserable.
"With Victoria. Her name is Lily. She's seven."
Dominic had met the child twice.
Quiet, observant, always carrying a small yellow sketchbook.
He remembered her hiding behind her grandfather's chair at a Christmas party.
"What does Christopher mean, she has Lily?"
Gabriel swallowed.
"Victoria took her from school this afternoon. Christopher hasn't been allowed to see her."
Dominic's anger shifted into something colder.
Until now, he'd thought Victoria was protecting stolen money.
Now a child was involved.
Emily emerged from the doorway holding another item found inside Anthony's coat.
A small wooden frame.
Inside was a child's drawing of a house with four people standing outside.
The drawing had been signed in careful block letters.
LILY.
Dominic stared.
"That's impossible. Lily wasn't born when my father died."
Daniel examined the back.
A date had been written there.
Three weeks ago.
Emily looked between them.
"Someone has been using this coat recently."
Dominic studied the childish drawing.
One figure was labeled GRANDPA.
Another was labeled DADDY.
A third was labeled ME.
The fourth figure had no name.
It was colored entirely in black.
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Below the drawing, Lily had written:
THE LADY IN GRANDPA'S ROOM ISN'T MY MOM.
