Chapter 2 - The Photograph His Father Never Wanted Him to See
“Put down the letter, Dominic, or I swear I'll pull this trigger.”
Vanessa Kingsley's voice trembled, but the pistol in her hand was pointed straight at the man she was supposed to marry.
Hannah stood beside the open wedding dress, unable to breathe.
An hour earlier, she had believed her greatest nightmare was discovering that Charles Voss was alive.
Now Dominic's fiancée was threatening to shoot him over a letter written by Hannah's dead mother.
“Vanessa,” Dominic said quietly, “tell me why my father's name frightens you so much.”
“Put it down.”
“Does your father know you're here?”
Her expression changed.
That was answer enough.
Dominic placed the letter on the desk.
“There's a woman standing behind me who has already lost almost everyone she loves,” he said. “If you intend to hurt somebody, you look at me.”
“Stop trying to make yourself the hero!”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“You have no idea what my father will do if that letter gets out.”
“Then tell me.”
“He'll destroy you.”
Dominic took a small step forward.
Vanessa's finger tightened.
“Don't!”
The gun went off.
Hannah screamed.
A framed photograph shattered against the wall behind Dominic.
Before Vanessa could recover, Dominic caught her wrist and turned the pistol away. Frank rushed through the doorway seconds later, having heard the shot.
He took the weapon.
Vanessa sank into a chair, shaking.
Dominic looked at Hannah.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
His gaze moved to the wedding dress.
A tiny hole burned through its white lace where the bullet had passed.
For some reason, that hurt Hannah more than the sound of the gun.
Her mother had worn that dress thirty-four years earlier.
It was one of the few things the fire hadn't taken.
“You could have killed us,” Hannah whispered.
Vanessa covered her face.
“I wasn't supposed to fire.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Who told you to bring the gun?”
Vanessa said nothing.
Frank approached.
“Boss, Robert Miller is still waiting at the gate. He says he won't come inside unless Hannah asks him to.”
Hannah turned toward the door.
Her father.
For twelve years, she had imagined what she would say if she ever saw him again.
Sometimes she wanted to embrace him.
Other times she wanted to ask why he had abandoned two injured children after their mother died.
Now that he was actually there, she felt almost nothing.
“Bring him in,” she said.
Dominic looked at her.
“You don't have to face him tonight.”
“Yes,” Hannah answered. “I do.”
Ten minutes later, Robert Miller entered the library.
He was thinner than Hannah remembered.
His dark hair had turned almost completely gray. A pale scar crossed his right eyebrow, and his hands shook as he removed a worn brown coat.
But his eyes were the same.
“Hannah.”
She didn't move.
He took one step toward her.
“Sweetheart—”
“Don't.”
Robert stopped.
“You don't get to call me that.”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No. You don't know.”
Her voice grew stronger.
“You weren't there when Noah woke up screaming for Mom. You weren't there when they told me his legs might never work properly again.”
Robert lowered his eyes.
“I tried—”
“I buried our mother without you!”
The room went silent.
Hannah wiped her face angrily.
“I was twenty years old. Noah was ten. Every morning, I told him you were coming home because I didn't know what else to say.”
Robert's shoulders sagged.
“I heard about the funeral.”
“Then why weren't you there?”
He looked toward Vanessa.
“Because Charles Voss told me he'd finish what he started if I came near you.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“What did Voss start?”
Robert reached inside his coat.
Frank immediately stiffened.
“Slowly,” Dominic warned.
Robert withdrew an old photograph.
It showed a dark-haired little boy wearing a red winter coat.
The boy stood between a young woman and a tall man.
Hannah recognized the woman instantly.
“Mom?”
Robert nodded.
“She was nineteen when that was taken.”
Dominic took the photograph.
He recognized himself at seven years old.
But the woman beside him wasn't his mother, Lucia Moretti.
It was Evelyn Miller.
Hannah's mother.
“Why was she with me?” Dominic asked.
Robert's face changed.
“Because she saved your life.”
Dominic stared at him.
Robert continued.
“Thirty-five years ago, there was a fire at Ash Grove, a private children's recovery clinic outside Cleveland.”
Dominic remembered the name.
His father had once donated a large amount of money to the Kingsley Family Trust in memory of that institution.
“My mother died in a car accident,” Dominic said.
Robert swallowed.
“That's what Antonio told you.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Be careful.”
“Your mother died at Ash Grove.”
For several seconds, Dominic didn't speak.
Then he placed the photograph on the desk.
“My father took me to her grave every year.”
“The grave is real,” Robert said. “The story he told you isn't.”
Hannah watched Dominic's face.
He had built his entire life around the belief that Antonio Moretti, feared by half of Cleveland, had never lied to his only son about family.
Now that belief was breaking.
Robert pointed toward the young woman in the picture.
“Evelyn was an aide at the clinic. She carried you through the laundry exit after the fire started. I drove you both away.”
“Who started it?” Dominic asked.
Robert hesitated.
“That's what your mother spent the rest of her life trying to prove.”
A sharp sound came from the chair.
Vanessa had stood.
“Robert, please stop.”
He looked at her with unmistakable bitterness.
“Your father already killed one family to keep this buried.”
“That's not what happened!”
“Then tell them what did.”
Vanessa's face went white.
Dominic retrieved Evelyn's letter.
This time, nobody stopped him.
The handwriting was careful, each line pressed firmly into the paper.
Dominic,
If this reaches you, then the men who destroyed Ash Grove have found us.
Your father once made a terrible choice. He also spent years trying to undo it.
The truth is inside 214, but the records there will only tell half the story.
Find what Noah remembers.
And whatever Robert tells you, remember this: fear can explain why a man leaves, but it cannot excuse what he leaves behind.
Hannah took the letter.
Her mother had known Robert might abandon them.
The realization made her stomach twist.
Robert seemed to understand.
“Evelyn wrote that before the fire,” he whispered.
“Then she knew you were in danger.”
“Yes.”
“And you still left us?”
Robert didn't defend himself.
“I did.”
Frank's earpiece suddenly crackled.
He listened, then turned sharply toward Dominic.
“Boss. We have a problem at Noah's rehabilitation center.”
Hannah grabbed the edge of the desk.
“What happened?”
Frank's expression darkened.
“Someone authorized an emergency transfer.”
“Where?”
“There's no receiving hospital listed.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Dominic turned toward her.
“Tell me this wasn't you.”
She began crying.
“I signed it yesterday. My father said Noah needed a specialist.”
Hannah stared at her.
“You used my brother to keep me quiet.”
“I thought he was going somewhere safe!”
Robert suddenly seized Vanessa's arm.
“Who was the doctor?”
“Robert, you're hurting me!”
“WHO?”
“Dr. Whitcomb!”
Robert released her as though her skin had burned him.
Dominic picked up his phone.
“Frank, get every man we have to that facility. Now.”
But Hannah was already heading for the door.
“I'm coming.”
Robert followed her.
“Hannah, listen to me. If Voss has Noah—”
She turned.
For the first time that night, Robert looked genuinely frightened.
“Tell me,” she demanded.
His voice broke.
May you like
“The night your mother died, Noah saw the man who locked her inside the house.”
And suddenly Hannah understood why someone had been paying for her brother's silence for twelve years.
Related Stories
