Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO CAME WITHOUT A GUN
"You want a crew?"
Dominic Rossi stared at the frozen image on the tablet.
His sister's hands were wrapped around her pregnant stomach.
"No."
Leo Marchetti frowned.
"Dom, he struck Clara. In front of witnesses."
"I saw it."
"Then you know what our people will expect."
Dominic closed the tablet.
For twenty years, Leo had watched men make the mistake of confusing Dominic's silence with hesitation.
He knew better.
"Bring the car," Dominic repeated. "And Leo?"
"Yeah?"
"Nobody touches Gregory Wallace."
Leo studied him.
"Not even you?"
Dominic slipped on his black wool coat.
"Especially me."
It was the first decision he made that night which surprised Leo.
It would not be the last.
At 3:54 a.m., Gregory Wallace was sitting inside the hospital administrator's office, preparing a suspension report.
He had already written three versions.
In the first, Clara Rossi had been verbally abusive.
In the second, she had physically threatened him.
In the third, Gregory described himself as attempting to "redirect an emotionally unstable employee."
He liked the third version best.
It made him sound reasonable.
Professional.
Almost sympathetic.
There was only one problem.
The security camera.
Gregory had watched its red recording indicator every night for six weeks without giving it much thought.
Now he could barely stop thinking about it.
He opened the internal security portal.
The footage from 3:17 a.m. was marked as restricted.
His password failed.
He tried again.
Access denied.
Gregory's stomach tightened.
Then the office door opened.
Hospital security supervisor Raymond Pike entered without knocking.
"We have a problem."
Gregory looked up sharply.
"What problem?"
"There's a man downstairs asking for Clara Rossi."
"Tell him she's suspended."
"I did."
"And?"
Raymond hesitated.
"He asked to speak with you."
Gregory leaned back.
"Who is he?"
"Dominic Rossi."
The name meant nothing to Gregory at first.
Then Raymond added something that made him sit straighter.
"He came with Leo Marchetti."
Gregory recognized that name.
Not from the newspaper.
From a private meeting he'd attended two weeks earlier.
A meeting he had been told never to discuss.
His mouth went dry.
"Where are they?"
"Main lobby."
"How many men?"
"Two."
Gregory forced a laugh.
"Then why are you standing here looking frightened?"
Raymond didn't smile.
"Because one of them is asking why the woman you assaulted hasn't received a medical examination."
Clara was still holding the ice pack when Dominic entered the break room.
She saw his familiar dark eyes first.
Then the coat.
Then the expression on his face.
"Oh, Dom."
He crossed the room before she could stand.
For a moment, he didn't touch her.
He simply looked at the swelling along her cheek.
His jaw moved once.
"Who checked the baby?"
Clara lowered her eyes.
"Nobody yet."
"Why?"
"I was going to finish my report."
Dominic crouched in front of her.
"Clara."
She looked at him.
"Who checked the baby?"
Her lower lip trembled.
"I was scared to ask."
That answer nearly broke him.
He took her hand.
"Then we're asking now."
She tried to smile.
"You didn't have to come."
"Yes, I did."
"Did someone call you?"
Dominic hesitated.
"Someone thought I should know."
Clara looked past him at Leo.
"How much trouble is Gregory in?"
Dominic brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"That's not your responsibility."
"Dom."
"I promise you something."
"What's that?"
"Tonight, you get to be my little sister. You don't have to protect anybody."
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his shoulder.
For the first time since the slap, Clara let herself cry.
Within minutes, an obstetric resident named Dr. Maya Chen was examining Clara.
Dominic stood outside the curtain.
He could hear the gentle electronic rhythm of the fetal monitor.
Then he heard Clara ask the question every frightened mother eventually asks.
"Is my baby okay?"
There was a pause.
"The heartbeat is reassuring," Dr. Chen said. "But after trauma during pregnancy, we need to monitor you carefully. I want an ultrasound and several hours of observation."
Dominic closed his eyes.
Reassuring.
It wasn't the same as safe.
But it was something.
Leo approached him.
"Wallace is coming."
Dominic opened his eyes.
Gregory appeared at the end of the corridor with Raymond beside him.
He had straightened his tie.
Smoothed his jacket.
Prepared the expression of a manager handling an unfortunate personnel dispute.
"Mr. Rossi," Gregory began. "I understand you're concerned about your sister."
Dominic said nothing.
Gregory continued.
"Unfortunately, there was an incident involving inappropriate conduct by—"
"Did you hit her?"
Gregory stopped.
"Excuse me?"
"Did you strike my sister?"
"Mr. Rossi, workplace disputes are complicated."
"Not that complicated."
Gregory glanced at Leo.
"Your sister became confrontational."
Dominic stepped closer.
Not enough to threaten him.
Just enough to make him answer.
"Did you hit her?"
Gregory swallowed.
"I made physical contact while attempting to de-escalate an aggressive situation."
Dominic nodded slowly.
"That's an interesting sentence."
"Hospital policy—"
"Does hospital policy allow you to strike pregnant nurses?"
Gregory's face reddened.
"Sir, I don't appreciate your tone."
Dominic looked toward Raymond.
"Please make sure that statement goes into the official incident report."
Raymond stared at him.
"What statement?"
"The one where Mr. Wallace admitted making physical contact."
Gregory's expression changed.
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
Dominic looked back at him.
"That's why I wanted everyone to hear it."
At 4:22 a.m., hospital administrator Evelyn Hart arrived wearing a navy coat over her pajamas.
She was fifty-eight, sharp-eyed, and had spent thirty years working her way from bedside nursing to executive management.
She knew when an institution was facing a crisis.
And the sight of Dominic Rossi standing inside her hospital told her this was becoming one.
"Mr. Rossi."
"Evelyn."
They shook hands.
Gregory watched the familiarity between them.
"You know each other?"
Evelyn ignored him.
"How is Clara?"
"Being examined."
"I'm sorry this happened."
"Then help me understand why my sister was sitting alone with an ice pack instead of receiving medical care."
Evelyn turned toward Raymond.
"Who authorized that?"
Raymond shifted uncomfortably.
"Mr. Wallace indicated it was an employee disciplinary matter."
Evelyn stared at Gregory.
"An employee disciplinary matter?"
Gregory lifted his chin.
"She was insubordinate."
"She's seven months pregnant."
"Pregnancy does not exempt employees from standards."
Evelyn's voice hardened.
"Neither does management exempt you from the law."
For one brief moment, Dominic thought Evelyn might actually do the right thing.
Then Leo's phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
"Dom. I need you."
They stepped several feet away.
Leo showed him a photograph.
It was a hospital purchasing document.
At the top was the Lakecrest Medical Center logo.
Below it was a vendor name.
Northstar Medical Logistics.
Dominic recognized the company immediately.
He owned thirty percent of it through a holding corporation.
Until that moment, he had believed Northstar transported medical equipment and supplies.
Leo pointed at a line near the bottom.
AUTHORIZED RECEIVING OFFICER: GREGORY WALLACE.
"What's this?" Dominic asked.
"Something our accountant found when I asked who Wallace was."
"Why would Northstar be dealing with him?"
"That's what I wanted to know."
Leo enlarged the photograph.
Under the receiving officer's signature was another name.
A name Dominic hadn't seen on a business document in eight months.
Michael Keegan.
Clara's dead husband.
Dominic stared at the signature.
"That's impossible."
Leo looked toward the examination room.
"Dom, there's more."
He scrolled to the final page.
The document had been signed at 11:46 p.m.
On the night Michael Keegan died.
And beside Michael's name was a short handwritten instruction.
DO NOT SEND THIS THROUGH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Dominic felt something cold settle in his chest.
Then Leo said quietly:
"There's another shipment scheduled for tonight. Same vendor. Same receiving officer."
Dominic looked toward Gregory Wallace.
For the first time, the man who had slapped his sister was no longer the most frightening part of the night.
May you like
Because Dominic had just discovered that the bully standing in front of him might be connected to the fire that killed Clara's husband.
And the company moving the evidence belonged partly to Dominic himself.
