Chapter 6 - THE CARUSO INHERITANCE
Claire’s first instinct was to hang up.
Her second was to scream.
Instead, she became very still.
Gabriel recognized the change immediately.
He placed his phone beside hers and silently activated a trace through Marco.
Claire kept Rebecca talking.
“What did you do to my father?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Then don’t.”
“That depends on you.”
“Rebecca—”
“You think this is about money.”
“It sounds remarkably like money.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“I spent thirty years watching rich families buy silence. Money is never only money.”
“What do you want?”
“You will meet me tomorrow morning.”
“Where?”
“Alone.”
Gabriel shook his head.
Claire ignored him.
“Where?”
“Your father knows.”
The line disconnected.
Marco spoke in Gabriel’s earpiece.
“Burner. Signal bounced through three towers.”
Claire turned to Leonard.
“What is the Caruso trust?”
Leonard looked exhausted.
“It was created by Michael after the St. Catherine’s fire.”
“Why leave me everything if he wasn’t my biological father?”
“Because he believed you were his daughter.”
Claire frowned.
“Rebecca said Daniel Voss was.”
“Michael didn’t know.”
That landed differently.
Michael Caruso had apparently spent the rest of his life believing his daughter had been stolen.
A daughter who was never biologically his.
Yet he had still left her everything.
Claire looked at Gabriel.
“Where’s the documentation?”
“Secure archive,” Leonard said.
Gabriel stared at him.
“You’re telling the truth now?”
Leonard nodded.
“Too late, but yes.”
Vanessa laughed.
“I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Gabriel turned.
“You don’t get to criticize anyone’s honesty.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“I was trying to stop Rebecca.”
“You threatened Lily.”
“I frightened her.”
“You planned to make her disappear.”
“For twelve hours.”
Claire stared.
Vanessa continued quickly.
“The fake backpack, the passport photograph, the train schedule—they were staged.”
“To frame me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Rebecca was watching the house.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if she believed you were vulnerable.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“She wanted Claire removed from Gabriel’s protection.”
Claire looked at her.
“Why?”
“Rebecca knew you worked here.”
“How?”
“Vanessa.”
Gabriel’s eyes moved to his sister.
Vanessa snapped, “I didn’t know what Rebecca wanted at first.”
“You contacted her.”
“Yes.”
“You gave her Claire.”
“I gave her the name of a woman who matched the age and birth date from the St. Catherine’s file.”
“And then?”
“I realized Rebecca wasn’t alone.”
Gabriel went still.
“Who is helping her?”
Vanessa looked toward Leonard.
“The remaining Carusos.”
Claire felt a chill.
“Michael is dead.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
“His younger brother.”
Leonard whispered, “Victor.”
Vanessa nodded.
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
“Victor Caruso died in 2003.”
“No,” Evelyn said. “He disappeared in 2003.”
Claire almost laughed from exhaustion.
Apparently death had become optional in this family.
“What does Victor want?”
“The trust.”
“Why does he need me?”
Leonard answered.
“Michael’s will locked him out.”
“Why?”
“Victor wanted the war with Salvatore. Michael wanted peace.”
Gabriel looked at Claire.
“And Michael believed his daughter was the only person who should inherit.”
Claire sat down.
She suddenly felt less like a maid who had accidentally discovered a secret and more like a legal document everyone wanted to possess.
Gabriel noticed.
He moved between her and the others.
“No one discusses her like property again.”
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“This isn’t a romance novel, Gabriel.”
His head turned.
“No. It’s my house.”
The words ended the conversation.
He ordered Lily taken home with Marco and Rosa.
Vanessa was placed under guard.
Evelyn refused to leave Lily again.
Gabriel allowed her to ride in the second vehicle but not alone with their daughter.
Claire rode with Gabriel.
For several blocks, neither spoke.
Then he said, “You don’t have to claim the money.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to claim the name.”
“I know.”
“You don’t owe dead people an identity.”
Claire looked at him.
That sounded like something he needed to hear too.
“You don’t owe Leonard one either.”
Gabriel looked out the window.
“No.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
The honesty surprised her.
He continued.
“But Lily is alive. Your father is alive. Those are the things I understand right now.”
Claire smiled faintly.
“That’s almost healthy.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
At the estate, Thomas Bennett’s hospital was placed under armed guard.
Doctors confirmed no one had reached him.
Rebecca’s threat was psychological.
For now.
Claire visited him before dawn.
Thomas looked exhausted but stable.
She sat beside the bed.
“Dad.”
His eyes opened.
“Hey.”
“Rebecca said you know where she wants me to go.”
His expression sharpened.
“She called?”
“Yes.”
Thomas tried to sit.
“Don’t meet her.”
“I’m going to.”
“No.”
Claire almost smiled.
“You raised me. You know that tone doesn’t work.”
“Claire.”
“Where?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Your mother’s house.”
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“Chestnut Hill.”
Thomas gave her an address.
“Why would Rebecca choose that place?”
“Because that’s where Michael waited after you disappeared.”
Claire swallowed.
“For me?”
“Every night for almost a year.”
She looked down.
Thomas continued.
“He’d sit in the nursery until sunrise.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“He thought I was his.”
“He loved you before you were born.”
That mattered more than biology.
“Why did you never tell me?”
Thomas’s eyes closed.
“Because men were still looking.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Rebecca?”
“I didn’t know she was involved.”
“Who is she really?”
Thomas looked frightened.
“She was never just a nurse.”
“What was she?”
“Victor Caruso’s girlfriend.”
Claire went still.
“How old was he?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“She was twenty.”
“Yes.”
“So she was helping him.”
“At first.”
“With stealing babies?”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Rebecca believed Victor was collecting evidence against Salvatore.”
“But?”
“He was helping Salvatore.”
Claire felt the floor drop.
“Victor and Salvatore were partners?”
“Secretly.”
“They created the war?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To remove Michael.”
Thomas took a breath.
“Michael and Daniel Voss had gathered enough evidence to destroy Salvatore’s network. Victor betrayed them.”
“Daniel died.”
“Yes.”
“Elena was targeted.”
“Yes.”
“And I was taken.”
“Yes.”
Claire stood.
“So Victor has been chasing the same thing for thirty years.”
“The trust is part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“That Victor ordered Daniel’s murder.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“My biological father.”
“Yes.”
“Where is the proof?”
Thomas looked toward the door.
Then whispered:
“Inside the Caruso seal.”
Claire froze.
“The gold seal is hollow?”
“Yes.”
“What’s inside?”
“A microfilm strip. Daniel copied the payment records before he died.”
Claire grabbed her phone.
She called Gabriel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Marco.
Nothing.
Her pulse accelerated.
She opened the hospital room door.
The Romano guard outside was gone.
The corridor was empty.
“Dad…”
The lights shut off.
Emergency lights glowed red.
Thomas whispered, “They’re here.”
Claire locked the door.
A shadow moved beneath it.
Someone tried the handle.
Claire pushed a chair under the knob.
“Call security.”
“No signal.”
A knock came.
Three soft taps.
Claire and Thomas stared.
The same controlled rhythm Gabriel had used outside Lily’s music room.
“Claire.”
Gabriel.
She exhaled and removed the chair.
Gabriel entered, followed by Marco.
“Phones are being jammed.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“The seal contains evidence.”
“What?”
She explained.
Marco swore.
Gabriel immediately called the estate on a secure satellite line.
Rosa answered.
Lily safe.
Evelyn safe.
Vanessa—
Gabriel’s face changed.
“What?”
Marco looked at him.
Gabriel lowered the phone.
“Vanessa escaped.”
Claire stared.
“How?”
“She had help.”
Then another voice came through Rosa’s open line.
Lily.
“Dad?”
“I’m here.”
“Aunt Vanessa left something.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
“Don’t touch it.”
“I already did.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Read it.”
Paper unfolded.
Lily’s small voice came through the speaker.
“Gabriel, I lied about Rebecca.”
Everybody froze.
Lily continued reading.
“She isn’t working for Victor.”
Claire looked at Thomas.
His face emptied.
Lily read the next line.
“Rebecca has been trying to stop him.”
Thomas whispered, “No.”
Then Lily read the final sentence.
“The person working for Victor has been inside your house for twenty-three years.”
Every eye moved toward the same absent man.
Leonard Price.
May you like
Jonathan Vale.
Gabriel’s newly discovered father.
