Chapter 7 - A House Full of Eyes
Norah stared at the photograph until the face blurred.
Her father.
Thomas Hayes.
The man who had taught her to ride a bicycle.
The man who worked twenty-four-hour shifts as a paramedic and still arrived at her school concerts.
The man whose closed coffin she had stood beside seven years earlier.
“No.”
Dominic said nothing.
Norah looked at Mateo.
“This is fake.”
“We verified the image.”
“You verified the man?”
“We’re trying.”
“My father died in Colorado.”
“What happened?”
“Ambulance accident.”
“You saw the body?”
Norah froze.
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“The coffin was closed?”
“Yes.”
“Who identified him?”
“My uncle.”
“Name?”
“Daniel Hayes.”
Mateo typed.
Norah shook her head.
“This is impossible.”
Dominic came around the desk.
“Sit.”
“Stop telling me to sit.”
“Fair.”
She began pacing.
“My uncle called me. He said the accident was terrible. He said I shouldn’t see Dad that way.”
“When did your uncle die?” Dominic asked.
Norah stared.
“How do you know he’s dead?”
“You never mentioned him as family.”
“Two years later.”
“How?”
“Heart attack.”
Dominic and Mateo exchanged a look.
Norah saw it.
“No.”
“We don’t know anything yet,” Dominic said.
“You think they both faked their deaths?”
“I think we verify everything.”
“Why would my father fake his death?”
No one answered.
Norah’s voice cracked.
“He loved me.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I believe you.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You think he is threatening my baby.”
“I think his photograph appeared in the same investigation.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Norah grabbed her cardigan.
“Where are you going?”
“To find him.”
Dominic blocked the door.
“Absolutely not.”
“You promised I would be involved.”
“Informed does not mean reckless.”
“He’s my father.”
“And if someone chose that photograph because they knew exactly how you’d react?”
Norah stopped.
Dominic lowered his voice.
“You walk out of here emotional, you become easy to manipulate.”
She hated him for being right.
Tears filled her eyes.
“What do we do?”
“We find him first.”
Mateo left to coordinate surveillance.
Dominic remained.
Norah sank onto the couch.
“I spent years being angry at a dead man.”
“For dying?”
“For leaving me alone.”
Dominic sat beside her.
“I used to call his voicemail for months.”
Norah laughed bitterly.
“Eventually the number got disconnected.”
Dominic watched her.
“If he is alive, there may be an explanation.”
“What explanation lasts seven years?”
He had none.
Norah wiped her face.
The baby moved.
She placed a hand over the spot.
Dominic noticed but did not reach this time.
“You can.”
“What?”
“Touch her.”
He looked at Norah.
“You called the baby her.”
“The message said daughter.”
“Do you believe it?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic placed his hand gently against her stomach.
They waited.
A small kick answered.
His expression softened.
“She’s active.”
“At night.”
“Like Lily was.”
Norah looked at him.
“You remember?”
“Every night.”
Another kick.
Dominic smiled faintly.
Norah realized she was smiling too.
For a moment, the danger disappeared.
Then Dominic’s phone rang.
Mateo.
“We found Thomas Hayes.”
Dominic stood.
“Where?”
“A hotel near the river.”
Norah heard every word.
“Is he alone?”
“As far as we can tell.”
“Bring him.”
Norah stood.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“I want to go.”
“Norah—”
“You promised.”
“That was before—”
“Before my dead father came back?”
“Yes, actually.”
She glared.
Dominic sighed.
“You stay in the vehicle.”
“No.”
“Then you don’t go.”
“That isn’t involvement.”
“That’s compromise.”
“You’re terrible at compromise.”
“I’ve been told.”
Twenty minutes later, Norah sat inside an armored SUV between Dominic and Mateo.
Three other vehicles followed.
The hotel stood near the waterfront.
Dominic ordered Norah to remain in the car.
She lasted four minutes.
Then she saw an older man exit the lobby.
Everything inside her stopped.
“Dad.”
Thomas Hayes looked toward the SUV.
Their eyes met.
His face collapsed.
Norah opened the door.
Dominic grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
“That’s him.”
“I know.”
“Let go.”
“Look around.”
Norah forced herself to.
Thomas was not alone.
A man stood twenty feet behind him.
Another near the corner.
Both watching.
Dominic spoke quietly.
“Those aren’t hotel guests.”
Thomas suddenly shouted.
“Norah, get down!”
Dominic moved before she understood.
He pulled her back into the SUV.
The vehicles accelerated away as chaos erupted behind them.
No gunfire reached Norah’s ears.
Only tires.
Shouting.
Then distance.
“What happened?”
Dominic remained focused on the rear window.
“They were waiting for you.”
“My father warned me.”
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t with them.”
“Maybe.”
Norah’s anger exploded.
“He saved me!”
“Or played his part.”
She slapped Dominic.
Silence filled the SUV.
Mateo looked out the window as if suddenly fascinated by traffic.
Norah stared at her own hand, horrified.
Dominic slowly turned toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
He touched his cheek.
“I’ve had worse.”
“I shouldn’t—”
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You’re scared.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No.”
His calm made her feel worse.
She looked away.
When they reached the estate, Mateo received a message.
Thomas Hayes had escaped the hotel.
But he had left something behind.
A flash drive taped beneath a chair in the lobby.
On it was a single encrypted file.
It took Dominic’s technician two hours to open.
When the file finally appeared, everyone in the room fell silent.
It was a ledger.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
And one column titled SUCCESSION.
Near the bottom were two entries.
LILY RUSSO — contingency leverage.
UNBORN RUSSO CHILD — primary leverage upon confirmation.
Norah’s stomach turned.
Then she saw the name authorizing the payments.
It was not Dominic’s rival.
It was someone Dominic had trusted for twenty years.
His own uncle.
May you like
Vittorio Russo.
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