Chapter 10 - Lily Asks the Wrong Question
The intercepted call lasted only fourteen seconds.
Mateo played the recording inside Dominic’s office.
A distorted male voice said, “The girl knows about the baby now.”
Another voice answered, “Then time is shorter than expected.”
The recording ended.
Norah’s blood chilled.
“They were watching Lily?”
Dominic’s face became stone.
Mateo nodded.
“The call originated somewhere on the estate.”
“Which phone?”
“Disposable burner. Signal disappeared immediately.”
“So someone here has it.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked through the glass doors at the hallway.
Twenty-three employees currently occupied the estate.
Cooks.
Cleaners.
Security officers.
Maintenance staff.
People Dominic had trusted.
“One of them has been reporting to Vittorio,” he said.
“Probably longer than we know,” Mateo replied.
Norah thought about every friendly face she passed daily.
Maria.
Carlos.
James.
Beth.
People who had brought her tea when she felt sick.
People who played games with Lily.
One of them might be selling information about her unborn baby.
“Send everyone home,” Norah said.
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“All of them.”
“And replace them with who?”
“I don’t know.”
“We still need security.”
“Then keep Mateo.”
Mateo raised an eyebrow.
“Appreciated.”
Norah ignored him.
“Every extra person is another risk.”
Dominic considered it.
Mateo nodded slowly.
“She has a point.”
By afternoon, the household staff had been reduced to a skeleton crew.
Lily thought everyone had received vacation.
She was delighted.
Norah wished she could share the innocence.
At dinner, Lily talked constantly about the baby.
“What will we name her?”
“We don’t know yet,” Norah said.
“What about Sparkle?”
Dominic nearly choked on water.
“No.”
“Princess Sparkle Russo.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll eventually become an adult.”
Lily frowned.
“Adults can sparkle.”
Norah laughed.
Dominic looked at her.
Something warm passed between them.
Lily noticed.
Children always noticed.
“Are you going to marry Nora?”
Silence.
Dominic set down his fork.
Norah stared at Lily.
“Where did that come from?”
“Babies have moms and dads.”
“Yes.”
“You’re the mom.”
Norah nodded carefully.
“And Daddy’s the dad.”
Dominic coughed.
Lily continued.
“So wedding.”
“Life is slightly more complicated than that,” Norah said.
“Why?”
Neither adult had an answer appropriate for a four-year-old.
Lily sighed dramatically.
“Adults make everything hard.”
Dominic looked at Norah.
“She’s not wrong.”
After dinner, Dominic walked Norah toward her room.
“You okay?”
“With which part?”
“All of it.”
Norah sighed.
“I’m tired of being afraid.”
Dominic stopped.
“So am I.”
“You?”
“I’m afraid constantly.”
She looked surprised.
“You hide it well.”
“I’ve had practice.”
“Of what?”
“Pretending fear is strategy.”
Norah leaned against the wall.
“What scares you most?”
He looked toward Lily’s bedroom.
“You already know.”
Norah nodded.
“Her.”
“And now you.”
Her eyes lifted.
“And the baby.”
There was no hesitation.
Norah looked away first.
“Dominic—”
A crash came from downstairs.
Dominic immediately moved in front of her.
Mateo’s voice shouted from the foyer.
“Lock the upper wing!”
Dominic grabbed Norah’s hand.
“Inside.”
“What happened?”
“Now.”
She entered her room.
Dominic locked the door from outside.
Norah hated it.
But she obeyed.
Downstairs, a guard had discovered a smashed security camera near the service entrance.
The door was unlocked.
No sign of forced entry.
Dominic and Mateo searched the corridor.
They found the burner phone inside a laundry cart.
Fingerprint wiped.
No messages saved.
Then Dominic saw something beneath the cart.
A small silver bracelet.
He recognized it.
Maria wore it every day.
Maria had worked for Lily since she was born.
Dominic felt sick.
They found her in the employee kitchen.
Maria looked at the bracelet and immediately began crying.
“It isn’t mine.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not!”
“You wear this every day.”
“I lost it yesterday.”
Mateo searched her belongings.
Nothing.
Maria sobbed.
“I love that little girl.”
Dominic watched her carefully.
Then Norah appeared.
He turned sharply.
“I told you to stay upstairs.”
“I heard Maria crying.”
“This isn’t your concern.”
“She raised Lily with me.”
“That is exactly why—”
Norah looked at Maria.
“What did Lily eat yesterday afternoon?”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
Norah repeated the question.
Maria wiped her face.
“Apple slices. Peanut butter.”
“What color shirt?”
“Yellow.”
“What book before nap?”
“The rabbit one. The blue cover.”
Norah looked at Dominic.
“She didn’t betray Lily.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“Because she loves her.”
“Love doesn’t prove innocence.”
“No, but that bracelet is too obvious.”
Mateo looked at the laundry cart.
Norah continued.
“Someone planted it.”
Dominic stared.
She was right.
A competent spy would never leave a distinctive personal item beside the evidence.
Maria was being framed.
Dominic ordered her released.
She hugged Norah before leaving.
Hours later, investigators found a partial fingerprint inside the phone casing.
Mateo ran it through internal employee records.
One match.
He stared at the screen.
“That can’t be right.”
Dominic looked.
The fingerprint belonged to someone who had unrestricted access to every wing.
Someone who had been beside Dominic through attacks, funerals, and business wars.
Someone currently standing less than ten feet away.
Dominic slowly lifted his eyes.
Mateo followed his gaze.
At the office door stood James Bell.
Dominic’s personal driver of twelve years.
James saw their expressions.
May you like
Then he ran.
---
