Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Motel
The plan began with an argument.
Diana wanted to go.
Dominic refused.
She threatened to call the police herself.
Dominic told her they had already been contacted.
She demanded to speak with the detective.
He handed her the phone.
That was the moment Diana realized Dominic was taking her seriously.
Detective Lena Alvarez sounded exhausted and irritated, which Diana found strangely reassuring.
“We're treating this as a kidnapping,” Alvarez said. “Nobody wants you entering that motel.”
“But Rachel is there because of me.”
“Rachel is there because criminals kidnapped her. That's on them.”
Diana looked at Dominic.
He stood across the study with both hands resting on the back of a chair.
“The message says they'll kill her.”
“They want you frightened enough to make a mistake.”
“What if we wait too long?”
“We won't.”
Diana closed her eyes.
She was accustomed to saving people with gloves, gauze, medication, compression, and careful procedure.
Tonight all she could do was wait.
It felt unbearable.
Dominic ended up beside her after the call.
“She's right.”
“I hate when you're both right.”
“I'll remember that.”
Diana glanced at him.
“You find this funny?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look like you're trying not to smile?”
“Because you've been threatening a homicide detective for seven minutes while wearing hospital socks.”
Diana looked down.
She was still wearing the ugly blue grip socks.
A laugh escaped her.
It hurt her ribs.
She immediately winced.
Dominic's amusement disappeared.
“Sit.”
“You're bossy.”
“You're injured.”
“So are you.”
“I've been stitched.”
“Congratulations.”
Rook followed her to the sofa and climbed halfway onto the rug beside her.
Diana stroked his head absently.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Every second felt longer.
Finally Dominic's security chief, Marcus Reed, entered.
“We have movement.”
Diana stood.
“Rachel?”
“Still inside.”
“What movement?”
“Eddie stepped outside twice. He's nervous. There's one other man in the room and another watching the back stairwell.”
“Police?”
“Positioning.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“The neighboring rooms?”
“Cleared quietly.”
“Good.”
Diana stared between them.
“You've done this before.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Unfortunately.”
The realization brought back everything she had tried not to think about.
Mafia boss.
That was what newspapers called him.
Never convicted of serious charges.
Frequently investigated.
Always surrounded by rumors.
Her mother had died in his orbit.
Now Rachel might too.
“Dominic,” Diana said quietly.
He turned.
“If Rachel gets out, this ends.”
His expression didn't change.
“What do you mean?”
“I go back to my life.”
He said nothing.
“I don't become part of whatever this is.”
“You aren't part of my business.”
“I'm standing in a guarded mansion while my friend is being held because someone thinks I'm leverage against you.”
Diana shook her head.
“Your business has already become mine.”
Dominic's voice softened.
“That's exactly what Maria was afraid of.”
“And she was right.”
“Yes.”
There was no argument.
That made Diana angrier.
She wanted him to defend himself so she could hate him properly.
Instead, he accepted every accusation.
Marcus's phone vibrated.
He answered.
A pause.
Then: “They're moving in.”
Diana stopped breathing.
The next six minutes were the longest of her life.
No one spoke.
Dominic stood near the window.
Marcus listened to updates through an earpiece.
Rook sensed the tension and became completely still.
Then Marcus looked up.
“Rachel is secure.”
Diana's knees nearly gave out.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Injured?”
“Minor bruising. Paramedics are checking her.”
Diana covered her mouth.
“What about Eddie?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Gone.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“How?”
“Back maintenance access. Must have left before the perimeter was complete.”
“And the others?”
“Two suspects in custody.”
Diana lowered her hands.
“He left Rachel behind?”
“Looks that way.”
She should have been relieved.
She was.
But underneath relief was another feeling.
Dread.
Eddie had survived.
Again.
An hour later, Detective Alvarez arrived at the estate.
She was in her early forties, with dark curls and the expression of someone unimpressed by powerful men.
Diana liked her immediately.
Rachel was safe at another hospital and refused to rest until she knew Diana was protected.
“She also called you an idiot,” Alvarez said.
Diana nodded. “That sounds like Rachel.”
“And she said if you attempt some heroic nonsense, she'll leave her hospital bed specifically to slap you.”
“That also sounds like Rachel.”
Alvarez sat opposite Dominic.
“Now you.”
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
“You've been holding information.”
“Which information?”
“Don't play with me, Cross.”
Diana almost smiled.
Apparently she was not the only woman who could order him around.
Alvarez placed photographs on the table.
Eddie.
The motel.
One of the captured kidnappers.
“This man works for Victor Kane.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“He claims Kane paid Eddie's gambling debt in exchange for information.”
“About me?”
“About Diana.”
The room became quiet.
Alvarez looked toward Diana.
“This isn't just leverage.”
Diana felt Rook press against her leg.
“What is it?”
“Kane believes Maria left something behind.”
“My mother?”
“A ledger.”
Dominic stood suddenly.
Alvarez watched him.
“You knew.”
“No,” Dominic said. “I suspected there might have been records.”
“What ledger?” Diana demanded.
Dominic looked at her.
“Your mother handled accounts. If she discovered Eddie's betrayal, she may have copied financial records proving it.”
“And Kane thinks I have them?”
“Yes.”
“I was fourteen!”
“He doesn't care.”
Diana tried remembering.
After Maria's death, their apartment had been emptied.
Eddie boxed everything.
Diana kept only a few belongings.
Photographs.
Her mother's rosary.
A jewelry box.
A cookbook.
Some Christmas ornaments.
Nothing resembling a criminal ledger.
“I don't have anything.”
Alvarez leaned forward.
“Kane may not believe that.”
“I don't even know what I'm looking for.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What belongings from Maria do you still have?”
Diana frowned.
“A box.”
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
Dominic and Alvarez spoke simultaneously.
“No.”
Diana glared at them.
“It has been sitting in my closet for twelve years.”
“Which means if Kane finds it first—” Dominic began.
“He might discover whatever he's searching for,” Alvarez finished.
Diana stood.
“Then we get it.”
Alvarez shook her head.
“We send officers.”
“No.”
Now both of them looked at her.
“I know where the box is. I know what belongs to my mother. Some stranger doesn't.”
Dominic folded his arms.
“You are not entering that building.”
“Watch me.”
“Diana.”
“Dominic.”
Alvarez rubbed her forehead.
“I've known you two for one hour and I'm already tired.”
Despite everything, Marcus coughed to hide a laugh.
Eventually a compromise was reached.
Diana would remain in an armored vehicle outside while police and Dominic's security team retrieved the box.
She hated the arrangement.
But Rachel was alive.
For one night, Diana decided compromise was acceptable.
At two in the morning, the convoy reached her apartment street.
Rain had turned to wet snow.
Diana stared through tinted glass at the building where she had lived for three years.
A patrol car blocked one end.
Another watched the opposite corner.
Dominic sat beside her.
Rook was behind them.
“Which window is yours?” Dominic asked.
“Third floor. Far left.”
He looked up.
The window was dark.
Diana noticed something.
“My curtain.”
“What?”
“It should be closed.”
It wasn't.
A narrow opening showed darkness inside.
Dominic immediately touched his earpiece.
“Hold entry.”
“What?”
He looked toward her.
“Did you leave it open?”
“No.”
Marcus's voice came through the radio.
“Possible breach.”
Diana's stomach turned.
Police moved toward the entrance.
Then Dominic's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
Her apartment.
Taken from inside.
The wooden box containing Maria's belongings sat open on Diana's bed.
Empty.
Beneath it was a message.
YOU'RE TOO LATE.
Diana stared at the screen.
“No.”
Someone had reached the apartment before them.
Dominic swore.
Detective Alvarez spoke over the radio.
“Building search. Now.”
Officers disappeared inside.
Diana sat frozen.
If there had been a ledger, Kane had it.
Maybe that was good.
Maybe he would leave her alone now.
She said it aloud.
Dominic's expression told her he disagreed.
“What?”
“If Kane found what he wanted, he wouldn't send the photo.”
“Why?”
“He wants us to know.”
“Why?”
“To make us react.”
Another message arrived.
This time there was no photograph.
Only five words.
ASK DOMINIC WHO YOUR FATHER WAS.
Diana read it twice.
Then a third time.
The blood drained from her face.
“My father died when I was little.”
Dominic didn't speak.
She turned toward him.
“Dominic?”
His silence became an answer.
“What does that mean?”
Rook raised his head.
Diana stared at Dominic.
“My mother told me my father was Daniel Martinez.”
Dominic looked toward the dark apartment window.
“He was.”
“Then what am I supposed to ask you?”
Dominic's face tightened.
Diana's voice rose.
“What aren't you telling me?”
He finally looked at her.
“Daniel Martinez wasn't killed in a construction accident.”
The world shifted beneath her.
“That is what my mother told me.”
“I know.”
“How did he die?”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
“Working for my father.”
Diana stopped breathing.
“He was part of your organization?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him in horror.
“How?”
“He was my father's closest friend.”
Diana's mind raced.
The ledger.
Maria.
Eddie.
Dominic.
Her father.
Every piece of her childhood seemed connected to a world she had spent twelve years believing belonged only to Dominic.
“What happened to him?”
Dominic looked directly at her.
“He discovered the same thing your mother did years later.”
“What?”
“That someone was selling information to the Kane family.”
Diana whispered, “Eddie?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Dominic did not answer.
A new message appeared.
This one contained a photograph.
An old photograph.
Dominic was perhaps twenty-two.
Maria stood beside him.
Daniel Martinez stood on the other side.
And between Daniel and Dominic was a fourth man.
Someone Diana recognized.
Her heart stopped.
“No.”
Dominic looked at the picture.
Diana could barely speak.
“That's impossible.”
The fourth man was someone she had seen many times.
Someone whose photograph still appeared in Dominic's home.
Someone Dominic had trusted with her safety only hours earlier.
Marcus Reed.
And beneath the photograph, Victor Kane had written:
YOUR FATHER TRUSTED THE WRONG MAN TOO.
Diana slowly turned toward the front seat.
Marcus was gone.
The driver's seat was empty.
The car door stood open.
And somewhere outside, a single gunshot shattered the winter night.
May you like
Continued in Chapter 4…
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